Volume X - Number I

JISTEM JOURNAL OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT REVISTA DE GESTÃO DA TECNOLOGIA E SISTEMAS DE INFORMAÇÃO

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ISSN: 1807-1775

Volume 10 : Number 1: 2013

Available Online Disponível Online Agradecimentos | Acknowledgement

JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista da Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação ISSN online: 1807–1775

Every four months/Quadrimestral

Universidade de São Paulo – FEA USP /University of São Paulo – FEA USP Prof. Dr. João Grandino Rodas – USP Reitor/Rector Prof. Dr. Hélio Nogueira da Cruz – USP Vice-Reitor/Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Reinaldo Guerreiro - Diretor da FEA/Dean of FEA Editor Prof. Dr. Edson Luiz Riccio, University of São Paulo – FEA, Brazil Assistant Editor Marici Gramacho Sakata, TECSI University of São Paulo – FEA, Brazil Editorial Board – Comitê de Política Editorial Armando Malheiro da Silva, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal Christophe Benavent, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense, Paris, France Henrique Freitas, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil JaeJon Kim, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea Luc Marie Quoniam, University Paris 8, Paris, France Michael D. Myers, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand Miklos Vasarhelyi, Rutgers Business School, New Jersey, USA Rejane Maria da Costa, University of Brasilia, DF, Brazil Robert D. Galliers, Bentley College, Massachusetts, USA Editorial Review Board – Comitê Científico Editorial Adam Mazurkiewicz, Instytut Technologii Eksploatacji, Poland Adalberto A. Fischmann, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Antonio Carlos dos Santos, Federal University of Sao Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil Birger Hjorland, Royal School of Lis, Copenhagen, Denmark Burak Arzova, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey Dennis F. Galletta, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA Emerson Maccari, Uninove, Sao Paulo, Brazil Fabio Frezatti, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Fernando Colmenero Ferreira, University of Madeira, Madeira, Portugal Geraldo Lino de Campos, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil Gilson Schwartz, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil Guilherme Ari Plonski, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil Jan Capek, Univerzita Pardubice, Pardubice, Czech Republic Jose Dutra de Oliveira Neto, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil José Rodrigues Filho, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Paraíba, Brazil Miguel Juan Bacic, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil Napoleão Verardi Galegale, Centro Paula Souza and Galegale Associados, Sao Paulo, Brazil Rosana Grillo Gonçalves, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil Salvador Ruiz-de-Chavez, APCAM, Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico Published by TECSI - Laboratório de Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação - Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação - EAC FEA USP Av. Prof. Luciano Gualberto, 908 FEA 3, Cidade Universitária - São Paulo/SP 05508-900 Brasil Fone: 55-11-3091 5820 r.190 Fax: 55-11-3091 5820 jistem@usp.br Indexation/Directories SciELO, Latindex, Proquest, Ulrich's Periodical Directory, DOAJ, The Index of Information Systems Journals, ACPHIS, Dialnet, Ebsco, Gale Infotrac, CLASE, Portal de Periódicos USP, Qualis CAPES, Cabell's Directory Webmaster jistem@usp.br Technical Support Equipe TECSI pesquisatecsi@usp.br Terms and Conditions The license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials. Direitos e Permissão Os artigos são de total responsabilidade dos autores e todos os direitos reservados ao TECSI. Esta licença permite que outros distribuam remixem e construam sobre a sua obra, mesmo comercialmente, desde que lhe deem crédito pela criação original.

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JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol.10, No.1, Jan/Apr. 2013 ISSN online: 1807-1775

Volume 10: Number 1 / Volume 10: Número 1

2013

Content / Índice

01-02

Editorial

03-04

1

E-Mail Usage Practices In Organizational Context: A Study With Portuguese Workers Rui Filipe Cerqueira Quaresma, University of Évora/CEFAGE, Portugal, Sílvia Paula Rosa da Silva, Instituto Politécnico Tomar – IPT, Portugal, Cristina Galamba Marreiros, University of Évora/CEFAGE, Portugal

05-20

2

Knowledge as a Competitive Advantage in Private Security: A Study In a Company in Santa Catarina, Brazil Edson Roberto Scharf, FURB University of Blumenau, SC, Brazil, Amélia Silveira, UNINOVE University Nove de Julho, SP, Brazil

21-40

3

Business Professionals’ Perceptions Related to the Influence of Information Technology in Individual Work Ricardo Adriano Antonelli, UTFPR – Federal Technological University of Parana/ Pato Branco, PR, Brazil, Lauro Brito de Almeida, Márcia Maria dos Santos Bortolocci Espejo, UFPR - Federal University of Parana, PR, Brazil, Fernanda Luiza Longhi, FADEP – Faculty of Pato Branco, PR, Brazil

41-60

4

Strategic Partnership Formation in IT Offshore Outsourcing: Institutional Elements for a Banking ERP System Licensing Luís Kalb Roses, Catholic University of Brasília, DF, Brazil

61-80

5

The Decision-Making Process to Purchase from Online Supermarkets: A Qualitative Research with Customers from ‘Zona Sul Atende’ André Barcelos Moreira, Pontific Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, Marie Agnes Chauvel (in memoriam)* Federal University of São João del Rei (UFSJ), MG, Brazil, Renata Céli Moreira da Silva, Pontific Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

81-98

6

Beef Traceability by Radio Frequency Identification System in the Production Process of a Slaughterhouse Eliana Tiba Gomes Grande, Goiano Federal Institute - Iporá Campus, GO, Brazil, Sibelius Lellis Vieira, Pontifical Catholic University of Goiás, GO, Brazil

7

The forensic accounting and corporate fraud Joshua Onome Imoniana, Maria Thereza Pompa Antunes, Henrique Formigoni, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, SP, Brazil

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99-118

119-144

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2 Content / Indice

8

End-user satisfaction with the Integrated System of Federal Government Financial Administration (SIAFI): a case study Janilson Antonio da Silva Suzart, University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil

145-160

9

Conception And Development Of A System Used To Organize And Facilitate Access To Environmental Information Pedro Luiz Côrtes, Nove de Julho University and ECA/University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil

161-176

10

O Impacto Da Abordagem De Vendas Na Aceitação De Produtos Com Inovações Tecnológicas Márcia Zampieri Grohmann; Luciana Flores Battistella; Aline Velter, Federal University of Santa Maria, RS/Brazil

177-197

Events / Eventos

198

Contributions / Submissão de Artigos

199-200

Erratum: Towards Active Seo (Search Engine Optimization) 2.0 Charles-Victor Boutet, Luc Quoniam, William Samuel Ravatua Smith, South University Toulon-Var - Ingémédia, France

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JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol.10, No.1, Jan/Apr, 2013, pp. 03-04 ISSN online: 1807-1775

Editorial Edson Luiz Riccio, Editor

Comemoremos os dez anos da JISTEM e os dez anos do CONTECSI Prezados leitores, autores, pareceristas, colaboradores, colegas e amigos. Parabéns a todos! É com imensa satisfação que neste ano de 2013 comemoramos dez anos de existência destes dois projetos que só se tornaram realidade pela participação de todos vocês, de diferentes países, universidades e áreas de atuação.

A criação de uma Revista Academica e de um Congresso Internacional multidisciplinar que pudessem agregar as áreas de Sistemas de Informação, Tecnologia de Informação e Ciência da Informação sob o manto de uma visão ampla de gestão, econômica, administrativa, contábil e financeira só foi possível pela participação ativa de uma comunidade que compartilhasse dos mesmos valores e propósitos. Essa comunidade existe e se concretiza visivelmente nessas duas entidades. A própria Universidade de São Paulo, neste ano anuncia como uma das mais importantes ações o incentivo à multidisciplinaridade em todas as áreas científicas. O mundo real é multidisciplinar e essa deve ser também a nossa preocupação no desenvolvimento da ciência.

Informamos a todos que durante este ano desenvolveremos inúmeras ações visando comemorar os resultados alcançados e compartilhar com todos vocês esses resultados.

Agradecemos o apoio que temos recebido desde o inicio das seguintes instituições: CAPES, CNPq, FAPESP, Programa de Apoio às Publicações Científicas Periódicas - Comissão de Credenciamento da USP e o EAC-FEA/USP .

Aproveitamos esta oportunidade para informar que o 10th CONTECSI - International Conference on Information Systems and Technology Management ocorrerá de 12 a 14 de junho de 2013, na FEA USP, São Paulo, Brasil. Cerca de 200 trabalhos serão apresentados nas seguintes categorias: sessão paralela, fórum de pesquisa, comunicação de pesquisa, consórcio doutoral e, pela segunda vez, ocorrerá o Master Colloquium. Também está confirmada a vinda do Prof. Dr. Niels Bjørn-Andersen, Ph.D., Professor of Information Systems da Copenhagem Business School, Dinamarca, ex-presidente da AIS (Association for Information Systems). Desde o primeiro CONTECSI, temos tido a honra de receber o presidente da AIS para abrir a conferência.

Os autores dos melhores trabalhos serão convidados à submete-los em “fast-track” à JISTEM como ocorre anualmente.

Para mais informações consulte o site www.tecsi.fea.usp.br/eventos/contecsi. Neste CONTECSI, ocorrerá também 27th WCRAS – World Continuous Auditing and Reporting Systems Symposium e o International Workshop of XBRL. JISTEM - Primeiro número de 2013 - Volume 10 nº1 Neste primeiro número de 2013, informamos aos nossos prezados autores e leitores que a recente avaliação da Qualis Capes, elevou a JISTEM para o nível B1 na área de Administração, Contabilidade e Turismo. Além dessa área, a JISTEM foi avaliada por outras sete áreas do conhecimento, o que comprova a sua interdisciplinaridade.

A JISTEM tem mantido sua evolução em qualidade e visibilidade nacional e internacional. A maior parte dos artigos de 2011 foi publicada em inglês e, com isso, a JISTEM está sendo cada vez mais acessada por pesquisadores e estudantes de diversas partes do mundo.

Neste primeiro número de 2013, apresentamos 10 artigos de alto nível, a saber: E-Mail Usage, Competitive Advantage, Professionals’ Perceptions Related to the Influence of Information Technology; Strategic Partnership Formation in IT Offshore Outsourcing; Decision-Making Process to Purchase from Online Supermarkets; Radio Frequency Identification System; Forensic accounting and corporate fraud; End-user satisfaction, Conception And Development of a System and Technological Innovation.

Convidamos a todos a acessarem estes artigos e lhes desejamos uma excelente leitura.

ISSN online: 1807-1775 Publicado por/Published by: TECSI FEA USP – 2013

4

Editorial, Vol.10 No. 01, 2013

Editorial Edson Luiz Riccio, Editor

Commemoration of the ten-years of JISTEM and the CONTECSI – International Conference on Information Systems and Technology Management.

Dear readers, authors, referees, colleagues and friends Congratulations to all of you! It is with great satisfaction that this year of 2013 we celebrate ten years of existence of these two projects that have only become reality by the participation of all of you, from different countries, universities and business areas.

We succeeded in implementing an Academic Journal and an International Conference both multidisciplinary, aggregating the areas of Information Systems, Information Technology and Information Science, and under a broad management vision, (economic, administrative, accounting and financial). This was possible only because the active participation of a community that shares the same values and purposes. This community exists and visibly embodies these two entities.

The University of São Paulo itself, announces this year, that multidisciplinarity should be pursued in every scientific area. We all know that the real world is multidisciplinary and this should also be our concern in the development of science.

I would like also to inform you that during this year we will develop many actions to celebrate these achievements and share these results with you all.

We acknowledge the support we have received since the beginning from the following Governmental Brazilian institutions: CAPES, CNPq, FAPESP Program to Support Scientific Publications Periodicals- Commission on Accreditation of USP and EAC-FEA/USP. We also would like to inform that the 10th CONTECSI- International Conference on Information Systems and Technology Management – will be held between June 12th and 14th, 2013, at FEA USP, São Paulo, Brazil. Nearly 200 papers will be presented in the following categories: side session, research forum, research communication, doctoral consortium, and, for the second time, the Master Colloquium will take place. The presence of Professor Niels BjørnAndersen, Ph.D., Professor of Information Systems at the Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, former President of AIS (Association for Information Systems). Since the first CONTECSI, we have had the honor of welcoming the President of AIS to open the conference.

The authors of the best papers will be invited to submit them by “fast-track” to JISTEM, similarly to the previous years. For further information, log on to www.tecsi.fea.usp.br/eventos/contecsi. At this CONTECSI, the 27th WCRAS-World Continuous Auditing and Reporting Systems Symposium and the International Workshop of XBRL JISTEM – First issue of 2013 - Volume 10 n. 1 In this first issue of 2013, we would like to inform our highly-esteemed authors and readers that a recent evaluation by Qualis Capes (The Brazilian Government Agency for Academic Journals Ranking), has raised JISTEM to B1 level in the field of Business Administration, Accounting and Tourism. In addition to this field, JISTEM was evaluated on seven other fields of knowledge, which proves its interdisciplinary nature.

JISTEM has maintained its development regarding its quality and its national and international exposure. Most of the 2011 papers were published in English; therefore, JISTEM has been increasingly accessed by researchers and students from many parts of the world.

In this first issue of 2013, we present 10 high-level papers such as: E-Mail Usage, Competitive Advantage, Professionals’ Perceptions Related to the Influence of Information Technology; Strategic Partnership Formation in IT Offshore Outsourcing; Decision-Making Process to Purchase from Online Supermarkets; Radio Frequency Identification System; Forensic accounting and corporate fraud; End-user satisfaction, Conception And Development of a System and Technological Innovation.

We invite you all to read these papers and wish you good reading!

JISTEM, Brazil Vol.10, No. 1, Jan/Apr. 2013, pp. 03-04

www.jistem.fea.usp.br

JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 10, No. 1, Jan/Apr., 2013, pp. 05-20 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752013000100001

E-MAIL USAGE PRACTICES IN AN ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT: A STUDY WITH PORTUGUESE WORKERS Rui Filipe Cerqueira Quaresma University of Évora/Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics, PortugalSílvia Paula Rosa da Silva Instituto Politécnico de Tomar (IPT), Portugal Cristina Galamba Marreiros University of Évora/Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics, Portugal ____________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT Nowadays, e-mail is one of the most used information and communication technologies by organizations; it can streamline processes and transactions, facilitate information exchange, increase the quality, speed and productivity of the employees and strengthen relationships with stakeholders. This paper empirically examines the use of e-mail in an organizational context, using a sample of the Portuguese population with an active e-mail account assigned by the employer. The results show that most users have what is considered appropriate behavior; however, some situations that may indicate problems for organizations were also identified.

Keywords: E-Mail, Users, Behaviors

1. INTRODUCTION The world we live in is marked by globalization and by the pressures of an increasingly informed and demanding society. To survive in this extremely hectic _____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 27/12/2011 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 15/08/2012 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência: Rui Filipe Cerqueira Quaresma, Management Department – School of Social Sciences – University of Évora, PhD in Management, University of Seville, Spain, Assistant Professor of e-business and e-government, operations management and entrepreneurship and innovation in the Management Department, School of Social Sciences, University of Évora. Researcher in the Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics (CEFAGE-UE) Management Department – School of Social Sciences – Universidade de Évora Largo dos Colegiais, 2, 7000-803 Évora (Portugal) Phone: (+351) 266 740 892; Fax: (+351) 266 740 807 E-mail: quaresma@uevora.pt Sílvia Paula Rosa da Silva, Center for Computing Systems – Instituto Politécnico Tomar (IPT) Master in Management, University of Évora, Portugal Computer Technician, in the Center for Computing Systems, Instituto Politécnico de Tomar, Portugal E-mail: silvias@ipt.pt Cristina Galamba Marreiros, Management Department – School of Social Sciences – University of Évora PhD in Marketing, University of Newcastle, United Kingdom Assistant Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behavior in the Management Department, School of Social Sciences, University of Évora. Researcher in the Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics (CEFAGE-UE) E-mail: cristina@uevora.pt Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2013. All rights reserved.

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world, marked by uncertainty and by contingency, organizations are required to implement a permanent modernization process, which can enable them to increase productivity and improve the quality of their products and / or services.

In the last decade, the three traditional primary production factors that defined the productive potential of the economic system - land, labor and capital - were displaced by information. It is information that helps to create markets for new products, establishes shopping trends, identifies needs, suggests different approaches to advertising and creates new jobs (Holtz, 1999). Nowadays, the key resource that an organization cannot live without is organized, relevant and easy to access information, in order to meet the ongoing demands of the market, of the public and of employees and, thus, the very success of organizations.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) play an important role in the mentioned modernization process that organizations must develop, and are critical in managing information and communication. A good example of these ICTs is the e-mail system, a communication tool that allows information flow and sharing, in large quantities and simultaneously to multiple recipients, regardless of where they are, almost instantaneously at reduced costs. When e-mail is provided to employees by the organization, it is assumed as a working tool and should be only used for the work related tasks and activities that are set by those employees (Instituto de Tecnologias de Informação na Justiça [ITIJ], 2008).

E-mail success and popularity has led to a large daily traffic of messages sent and received (Whittaker & Sidner, 1996). Consequently, the widespread use of this communication tool can be a daily problem for all the people who, in their professional or personal life, use it, given the large volume of information exchanged and that they need to manage.

In addition to the increasing number of messages that are exchanged daily, e-mail can be a vehicle for malicious content or for directing users to fraudulent and unsafe websites. In organizations this problem is reflected not only in computer network security and, therefore, the security of its data, but also in the time that employees spend with e-mail, including the management of incoming and outgoing messages (writing new messages, reading, replying, forwarding, archiving, deleting / removing, organizing messages into folders, printing, etc.) (Mano & Mesch, 2010).

E-mail has been the topic of several studies and compared with other types of communication, e.g. face-to-face, in what regards its social and communication aspects (Whittaker & Sidner, 1996). However, there still is a need to better understand the practice of e-mailing, so that organizations can really benefit from the use their employees make of this tool. As stated by Weber (2004), we still lack a deeper understanding of the impact of e-mail on our lives.

Fallows (2002) studied the use of e-mail in a professional context, by applying a questionnaire to a sample of about 2,500 Internet American users. The main objective of the present paper is to apply and update the study by Fallows (2002) to the Portuguese reality. As in Fallows´ research, our aim is to study, in a work context, peoples’ use of e-mail, what its perceived advantages and problems are, how e-mail is affecting peoples’ work processes, and what its impact on productivity is. Moreover, it is also expected to understand how organizations can act so that this particular ICT can reach its full potential.

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2. LITERATURE REVIEW Nowadays, it is common for people and organizations to work in different geographic locations, communicating via electronic media for producing projects, generating innovation, tackling complex organizational problems, proposing new organizational strategies, creating new services, and even managing projects and organizations (Rego, 2007). This author argues that electronic communication contributes to the increase of communications, as it allows sharing great volumes of information with customers, suppliers and employees very quickly. Rego (2007) also states that many of those communications would never exist if it were not for the development of electronic media.

Because information is vital to improving organizational performance both academics and managers entered the world of "the information revolution" (Freeman & Louca, 1999). Among other themes, they are interested in how employees contribute to organizational success through the interpretation and use of information to improve skills and organizational performance, and how information strengthens the connection between firm and employee performance (Landauer, 1995).

In the communication between organizations, employees plays a vital role in the business success, as much more than only an information system, it represents the fundamental process of exchanging ideas, experiences, influences, projects and knowledge that support teamwork and employee participation (Sousa, 2005). With the current level of business complexity and market unpredictability, there is a great difficulty in processing and providing relevant and organized information, quickly and efficiently. Therefore, organizations are demanding, urgently, good applications for information and communication strategic management.

The need for efficient and low cost communication mechanisms, to share information and knowledge (Figallo & Rhine, 2002; Weick, 1995), generates greater interaction through electronic means (Gupta, Karimi, & Somers, 2000), which may improve management processes by improving inter-departmental communication (Lucas, 1998; Olson & Lucas, 1982). Studies of communication through e-mail has raised interest and questions about the adequacy and effectiveness of electronic messages for information management; yet, little is known about the effects of e-mail on work performance (Mano & Mesch, 2010).

E-mail is an important form of communication when it comes to covering large geographical areas with minimal growth in physical space, since it enables the virtual implementation of certain operations; moreover, it enables greater electronic interaction among employees (Gupta et al, 2000). For some (e.g. Romm & Pliskin, 1999), the properties associated with e-mail (low cost, rapid communication and ease of use) and its "technological neutrality" minimize potential distortions of communication, related with differences in profession, gender or race of the agents involved in that communication. However, other studies question the appropriateness and effectiveness of electronic messages, and questions are raised about the impact of e-mail on the wellbeing of the employees, due to the need to manage greater loads of information (Hogg, 2000; Sproull & Kiesler, 1991), stress and job dissatisfaction (Ingham, 2003; Lewis, 1999).

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Quaresma, R. F. C., Silva, S. P. R., Marreiros, C. G.

It is clear that information and knowledge are difficult to manage and organize (Storey & Quintas, 2001), and instant forms of spreading information, such as e-mail, may have both functional and dysfunctional effects on the performance and well-being of employees (Taylor, Fieldman, & Altman, 2008). Thus, the characteristics of the receivers may hinder an improved performance, since some may not be sufficiently "engaged" or "experts" to require a constant flow of information. However, for others, a slow flow of information may increase the stress at work, especially when the tasks performed require the participation of others or cannot be completed until a reply is obtained (Belloti, Ducheneaut, Howard, Smith, & Grinter, 2005).

The efforts of organizations to provide to employees technological tools that increase work efficiency are not new. The growing needs for communication imply a higher level of and a more intense exchange of knowledge, which also implies a higher level of and a more intense information exchange (Mano & Mesch, 2010). The process of information exchange has been facilitated by the use of e-mail. The quick access to new and up-to-date news, procedures, tools and notifications, contributes to a greater reliance on e-mail. The easy access to the information flow enabled by e-mail has led to consider it as an important tool to increase work performance. Both academics and professionals have studied whether these tools are free from risk or, at least, do not generate "collateral damages" (Jackson, Dawson, & Wilson, 2003).

3. METHODOLOGY The study´s population consists of the Portuguese working population that uses email at work and has assigned an email account by the employer. Since the population under study is not registered, a non-probabilistic accidental sampling procedure was employed. Responses were registered until what was considered an acceptable sample size for data analysis. An online questionnaire was implemented to characterize e-mail practices in the work context. The questionnaire was online between September and November 2009, and was publicized via e-mail.

In order to compare our results with Fallows´ (2002) research, the questionnaire, divided into 3 sections, was mostly composed of questions developed in that study: - Section I - Use of E-Mail - sought to gather information on management practices and use of e-mail. The first question in this section was a filter question, to ensure that only respondents with an e-mail account provided by the employer replied to the questionnaire. After the screening questions, nine single choice questions about email management were introduced. In the questions about the use of email, a set of unordered statements was used in order to assess aspects related to: e-mail organization, private use of e-mail, security and privacy, and e-mail utilization behaviors.

- Section II - Comments or Suggestions - had only an open question, not mandatory, which allowed respondents to make suggestions, explanations or other comments they deemed pertinent.

- The last section of the questionnaire gathered up respondents and organizations’ characterization data, in order to evaluate the individual characteristics and organizational features of the target population.

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4. ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS In this section we present and discuss the results obtained in the study. We begin with a brief characterization of the respondents, after which we analyze how they manage and use e-mail in a work context.

4.1 Sample description A total of 1,305 respondents completed the questionnaire, of which 76 were excluded, 54 because they declared not to have an e-mail account assigned by the organization and the others for not confirming the existence of e-mail in their organization. Thus, 1,229 respondents were analyzed, mostly women from 30 to 49 years old. As can be seen in Table I, the majority of the respondents have a university degree (diploma or bachelor degree) and most work for organizations with 250 employees or more.

With regard to age, the distribution of our respondents is similar to that of the Fallows’ study, since most respondents also belong to the age group from 30 to 49 years old. The sample is also comparable in qualifications – in both cases most respondents have a university degree. So, it can be said that although ours was not a statistically representative sample of the population, the study´s respondents are suitable study elements of the population: they have an age distribution similar to that of the employed population in Portugal (Instituto Nacional de Estatística [INE], 2011), and a level of education higher than the average of the Portuguese population, indicating a higher sensitivity and preparation to answer questions related to the use of e-mail.

TABLE I.

SAMPLE DESCRIPTION

Count

%

Man

422

34.3

Woman

807

65.7

16 - 29 years old

206

16.8

30 - 49 years old

903

73.5

50 - 64 years old

118

9.6

2

0.2

University degree

645

52.5

High School

283

23.0

Post-Graduation

267

21.7

Other

34

2.8

Less than 10

59

4,8

Gender

Age More than 64 years old

Qualifications

Number of employees in the organization

10 to 49

263

20,9

50 to 249

401

32,0

250 or more

469

37,3

Don’t know

37

3,0

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Quaresma, R. F. C., Silva, S. P. R., Marreiros, C. G.

4.2 E-mail management Regarding the number of messages received, sent and read daily (Table II), it is worth noting that the number of incoming messages exceeds the number of messages sent and read. The justification for this difference may be related to the fact that some of the messages received are spam, so they need not to be read or answered. In the study

by Fallows (2002) this phenomenon was also revealed, that is, also in the U.S. in 2002 the number of messages received exceeded the number of messages sent.

TABLE II.

E-MAIL RECEIVED, SENT AND READ

Usually‌

Count

%

Less than 10

246

20.0

Messages received

10 to 20

697

56.7

per day

21 to 50

209

17.0

More than 50

77

6.3

Less than 10

814

66.2

Messages sent

10 to 20

328

26.7

per day

21 to 50

68

5.5

More than 50

19

1.5

Less than 10

599

48.7

Messages read

10 to 20

395

32.1

per day

21 to 50

181

14.7

More than 50

54

4.4

In relation to time consumed with e-mail daily, 54.2% of respondents spend approximately 15 minutes per day with e-mail, 30.7% approximately 1 hour, 7.2% approximately 2 hours, and 7.9% over 2 hours. In the study by Fallows (2002), 50% of American workers reported spending less than 1 hour daily with e-mail and 23% only 15 minutes. Comparing these figures with those of our study, we can say that, on average, Portuguese respondents spend less time than Americans with e-mail. This difference can be explained by the fact that the levels of digital literacy are different in the two countries – it is normal that in countries like the United States, where there is a higher percentage of "knowledge workers", the time devoted to e-mail is higher than in other countries.

The number of messages in the "Inbox" folder, the oldest message in that folder and the number of folders defined by the user in the e-mail software were also reported by respondents (Table III).

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TABLE III.

11

NUMBER AND AGE OF MESSAGES AND NUMBER OF FOLDERS Count

%

Less than 10

213

17.3

10 to 50

303

24.7

51 to 100

134

10.9

More than 100

579

47.1

Less than 5

289

23.5

Number of

5 to 20

772

62.9

e-mail folders

21 to 50

111

9.0

More than 50

57

4.6

1 month

465

37.8

6 month

171

13.9

More than 6 months

202

16.4

Since the beginning

391

31.8

Number of messages in the Inbox folder

Oldest message in the Inbox

The data show that 47.1% of respondents have more than 100 messages in the "Inbox" folder, a situation which reveals that most respondents do not have habits and / or knowledge for managing and archiving e-mail messages. This conclusion is supported by the fact that, as previously mentioned, 76.7% of respondents receive only up to 20 e-mail messages per day (see Table II). According to Whittaker & Sidner (1996), one of the major problems in the management of e-mail messages lies in knowing which of the existing folders is most suitable for storing a message, or, failing that, how to label a new folder to store it, so to make the process to access previously saved messages easy, fast and intuitive. This problem may actually be the reason why the respondents do not "clean up" their inbox.

Most participants in this study (62.9%) have created between 5 and 20 folders in their e-mail software. These numbers seem to conflict with the fact that most of the respondents have more than 50 messages in the "Inbox". That is, the creation of multiple folders should allow easy filing of messages, thereby avoiding its accumulation in the inbox. This contradiction may be explained by the fact that the "classification" of many messages can be difficult to the point that respondents do not move them to their specific folders, which later might hinder a prompt location of the message.

With regard to the oldest e-mail message in the "Inbox", 37.8% of respondents have messages in that folder received in the previous month. According to Whittaker & Sidner (1996), a technique used to keep the e-mail organized is to keep the inbox empty.

From the results we can confirm that the behavior of respondents, in this respect, is divided: approximately 32% admit not to "cleaning" the inbox, and approximately 38% report that the messages in their inbox are only a month old or less.

These data seem to confirm the difficulty, mentioned above, of message classification, since it can be concluded that a significant proportion of respondents, those who have messages in the "Inbox" “since they have e-mail�, never totally organize this folder. Nevertheless, most respondents state that they do create folders to store or archive messages. These results indicate a problem that may have two sources: either the messages are not possible to be classified, or there are obvious difficulties in JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 05-20

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Quaresma, R. F. C., Silva, S. P. R., Marreiros, C. G.

the management of e-mail by the respondents. Whatever the explanation, the potential of e-mail is limited by these users’ practices and organizations should consider solutions for enabling a better management of e-mail by its employees.

The time required to reply to e-mail messages was another question to respondents. To reply on the same day is the option for 56.6% of respondents; 38.6% declared to reply after 1 to 2 days, 4.1% after 3 to 7 days. The answers replying after more than 7 days and not replying via e-mail have residual values – 0.3% each.

The behavior of most respondents agrees with what is referred by Whittaker & Sidner (1996) as a good strategy for managing e-mail, since replying on the same day, when a message is received, avoids duplication of efforts in reading the message and thinking about the response. In this respect American workers are quicker to respond, as Fallows (2002) found that 44% reply immediately and 38% by the end of the day.

Another interesting difference lies in the 3% of American workers who never reply to email messages (in our study, only 0.3%). These differences may be explained, as already noted, by the highest percentage of "knowledge workers" in the U.S. The number of times that respondents check their e-mail during the day was another question to participants. The data show that most respondents, 52.0%, check email 2 to 6 times a day (see Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Daily frequency of e-mail checking

Fallows (2002) found that most American workers (88%) check their e-mail at least once a day, and most of them (70%) check it several times a day. Despite the differences in values, we can consider that the verification of e-mail, for Portuguese workers, is not a priority in relation to other activities, since most respondents check the e-mail only 1 to 6 times per day. Still, we highlight the 28.3% of respondents who have the e-mail software always open and the 6.0% who check the mail every time they receive an alert – behaviors criticized as not being the most appropriate (Robbins, 2004). In fact, depending on the responsibilities they have on the organization, this course of action can be viewed as a disruption and hence a loss of productive time.

4.3 E-mail users’ behavior This section presents the results of 25 questions that sought to characterize the behaviors of the respondents regarding the use of organizational e-mail. The statements, as already mentioned, were presented in a non-organized manner and intended to assess behaviors related to: organization practices (7), private use (7), security and privacy (4) and usage behavior (7).

When analyzing the results of the statements related to e-mail organization (Table IV), we can say that respondents have some habits of organizing and managing e-mail

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messages, as they do an immediate initial message screening, reading the subject and / or deleting the messages, and a subsequent storage in specific folders. However, some difficulties in classifying messages and their storage into specific folders can also be noted. This conclusion is supported by the answers of the majority of respondents to questions 11, 12 and 22.

TABLE IV.

E-MAIL ORGANIZATION PRACTICES

Statements

No

Sometimes Yes

2. As I'm receiving and sending messages I organize them into categories and put them in different folders.

Count 272

174

783

%

22.1

14.2

63.7

3. When downloading email messages I just delete the ones that are not important.

Count

41

84

1104

%

3.3

6.8

89.8

11. I've had to rewrite a message because I could not find it in my mailbox.

Count 530

73

626

43.1

5.9

50.9

12. I've had to ask the sender of a message to send it again because I was not able to find it in my mailbox.

Count 474

83

672

%

38.6

6.8

54.7

13. When I read a message I immediately manage it (read, reply, forward, file, delete).

Count

70

459

700

%

5.7

37.3

57.0

17. When I receive several messages at the same time, I order their reading according to a specific criterion.

Count 126

110

993

10.3

9.0

80.8

22. I have difficulty finding in my mailbox the messages I need.

Count 639

560

30

45.6

2.4

%

%

%

52.0

Table V presents the results for the statements related to the private use of organizational e-mail. These results show that respondents use their work e-mail account for purposes that are not exclusively related to their professional activities: the majority discloses the e-mail address provided by the employer for non-professional matters (54.1%), exchanges e-mails containing private or family issues (53.3%) and a significant percentage (59.7%) sometimes forwards entertainment messages to colleagues or friends. While these situations per se do not reveal any inappropriate or excessive use of e-mail, and other data in Table V show some cautiousness on the part of users, they call into question the security of organizations´ e-mail systems and may contribute to lower employees’ productivity.

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Quaresma, R. F. C., Silva, S. P. R., Marreiros, C. G.

TABLE V.

PRIVATE USE OF WORK E-MAIL

Statements

No

Sometimes

Yes

4. I give my e-mail address only for business purposes

Count

665

75

489

%

54.1

6.1

39.8

8. I've been warned or reproached at work because of my e-mail use.

Count

1211

7

11

%

98.5

0.6

0.9

9. I've been involved in disciplinary or judicial process because of my e-mail use.

Count

1223

4

2

%

99.5

0.3

0.2

18 I forward e-mail messages that promise luck, wealth or other benefits to those who do not break the chain.

Count

1131

74

24

%

92.0

6.0

2.0

19. I forward e-mail messages seeking philanthropic support with the intention of helping people.

Count

896

230

103

%

72.9

18.7

8.4

20. I forward e-mail messages containing jokes, texts, images, videos or PowerPoint presentations, of varied content to colleagues and friends.

Count

349

734

146

%

28.4

59.7

11.9

23. I exchange e-mail messages about private or family issues.

Count

384

190

655

%

31.2

15.5

53.3

Comparing these results with the study by Fallows (2002) some noteworthy differences can be found: 53% of the American workers indicated that almost all incoming messages were work related and 58% declared that almost all posts they do are work related. These data reveals safer behaviors on the part of American workers, perhaps because of their greater knowledge on the use and management of e-mail in a work context.

In Table VI we can see the distribution of opinions on the statements related to e-mail security and privacy. The results indicate a slightly dissonant behavior: the majority of respondents do not send e-mail messages with important information, which shows some concern with sensitive data and prevents organizations from being exposed to avoidable risks. However, most respondents do not backup their e-mail folders. While performing backups does not mean full warranty of information, the truth of the matter is that the lack of backups of important information is a major cause of information loss inside organizations.

TABLE VI.

E-MAIL SECURITY AND PRIVACY PRACTICES

Statements

No

Sometimes

Yes

Count

353

755

121

%

28.7

61.4

9.8

Count

1046

95

88

%

85.1

7.7

7.2

Count

861

136

232

%

70.1

11.1

18.9

Count

939

47

243

%

76.4

3.8

19.8

1. Most messages I receive daily are "spam".

5. I send e-mail messages containing sensitive or confidential information.

7. I do backups of my email messages.

21. I know that the organization I work for supervises / monitors the e-mail accounts of its employees.

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Still on the theme of security and privacy, it is worth noting that the majority of respondents had no knowledge about enforcement or monitoring actions on their e-mail accounts implemented by their organizations. Equally significant is the fact that most respondents "sometimes" receive "spam" messages, which show some weaknesses in the organizations´ e-mail security systems, namely the absence of an adequate system for filtering external e-mail messages.

Table VII summarizes the results concerning the statements related to e-mail usage behaviors.

TABLE VII.

E-MAIL USAGE BEHAVIORS

Statements

No

Sometimes Yes

Count

107

192

930

%

8.7

15.6

75.7

10. I already forwarded e-mail messages addressed specifically to me, to other colleagues in order for them to answer or satisfy the request.

Count

387

95

747

%

31.5

7.7

60.8

14. When I receive a message, I read the subject and only if it interests me I read it all.

Count

390

663

257

%

25.1

53.9

20.9

15. When I receive a message that requires my answer, I often send an immediate reply saying that the message was received and will be dealt with as soon as possible.

Count

363

225

641

%

29.5

18.3

52.2

16. When I receive a new e-mail message,I stop what I'm doing to deal with the new message.

Count

746

455

28

%

60.7

37.0

2.3

24. I exchange informal e-mail messages with colleagues and friends with stories, news or gossip about my organization.

Count

525

138

566

%

42.7

11.2

46.1

25. I check my e-mail out of work and out of office hours

Count

187

144

898

%

15.2

11.7

73.1

6. I send messages of courtesy.

The analysis of the results in the previous table allows us to identify some problematic behaviors (Weber, 2004): • The majority of respondents send courtesy messages and, when they receive messages that require an answer, they have a habit of immediately replying to acknowledge message reception and inform about a reply as soon as possible. Weber (2004) recognizes these behaviors as indicative of a lack of knowledge about the costs associated with sending and receiving e-mail messages, and of an impulsive attitude that disregards reading, understanding and developing appropriate answers to e-mails, in favor of speed of response. This type of messages, in a context of a large influx of information, can become excessive and disruptive.

• There is a high percentage of respondents who admitted checking e-mail out of work. With some exceptions, this behavior can also be considered problematic and is defined by Weber (2004) as "an obsessive feeling with e-mail", that happens when users are no longer able to "turn off" from the e-mail and live dependent on it. However, this behavior may be acceptable, depending on the users´ function and position in the organization.

• Although there are very different answers, most respondents exchange informal e-mail messages with colleagues and friends with stories, news or gossip about the

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Quaresma, R. F. C., Silva, S. P. R., Marreiros, C. G.

organization. This is a somewhat controversial topic because, although this exchange of information could be both personal and work related, it is always informal messages that are exchanged with some personal interest in mind or to meet the needs of social coexistence. These behaviors can either help or hinder the organization’s goals; hence, they cannot neglect this informal communication among its employees. This negative feature of e-mail is also mentioned in Fallows’ (2002) research.

It should also be noted that the majority of respondents says that when they receive a new e-mail message they do not interrupt what they are doing to deal with it.

This behavior is regarded as a good e-mail usage practice (Robbins, 2004), in that, with few exceptions, the e-mail management should not be a priority over other work-related tasks.

5. CONCLUSIONS There are not many known studies and theories on e-mail management and usage in the work context. In functional terms, the benefits of this communication tool rise from the fact that it allows for distance information exchange. The speed, low cost, simplicity, convenience, organization, usability and ability to attach information and share it simultaneously with different people are known advantages of electronic mail (Greenberg & Baron, 1997; Monteiro, 1997; Rego, 2007; Silva, 2008; Turban, McLean, & Wetherbe, 2004; Vaz, 2006).

The study´s results presented on this paper allow highlighting various aspects of the way e-mail is used in the work context. Electronic mail is as important as any other means of communication such as fax, paper mail, phone, etc., consequently the same attention should be given to it. Therefore, users must read it regularly and decide what to do with the messages (delete, archive and / or reply).

Most respondents demonstrate behaviors considered as the most appropriate for the proper management of e-mail: delete unimportant posts immediately after downloading them; order the reading of messages according to some criteria; after reading decide immediately what to do with the messages; respond to requests by e-mail on the same day; and organize incoming read messages by categories, moving them into different folders.

However, respondents also demonstrate difficulty organizing their work e-mail messages. Most respondents declared that they do not backup e-mail messages and, although they created 5 to 20 folders to store e-mail messages, they sometimes find it difficult to locate the messages they need. Most participants assume that they already had to rewrite or ask the sender to forward messages because they could not find a specific post in the mailbox. Therefore, it can be concluded that most users have difficulty finding or accessing their e-mail messages.

Given the data in the present research, it appears that respondents have the knowledge to work with e-mail but, in what respects messages organization and filing, they still reveal some weaknesses. This fact might be justified, either because users do not apply the best message management practices (deleting important messages or filing them in non-retrieval locations), or because they do not back up e-mail information and end up losing it. Moreover, the majority of participants admit having more than 50

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messages in the "Inbox", which confirms the conclusion that respondents have some difficulty classifying messages and / or store them in the right folders.

Time spent with e-mail can influence either positively or negatively the organization’s results. On the one hand, e-mail decreases the time required for information flow; on the other hand, e-mail also increases the volume of available information that has to be considered by the organization’s employees. In our study most respondents declared to spend only about 15 minutes a day dealing with e-mail.

This fact, coupled with the circumstance that only a small percentage of respondents spends more than an hour a day handling e-mail, seems to indicate that, in most cases, the time used with e-mail does not constitute a threat to the completion of other work tasks. This conclusion is corroborated by the evidence that the majority of respondents declare not to interrupt other activities to deal with new incoming messages, and check the e-mail only 1 to 6 times a day.

In what regards sending and receiving messages containing confidential information or legal or contractual implications, most respondents demonstrate behaviors considered as the most suitable: they do not automatically redirect chain email messages, do not send e-mail messages containing sensitive or confidential information; and do not forward philanthropic request messages. However, most admit that sometimes they forward messages containing jokes, images, video or graphical presentations of varied content, to colleagues or friends, and most admit that they disclose their work e-mail address for private purposes and that they exchange e-mail messages containing private issues.

To know e-mail users´ behavior is important both to achieve excellent results in organizations (as stated by Weber, 2004), and to identify external threats. It is therefore crucial that all parties involved, organizations and employees alike, are aware of the risks they face when using this communication tool. The appropriate e-mail usage practices should be explicitly defined, otherwise the organization´s results might be negatively and definitively affected.

The results of this study indicate – in line with the conclusions of Fallows (2002) – that despite the management and use of e-mail in the work context do not seem to constitute a threat to the productivity, security and privacy of organizations, in most cases there is room for improvement and for actions that might enhance the usefulness of this tool. Specifically, most users have some difficulty organizing the information received through this medium and a significant proportion of them still has behaviors that may put at risk the organization’s safety and privacy. These problems must be taken into account by organizations because without any intervention and with the anticipated increase in the use of e-mail in work contexts, they can become a real threat for many organizations.

It is noteworthy that the population studied in the present study is represented by a non-probabilistic sample and, therefore, the conclusions drawn should be interpreted with some care and restrictions. Future research should try to identify the determinants of appropriate behaviors in what concerns the use and management of e-mail in the work context. For organizations to be able to define actions to improve the use of e-mail by their employees is important to understand what characteristics and attitudes of employees enhance the suitable use of this communication tool.

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Rego, A. (2007). Comunicação Pessoal e Organizacional - Teoria e Prática (1ª edição). Lisboa: Edições Sílabo.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 10, No. 1, Jan/Apr., 2013, pp. 21-40 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752013000100002

KNOWLEDGE AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN PRIVATE SECURITY: A STUDY IN A COMPANY IN SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL Edson Roberto Scharf FURB University of Blumenau, SC, Brazil Amélia Silveira UNINOVE University Nove de Julho, SP, Brazil ____________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to identify the relevance of knowledge management actions, specifically in the categories of ‘knowledge’, ‘human capital’, and ‘innovation’, adopted by one of the leading companies in the private security market of Santa Catarina. The leading company in the private security sector in the business segment of Santa Catarina served as the basis for the research on knowledge management application. The qualitative method with a descriptive approach was used. The results confirm the feasibility of knowledge management in companies in the sector, although the process is not formalized in private security organizations of Santa Catarina. Investment in intellectual capital, more specifically in human capital, is perceived as fundamental.

Important items for the implementation of this process are being considered, such as the beginning of participation in communities of practice, the organization, processing and retention of information of the organization in a strategic manner, and the concern about communication between their employees.

Keywords: Knowledge management, Marketing, Private security, Value, Competitive strategy.

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 29/02/2012 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 21/11/2012 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência: Edson Roberto Scharf, PPGAD Postgraduate Program in Administration, Lecturer and researcher of the PPGAd/FURB, research in brand identity and knowledge management in competitive markets. Rua Antonio da Veiga, 140 - (47) 3321.0285 – Blumenau - SC / e-mail: artigoes@gmail.com Amélia Silveira, PROGEPE Postgraduate Program in Education and Education Management, Researcher of PROGEPE and PDMA in marketing in higher education institutes and knowledge management in services. Rua Francisco Matarazzo, 612 - (11) 3665.9312 – São Paulo – SP/ e-mail: amelia@floripa.com.br Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2013. All rights reserved.

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Scharf, E. R.; Silveira, A.

1. INTRODUCTION The current market requires that companies have prompt response and be intelligent to deal with the demands, under the threat of disappearing in a short time.

The private security sector is an example: with the increasing audacity of criminals, a good preparation for the continuous and systematic implementation of innovations in readiness and prevention techniques is required, according to Brasiliano and Branco (2003). Changes in the scoundrels’ actions are constant and the value safeguarded by companies is known beforehand by them and consequently the intelligence and counterintelligence process becomes intense. Furthermore, as Bayley and Shearing (2001) inform, there is a strong pressure from insurance companies on organizations to hire specialized capital protection services. This reality leads to the need of knowledge production and maintenance for the success of business activities in this sector.

Knowledge management is a process that creates, organizes and disseminates knowledge in the organization, facilitating and controlling access to knowledge in order to enable the company to have more agile actions. For Bukowitz and Williams (2002), it is the process by which an organization generates wealth. Therefore, the adoption of knowledge management in the private security sector imposes itself as necessary for the survival of the business.

In this scenario, the study sought to identify the relevance of the actions taken by one of the leading companies of the private security market of Santa Catarina, with a specific study of the categories of 'knowledge', 'human capital', and 'innovation'.

Proceeding from these categories, it also sought to assess the extent to which knowledge management is beneficial to the organizational activity of this sector.

The theme dealt with is justified by its importance at the current moment in the entrepreneurial sphere, which requires innovative solutions and perfect harmony with regard to rendering services to the users, as a basis for the development and survival of the organizations. For Canongia et al (2004), the survival of a company depends, among other things, on the anticipation of changes and their consideration in the processes of defining organizational strategies. In the same way, knowledge management reveals itself as a contemporary theme, being of interest of the organizational strategy.

In this respect, the questioning emerged: do private security companies, which depend directly on knowledge for the prevention and the wealth of individuals and property, adopt knowledge management as an organizational alternative in face of market competitiveness?

2. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT In the United States, the term knowledge management began to be used in the context of Artificial Intelligence in the late 80s. Researchers at ‘Digital Equipment Corporation’ tried to understand how learning could be improved by technology, while another group carried out research on Artificial Intelligence. A third group, advised by business consultants, started assessing the knowledge context in business management (WIIG, 1986).

In Sweden, Sveiby developed the so called ‘competence-based strategy’, explained in the book The Know-How Company (1986). In 1990, he published Knowledge Management, possibly the first book with the term ‘knowledge JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 21-40

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management’ in the title. He addressed the strategic management of knowledge resources, especially of knowledge workers, without highlighting information technology.

In the same decade, works of Peter Senge contributed to the popularization of organizational learning. However, it was Peter Drucker who coined the term knowledge worker, being one of the first organizational theorists to draw attention to the implications of the fact that both the technical work and the non-technical one are more and more based on knowledge.

In Japan, in 1995, Nonaka and Takeuchi published the book The Knowledge Creating Company, which redefined the concept of knowledge management. For the authors, the success of Japanese companies in the 90s occurred due to their capacity of creating new organizational knowledge, resulting in constant innovations in their products and management processes.

Therefore, knowledge management has three sources: the first North-American studies on information and artificial intelligence; the Japanese research on knowledge and innovation; and strategic measurements of competence in Sweden. Thus, the NorthAmerican influence on knowledge management is based on information technology, while the Japanese and Swedish studies and practices have their focus on people.

For Terra (2007), knowledge management in organizations is inevitably linked to the understanding of the characteristics and demands of the competitive environment.

For Johannessen et al. (1999), we are living in an increasingly turbulent environment; competitive advantages need to be continuously reinvented and sectors of little intensive technology and knowledge lose economic participation. The challenge of producing more and better is being overtaken by the permanent challenge of creating new products and managerial processes (Johannessen et al. 1999). Given the speed of changes and the increasing complexity of market challenges, the concentration of efforts on a few employees or company departments is no longer allowed (Tarapanoff, 2006; SABBAG, 2007). For O’Leary and Studer (1997), knowledge management involves human resources, the organization and the organization’s culture, as well as information technology, methods and tools that support it and make it possible.

Knowledge management, as a concept, still causes controversy in its definition.

According to Perrotti and Vasconcellos (2005) several authors even state the concept almost as synonymous with the science of administration itself, in an attempt to give importance to the topic. The authors argue that it is a concept in construction. Bukowitz and Williams (2002) defend the point of view that there is neither a standard definition, nor a universal scheme within which it is possible to align different professionals: it is an emerging and necessary complex discipline, representing a shift from a focus on information to one on individuals who create and possess their own knowledge. For the authors, it is a process by which an organization generates wealth from its knowledge or intellectual capital. A classification of organizational knowledge, based on tacit and explicit knowledge, was developed by Nakano and Fleury (2005), with the note of the “synonym”, “form”, and “component” categories.

Specifically for highly competitive markets, Scharf (2007) proposes knowledge management as a set of processes for the creation, dissemination and use of knowledge within the company, with the goal of developing sustainable competitive advantages by means of the creation of values shared with the market. And he argues that "... it passes through study, discussion and understanding of the characteristics and demands of the

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competitive environment and understands knowledge as the most important asset of enterprises" (SCHARF, 2007, p. 93). For Angeloni and Fernandes (2000), the changes, which occur in complex business environments, lead the organization to obtain knowledge as a sustainable competitive advantage. Also for Alvarenga Neto, Barbosa and Parker (2007), the emerging of a new economic paradigm based on knowledge and innovation made organizations invest in typical assets of the information area, more than in assets of the industrial one. The authors understand that this consolidates knowledge as a factor of differentiation for organizational competitiveness.

Knowledge management does not happen without the active participation of employees and the company itself. While the former represents the main actors in the process, it is up to the company to perform some actions and take initiatives to ensure all its stages. For Terra (2007), these actions depend on the human and technological infrastructures that support them.

Finally, both information and knowledge are context specific and relational, according to Takeuchi and Nonaka (2008), in so far as they depend on the situation and are created dynamically in the social interaction between people. For Mussi and Angeloni (2004) the factors influencing knowledge sharing can be related to the context, to the dynamics of organizations, and to the individual characteristics of people. Balestrin (2007) contributes to this discussion when he identifies and explains the spaces of creation and dissemination of knowledge. For Scharf (2007) it is not the amount of information or knowledge that may be called knowledge management, but what is done with this knowledge, based on the creation of value, for the survival and growth in the market in which one operates.

2.1 Knowledge management: human capital and innovation as competitive advantage.

According to Porter (1990, p. 2), “competitive advantage arises primarily from the value a company can create for its buyers and that exceeds the company’s manufacturing cost”. For Drucker and Howard (2000) it is clear that companies have in their managing knowledge an inexhaustible source of competitive advantages. For these authors, at this moment, the only certainty is uncertainty and the reliable source of competitive advantage is knowledge. The authors argue that, in an era when markets move, technologies proliferate, competitors multiply and products become obsolete overnight, companies that develop on the market are the ones that consistently create knowledge, disseminate this knowledge within the organization and incorporate it to new technologies and their goods and services (Drucker; Howard, 2000). In addition to this observation, knowledge management acquires a special importance for a company that embraces innovation as a strategic guideline. The generated and disseminated knowledge allows the company to consolidate the process of innovation through continuous learning throughout the organization. Innovative companies have highly innovative learning systems. For Scharf (2007, p. 155-156) these companies are able to “learn how to continue improving current products at the same time when they aggressively prepare for the challenge of new products”. Angeloni and Fernandes (1999) defend that companies can be more active in learning if the internal communication is made by means of properly defined procedures. McElroy (2003), one of the pioneers of the so-called ‘Second Generation of Knowledge Management’, understands it as being a management discipline that seeks to have an impact on knowledge processing and that this action, in turn, is “a social process responsible for the production and integration of knowledge for and in the business process” (Mcelroy, JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 21-40

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2003, p. 83). In the author’s view, one must capture the models present in people's minds that, almost certainly, do not represent the real world. For several authors (Chaui, 2000; Mcelroy, 2003; Antonello, 2007; Campos, 2007), at learning, however, it is not the reality that matters, but the model of reality in the mind of the team members that will change as their understanding of their universes is improving. Balestrin (2007) also understands it this way when he says that the authors who adopt the interpretative approach treat knowledge as something complex, tacit, and inseparable from the individual.

In this context, the term ‘human capital’ appeared for the first time in 1961 in an article written by Nobel Price Winner Theodore W. Schultz, Investment in Human Capital, in the American Economic Review (Davenport, 2001). It is a concept with a long past, but of recent history (George et al 2008, p. 47). As knowledge is created only by individuals (Nonaka; Takeuchi, 1997; Joshi, 2006) and the ability of acquisition, development and use of knowledge is inherent in the human being (Sveiby, 1998; Sabbag, 2007), organizations must ensure that individual learning happens, shaping the human capital. George et al (2008) view it as a central construct that has obtained an important space when it is no longer perceived as an attribute of an object (human value attached to a good or service), starting to be treated as a desirable criterion or as a type of business orientation. For Ichijo (2008), it is the release of people's capabilities to sustain and leverage organizational growth.

For Scharf (2009; 2012) human capital can be considered a value proposition to the market, in the process of building brand identity, a fundamental aspect for the continuing growth in the market of activity. Following this reasoning, and connecting it with the concept of innovation, Teixeira (2007) states that human capital seeks to make its importance in the process of innovation and organizational growth clear (and even of countries, as evidenced by the economies of South Korea and Taiwan, characterized by large investments in human capital).

Most of the literature on innovation management, according to Kusunoki (2008), is based on an organization of functional differentiation (the conventional idea of a department or system for innovations), with serious limitations in obtaining insights concentrated on innovation. For this moment, called the era of knowledge (Drucker; Howard, 2000; Taparanoff, 2006; Campos, 2007; Takeuchi; Nonaka, 2008), the author suggests the concept of value differentiation for innovations in the organization. In it, there are contained varieties of customers’ and employees’ value perspectives, increasing the capacity for innovation, minimizing the stratification of the number of conceptual contributions, and promoting the continuous learning directed to innovation (Kusunoki, 2008). Quintane et al. (2011) argues that innovation has results clearly based on knowledge perspective. For Kusunoki (2008) it promotes people to the category of ‘organizational unit’, raising the human capital to the condition of a main element in the innovation system and definitely differentiating it from the functional model.

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3. PRIVATE SECURITY Taking the work of Brasiliano (1999) and Brasiliano and Branco (2003) as a basis, one asserts, in summary, that private security services began in the Middle Ages.

Ranger groups protected on foot and on horseback the castles, the crops in the fields, and accompanied the merchandise treks. At the beginning of the 16th century, there was no public authority that could control the avalanche of crimes and violence. Different types of police organizations emerged: merchants hired men to guard their properties, merchant associations created a mercantile police to guard shops and goods, night guards were paid to make rounds, agents were hired for the recovery of stolen goods, and parish police forces were organized by the citizens. In 1783, the New York Police Department was created. Later, several police departments in major cities such as Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Dallas were founded. However, the police departments were rudimentary, unprepared, and corrupt, resulting in the setting up of the largest private security companies at that time. In 1855, Pinkerton's was founded by Allan Pinkerton, a Chicago police detective, with the purpose of protecting the railroads and investigating the crimes there committed. In 1852, Harry Wells and William Fargo set up Wells Fargo for the cargo traffic control along the Mississippi. In 1859, Brinks was founded, initially making deliveries of packets, later they would become the largest security and protection company in the world.

In Brazil, according to the same authors (1999; 2003), in 1940, the night guard of Santos was instituted as a private association. In 1951, the functioning of private guards was authorized. But what really initiated the process of private security in the country was the various bank robberies between 1965 and 1970 (Brasiliano; Branco, 2003). The rules at the time, however, were very superficial and there were no requirements for an effective standardization in the sector. So, fifteen years after the compulsory implementation of guards, the law 7,102, of 1983, was enacted, establishing the foundations of private security, its organization and the requirements to be met by those who wished to explore such a professional activity (Brasiliano, 1999). However, the most significant changes are recent, occurring from 1995, when the Federal Police Department took over the responsibility for the control and supervision of the sector, with the regulation becoming effective (Brasiliano; Branco, 2003).

The activities, denominated security, may be divided, according to Zanetic (2009), into the following segments: property vigilance (preservation of goods and properties, including the electronic security); organic safety (companies that provide their own security sector); personal security (monitoring and protection); armed escort (motorized armed monitoring); transportation of valuables. All services must be provided in accordance with the specific legislation (Zanetic, 2009). However, the legislation adopted in several countries prevents abuses on the part of unprepared or momentarily unbalanced people (Bayley; Shearing, 1996).

The data on the private security sector available in the study conducted by the National Federation of Security and Valuables Transport Companies (Fenavist) show that the turnover of the sector in the year 2011 was of approximately 20 billion Reais, employing about 440,000 people throughout Brazil (Fenavist, 2011). Until 2014, the year of the Soccer World Cup, an annual growth of close to 30% is expected.

The turnover of the private security companies of Santa Catarina in 2010 was of 950 million Reais, including surveillance activities, transport of valuables, personal

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security, armed escort and surveillance training courses. The average time of activity of private security companies in Santa Catarina in the last decade was of about ten years.

Given this context, one notes that the private security sector in Brazil and, more specifically, in Santa Catarina, represents a considerable business, both in terms of revenues and in the contingent of human resources.

4. RESEARCH METHOD This empirical research is characterized by the qualitative method with a descriptive approach. A preliminary survey was carried out to determine the organization with greater representation among the private security companies operating in the State of Santa Catarina. One company stood out from the others, both by respectability and by tradition. It is here called PRI COMPANY to protect its identity and that of the respondents, being part of a group of services called in the survey the PRIV Group, which is constituted by more than 950 permanent employees. Set up in 1993 in the ItajaĂ­ Valley, it originates from the private security outsourcing in one of the largest Brazilian textile companies, which is the determining factor to follow a path to the private venture.

The data-gathering instrument used was the semi-structured interview, based on a guide with open questions. The social subjects were the top director of the company, hereinafter referred to as Chairman, since the setting up of the company in this position; the person responsible for the strategic management activities of the organization, hereinafter called AdmDir, since the setting up of the company in this position; and the person responsible for the activities related to computer science and technology, hereinafter called TecnDir, since 1999in this position. The interviews were recorded with their permissions. Once transcribed, the central ideas were extracted from the interviews in order to understand how the board of directors of the studied company comprehends the subject. Respondent Chairman is a notable person not only in the state of Santa Catarina, but also in leadership positions in national representative organs.

Respondent AdmDir has leadership projection in Santa Catarina, including in major business entities. Respondent TecnDir is constantly invited to speak at national private security events. The interest in this study and the cooperative manner of the respondents deserve to be noted, having made available documents that endorse the statements made.

With regard to the data processing, the categorization of verbal reports with the formation of clusters or analysis groups was carried out, based on the terms used by the respondents and on patterns that emerged from coincidences observed in reports, that is, a priori, on the basis of the specialized literature. Excerpts are used in the presentation of research results in order to better illustrate the speeches and the revelations of the interviewed managers. Therefore, the technique of the content analysis, according to Bardin (1977) was adopted, using various analytical communication techniques to obtain indicators (quantitative or not), by means of systematic procedures and objectives of content descriptions of the collected messages. It is a research technique that validates and makes data inferences of a context, which involves specialized procedures for scientific data processing, replicable (Freitas; Kmis, 2000, p. 37).

In possession of this research corpus, a set of analytical procedures was started.

The so-called "floating" reading was made in order to make contact with the

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interviewees' experiences, understand possible contexts and existing scenarios, and to design the explanations with relation to the theories known by the researchers.

After that, the record units were defined, which, according to Vergara (2006), can be words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs. For this research, phrases were opted for, as these may indicate more appropriately the context of the respondents’ understanding in relation to the main theme, knowledge management.

Categories were defined for the classification of the constituent elements of this set of phrases. These are “... classes that incorporate a group of elements (record units) under a generic title, which grouping is made as a result of the common features of these elements” (Bardin, 1977, p. 117). The type of grid for analysis was defined as being the open one (Vergara, 2006).

To broaden the search techniques, documents were scanned that refer to the research subject, such as meeting records, projects, contracts, reports of information technology purchases, and others.

The conceptual basis of the work came from the understanding that knowledge management is a social process of knowledge production and integration for and in the process of the organizational business, as defends McElroy (2003). For the author, the procedure means the capture of the models present in the people's minds, even if they may not represent the real world. In this sense, the human capital and knowledge stand out.

5. DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS The following issues comprise the set of data obtained in the research and which support this study. Some of the textual variables are repeated in sub-items, thus confirming the holistic understanding of the subject on the part of the respondents and valuing the analysis in function of the conceptual chaining. The data are presented and analyzed in four sections, the first being generic, for the broad understanding of the topic, and with the presentation of the categories evaluated in the adopted method. The other specific ones pointed out the three selected categories: knowledge, human capital and innovation.

5.1 Positioning, growth of the segment and company praxis In the first question of the interview, the positioning of the corporation was approached, considering the current market and the environment in which it is inserted.

According to the Chairman, in order to understand the current scenario one needs to understand how the company was created and its trajectory. PRI COMPANY resulted from the outsourcing process at a major company, aiming at reducing costs and the specialization of the security services. According to the respondent, many private security companies that began in the industrial sector, in course of time, migrated partially or completely to the public sector. This did not happen with this PRI COMPANY. It remained entirely in the private segment, aggregating only the demand of other businesses, such as commercial companies, which started hiring human security services. With this initial profile, the company was obliged to always be at the forefront of security solutions, in view of its contractors’ high level of demands, without, however, offering the guarantee of long term contracts, like those of the public area.

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working with a higher price than the competitors’. This is a proof of leadership by differentiation, which, according to Porter (1990), must be recognized by the client.

With respect to the growth of the security market, also in the Chairman’s words, “growth is evident, accompanying the growth of criminality”. PRI COMPANY’s growth, accumulated from 2002 to 2010, has exceeded that presented by the sector in Brazil in the same period (73.7%), as shown by the FENAVIST (2011). The company's performance, even though it has one of the highest prices in the market, evolved due to its relationship and differentiation strategy, the respondente adds. For Smoliar (2003), knowledge, possibly more than any other action, generates business growth and sedimentation of the market activities. According to Alvarenga Neto and Barbosa (2007), knowledge is one of the main factors of differentiation for organizational competitiveness. The creation of organizational knowledge produces conditions for an organization to innovate and quickly adapt itself to the environmental complexity (Moresi, 2001).

As to the managerial profile of private security companies, at the moment this shows to be one of those with low management professionalism, since few companies in the State are concerned about business management, with the actual cost of services and the quality offered to clients. In the respondent’s view this occurs mostly in smaller or informal companies, but also large companies are included in this context.

Also according to the Chairman, the ideal profile is “a Manager focused on results and with a more professional view of the sector”. He adds that associativism will be very important as a tool for continuous improvement and representativeness. In this regard, respondent AdmDir argues that only with very well informed people and the ability to make quick decisions, it will be possible to grow adequately. For Angeloni (2003), decision making will increasingly require the participation of people and a common thought. This consists in considering the point of view of each participant. The decision-making process, therefore, leaves the individual level and moves on to the team level.

The importance of innovation and creativity in the security sector, according to the Chairman, can be understood as the act of creating daily new and better ways of fighting and preventing crime, being essential for the recognition of this sector. The TecnDir respondent believes that the use of machines, although not assuming the man’s place, is a strong ally, especially in extreme conditions as in the area of private security.

The forms that are being worked on for the stimulation of innovation and creativity in the company and in the private security sector converge to the total quality, producing a methodology of continuous improvement for the organization, and providing greater interaction of the company with its challenges. Another current model is the discussion of various topics and the preparation of joined work in various associative activities. The quality committee, which meets periodically, is a source of innovation within the organization. A relevant point to be discussed is communication, constituting one of the daily problems faced by the sector. The Chairman tells that PRI COMPANY has taken some actions to improve its performance in this item. He exemplifies, citing events for the integration of new employees, coffee breaks when employees are awarded for their time with the company, the restructuring of the human resource department, and the implementation of career and salary plans. He continues telling that there are events involving the entire company, as well. He points out that these are increasingly important for the dissemination of ideas and knowledge exchange, especially for employees who are on the front line, where the responsibility JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 21-40

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for the alignment of strategies and projects of the enterprise is required. For the AdmDir, it is fundamental that the communication channel be free enough to allow everyone to express his/her experiences and questions. The TecnDir reports that new ways for communication arise daily, although people often insist on not incorporating them for a higher performance. Several authors (Ziman, 1981; Meadows, 1999; O'leary; Studer, 2001) state that there is a strong relationship between production of knowledge and its communication processes. For Angeloni (2003), the adequately performed communication process, as well as teamwork, plays an important role in solving typical difficulties of the decision-making process.

The organization of information and knowledge in the private security sector “represents a big challenge for the security organizations”, in the exact words of the TecnDir. As knowledge does not yet have a wide appeal in this market, there are few organizations that invest in the area. PRI COMPANY, as it can be seen in documents of the company, has made investments in the organization and retention of information, by means of information systems focused on customer service, but the transformation of this knowledge into a tangible return for the company has not yet occurred entirely. For several authors (Johannessen et al. 1999; Acemoglu et al. 2007), like most of the processes related to information technology, knowledge management, due to its nature, is also barely visible. For the authors, however, they are fundamental actions for the internal organization of the company, with respect to its growth in the sector. In this sense, Rivadávia, Barbosa and Parker (2007) defend the investment in informational assets as one way to increase business competitiveness.

The importance of the dissemination of knowledge in the private security sector, according to the Chairman’s understanding, consists in the fact that to grow in the security market it is necessary to invest more and more in knowledge, both in the creation and in retention and sharing. Today, however, the knowledge of the area is restricted to events, to courses, to MBA, and to formal education, says the respondent.

There are only few informal knowledge networks, electronic ones or face-to-face. He argues that FENAVIST holds periodically an event for the interaction and knowledge production called National Meeting of Private Security Companies (ENESP). The International Security Industry Association (ASIS) grants an international certification for professionals with a certain level of knowledge, called the Certified Protection Professional (CPP), accepted in various countries. He also asserts that the Association of Private Security Companies in Santa Catarina (SINDESP-SC) has held events, courses and meetings with employers and employees to discuss, resolve and work on issues inherent in the sector. The same Union maintains a technical chamber where the department of justice, the labor court, the regional labor office, the labor unions and the employers’ union are present for the discussion of important issues in the sector. The AdmDir argues that these meetings, in addition to the relationship, allow the wide dissemination of information on market practices. The TecnDir, on the other hand, sees the verifiability of new ideas before putting them into practice, of testing out possibilities, and of the anticipation of implementation problems, starting with the experiences of each participant.

Continuing the example, the AdmDir points the Security Exposition (EXPOSEC), with parallel events such as the Brazilian Congress of Business Security (COBRASE) with panels, discussion forums and lectures relating to the sector as fundamental. Similarly, the Brazilian Association of Security Professionals (ABSEG) maintains a permanent electronic forum with Information Exchange among the participants, reports the AdmDir. JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 21-40

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With reference to the information management systems in the private security sector, the interviewees note that there is some software of information recording and management. The ERP and the SIGMA are being used by some companies. But, according to the Chairman, the evolution is in the operational management software (GESOPER), which makes it possible to study the behavior of the staff and the response to this behavior by the consumer. It also allows recording the performance in various situations that may occur, serving as a basis for decision making. It is, in the view of the respondent, the tangibility of knowledge directed at the marketing possibilities of the private security sector. The TecnDir confirms the software as being an indispensable tool in the daily lives of private security companies and that there is still room for improvement in the processes due to the possibilities the software allows. Organizations operating in competitive markets are no longer interested in informational tools that do not allow the generation of knowledge or the effective measurement of results (Acemoglu et al, 2007).

The existence of communities of practice is confirmed by means of trade unions, associations and networks on the internet, promoting the interaction of people who exchange experiences and information. But still there are few real opportunities for communities and, in the opinion of the Chairman, this is due to the fact that few companies are professionalized, what makes meetings and exchanges of experience between managers impossible, because they do not trust each other, and “do not know whom they're dealing with”. The AdmDir has been an emphatic proponent of professionalization in the organizations, having caused this class of professionals to become professionally qualified by means of dealings with universities for the development of graduate courses.

Knowledge management aiming at innovation and value creation in private security company is still an isolated fact, according to the Chairman. For him, the participation in the above mentioned events and information management are the step already taken by the sector, specifically by better structured companies. Knowledge management is a small effort, admits the Chairman, an opinion corroborated by other respondents (“there's still a lot to be done ...” and “we are removing the first stones from the way ...”, respectively, the AdmDir and the TecnDir).

Investments in knowledge management and organizational learning are not easy to be measured in this sector. The main reason is that there is neither a definite concept nor a proper methodology. The sector is unaware of these costs, although it already pays some of them, as seen in the course of the interviews. Information, which is essential for the success of the organization, is not always in possession of the company it seems to be found only with its employees. If the company loses its top executives, it may not operate normally, without losing customers to its competition. Emphatically, the Chairman says: “When we talk about the organizational structure, not at the managerial level, a loss becomes simpler and less traumatic. But when it comes to the managerial level, it becomes much more complicated, because its members already dominate strategic information”. Continuing, he asserts: “Inserted into the GESOPER and SIGMA monitoring software, adopted by the better structured enterprises of the sector, there much information and various management reports for decision making exist”.

These managerial decisions depend on the experience and personal knowledge of the manager, being characterized as tacit knowledge.

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and the TecnDir. The latter explained that in the ISO 9001 processes there are formalized quality groups, with the mission of a continuous improvement of the processes, but there groups devoted exclusively to the production, development, and exploration of the organizational knowledge do not formally exist. For the TecnDir, “... [technology] is relatively well developed; it is the behavioral part that makes the full growth of knowledge management difficult”.

After the reading and having defined the categories according to Bardin (1977) and Freitas and Janissek (2000), the final results of the qualitative data processing (table 1) produced the following categories for analysis: Table 1 – List of the research categories and textual variables CATEGORIES

Textual variables that justify the categories

HUMAN CAPITAL

The ideal profile is that of a result-orientated manager.

KNOWLEDGE

... increasingly important for [...] knowledge exchange...

INNOVATION

We adopt innovation as a main strategy...

5.2 Human capital One of the issues has addressed the current and desired profile of the managers in the private security sector. At the moment, the Chairman’s understands: “The managers present poor professionalism, with few companies in the State worrying about business management and about the actual cost of services and the quality offered to clients”. Although correcting his statement when he says that this occurs, mainly “... in smaller or clandestine companies...”, the interviewee reiterates that there are large companies included in this context.

For the adequate management of the security companies, as well as for all others, the Chairman believes that the professionalization of managers is essential for the growth of the sector: “The ideal profile is a result-oriented manager with a more professional view of the sector. Associativism is very important as a tool for the continuous improvement and representativeness of the sector”. For the AdmDir “... efforts in that direction are being made and even directors of small businesses are already making decisions based on information obtained in a systematic manner”.

When he was asked if the organization holds the essential information for its success (explicit knowledge) or if they are only retained with people who work in it (tacit knowledge), the Chairman showed to understand the separation of responsibilities, because he believes that the loss of people with lower management levels is less traumatic, “... but when it comes to the managerial level, it is much more complicated since there strategic information circulates”, says the interviewee. Such arguments demonstrate the concern about business subjects of its top executives, as well as the loss of customers to competitors. The AdmDir admits that the retention of human talents has to be taken care of by the entire board of the company, not only by human resources (“... it is one of the main concerns of my daily work: how to handle the talents that are with me?”). Content and context are fundamental approaches for the understanding of JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 21-40

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the relevance of the communication-people relation in the organization and mutual responsibilities (see Mcelroy, 2003).

The importance with respect to the support of an Information and Communication Technology structure (ICT) in the company and of knowledge management as a manner of managing intangible assets linked to human capital, is explicit in the statement by the Chairman: “Inserted into the GESOPER and SIGMA monitoring software, adopted by the more structured companies of the sector, there are information and various managerial reports to support the decision-making process”.

The TecnDir, in turn, understands that the electronic systems, although limited, are essential for quick and appropriate decisions. Specifically, he asserts that “... the faster occurrences are addressed the greater is the possibility to solve the situation”.

5.3 Knowledge When asked about the communication that takes place in his segment, the Chairman was straightforward: “... it is one of the problems faced daily by our sector”.

The respondent understands the importance of actions at that level and underlines their importance for the success of the company. Organizations can no longer spare investments in knowledge, although this is intangible (Cooper, 1999; Earl, 2001; O'leary; Studer, 2001; Smoliar, 2003).

The interviewee argues that the organization of information and knowledge in the private security sector is a major challenge for companies in the sector. For Nonaka and Takeuchi (1997), knowledge is preceded by extensive formal and informal communication. The Chairman asserts that “as knowledge still does not have a large market appeal, few organizations invest in the area. And the return is not always easily measurable”. He continues, saying that PRI COMPANY makes investments in the organization of information, but that the transformation of this knowledge into a tangible return for the company does not yet occur entirely because “... knowledge of the area is restricted to events and courses, of a more formal nature, with few informal knowledge networks, whether electronic or face-to-face”. The respondent exemplified citing the events in the area. The TecnDir, in turn, argues about the future possibilities: “As people become acquainted with technology and systems for mobile devices, such as Android or iPad, they will be incresingly free to use and rely on social networks for knowledge sharing”. Here McElroy’s (2007) is cited to understand the context of knowledge situations: when people share common goals and the atmosphere is reliable, the obtaining of knowledge requires less effort.

With respect to information management systems, ERP and human resources management systems are being used by some companies in the sector. But the great evolution, in his understanding, lies in the operational management software (GESOPER), which makes it possible to study services offered by the staff and the behavioral response by the consumer. It also allows recording the performance in various situations that may occur, later serving as a basis for decision making. In the view of the Chairman “... it is the tangibility of knowledge directed at needs and marketing actions”. The TecnDir adds asserting that the precise control of the occurrences is the key for customers to recognize the company with its required seriousness, “... valuing the brand”. For Acemoglu et al. (2007), information management tools focused on knowledge dissemination are indispensable to any organization, having the growth in the sector and the development of new markets as their goals.

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About the existence of communities of practice, the respondent says that the unions, associations and networks on the internet promote the interaction of people exchanging experiences and information, “... but still there are few real opportunities of communities”. In the opinion of the Chairman, the reason is that few companies are professionalized, what makes meetings and exchange of experiences impossible: “... for not knowing whom they are dealing with”. The TecnDir believes that “... [the use of social networks] is, without any doubt, the revolution in our sector, allowing multiple and simultaneous quickness in communication”. Iaquinto et al. (2011) defend that the help to create and sustain competitive advantage through knowledge is facilitated by the communities of practice. Basically it's the understanding of several authors (Choo, 2003; Donate; Guadamillas, 2011) for whom knowledge management is a technological vision, but basically a human vision of groups of people.

When asked about whether the private security sector companies are investing in knowledge management, focusing on innovation and value creation, the Chairman says that participation in the mentioned events and the information management are the steps taken by the sector, more specifically by the structured companies, “... but it’s a little effort”. For the Chairman, the decision in a situation adverse to procedures and manuals of the organization depends more on experience and personal knowledge of the manager. The AdmDir adds, saying that efforts “... are being made, but there is some mistrust”.

Also, it was sought to determine whether investments in knowledge management and organizational learning are easily measurable in this sector. According to the Chairman, “since there is no definite concept and a proper methodology developed, the sector is unaware of these costs, although some of them are already paid”. The AdmDir asserts that, due to the intangibility of the results, already obtained or to be obtained in the future, “... to complete this calculation is still a great challenge”.

5.4 Innovation At addressing the corporate positioning, considering the current market and the environment in which it is inserted, the Chairman presented the rise and the progress of the company. Then, he pointed out that many organizations that began serving the industrial sector, migrated entirely or partially to the public sector over time. This did not happen with his company, remaining totally in the private sector, aggregating the demand of other businesses, like commercial companies, which started hiring human security services. With this initial profile, the company had always to be at the forefront of security solutions, due to the degree of requirement of its contractors. Therefore, he said, “...several times we take innovation as the main strategy, even in a conservative branch...”. The TecnDir believes that time will show everyone how innovation is a differential to be worked on: “...it is with [innovation] we show customers how much better we are than our competitors, especially the clandestine ones”. From the understanding of the respondents, one infers that innovation is part of the daily lives of competitive companies. This understanding of the Chairman comes close to what Scharf asserts (2007, p. 155) when he says that “considering the voluptuousness of the consumer market and the intensity with which competition takes place, few actions are as constructive for the image of a company as innovation”. For several authors (Cooper, 1999; Earl, 2001; Reich, 2007), for innovation, the elements should be considered, which can facilitate the knowledge dissemination process, such as the ways of communication, like ICT and information management.

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At analyzing the company’s turnover, in recent years, it has been able to maintain growth above the market average, even working with higher prices than the competitors. For the Chairman, “without doubt, a part of this growth is due to constant innovations made by upper management or by the commanded...”. The AdmDir adds: “...organizations realize when a brand has the search for the newness in its DNA, the idea of offering the best solutions for each case”.

The search for innovation should be treated as a process, therefore, with a constant and periodical feedback. In this way, “... there is an informal team focused on the search for innovative solutions in security processes, tested in the form of regional prototyping and, later on, applied to the whole team”. The TecnDir details: “I try to have in my team people who can identify and select the most innovative and creative solutions that exist”. And he complements saying that he avoids the easy solution: “... the fad, having its use already expired in less than a year for not meeting the necessary technical requirements”. For Hitt et al. (1998), the organizations, even the best structured ones, must maintain and assist the informal groups focused towards innovation in products or processes. The association of knowledge, learning, and innovation is based on the “innovative logic”, as proposed by Callon (2007). Here, the competitiveness of organizations originates from relationships established between them and their stakeholders with the goal of generating or adopting technologies, skills, and structured knowledge that result in innovations recognized in the market.

A later issue has revealed the manners that are being worked on for the stimulation of innovation and creativity in the company, such as the varied implemented management processes. Citing one of them, total quality, the Chairman believes that “... it brought a methodology of continuous improvement that encourages greater interaction of the organization with its challenges”. He adds the panorama of innovation, saying that this is not the sole adopted model. On the contrary, the organization benefits from a series of tools and participants in order to find innovation.

He stresses this saying that “... the other model is the discussion of various topics and the development of joint work in various associative activities. The quality committee, which meets periodically, is a source of innovation within the organization”, says the respondent, emphasizing the importance of the involvement of the team.

6. CONCLUSION The results have allowed evidencing the relevance and feasibility of knowledge management in enterprises of the private security sector, specifically as a value to be reported and a real possibility of growth through innovation.

Through a study with a leading company of Santa Catarina in the private security sector, it was demonstrated that security organizations depend on their level of reliability. The relationship with the client is essential to strengthen this position. In this sense, a constant innovative performance of the contracted company is required.

Starting from this premise, firstly one concludes that knowledge management applied by adequately delineated processes can lead the organization to achieve significant improvements in its innovation, marketing, and relationship, and marketing processes, with the creation, sharing and use of knowledge.

It was verified that the knowledge management process is not yet formalized in private security organizations, but many items needed for the implementation of this process are being worked out. Among them, the beginning of the participation in JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 21-40

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communities of practice, the organization and retention of company-wide information in a strategic manner, and the concern about the communication between its employees.

For Choo (2003), knowledge in organizations as an asset demands time for the production and rigorous control of the processes.

With the increase of criminality and the growing need for security of the population, new products are among the opportunities that innovation can provide.

Market practices should also be improved in the coming years.

This shows that the sector already works with knowledge in the form of an asset, but does not yet completely master the practices of knowledge management (see Arling; Chun, 2011) and does not apply them to its the marketing actions, which becomes a challenge for the managers. The forms of knowledge conversion are little explored, confirming the lack of knowledge management practices. For Cooper (1999), systems that involve knowledge, especially those related to innovation, cannot exist without companies that practice their knowledge, regardless of their origin.

Even without complete mastery, the surveyed organization achieved to identify the items needed for the effective implementation of knowledge management. At the same time, investments in human capital are perceived as one of the most urgent needs, being fundamental for effective actions in companies inserted in highly competitive markets. This is professional reasoning that addresses the academic findings of various authors (Gouveia et al. 2008; Scharf, 2009; 2012; Donate; Guadamillas, 2011).

Despite the presence of some companies of the sector in the media, it should be noted that in the region focused on the study, the planning and the development of marketing, through communication actions, are not formalized. Knowledge management does not appear as a catalyst of business strategies, either. In this way, the importance of knowledge and information management was verified.

6.1 Academic and managerial implications The main theoretical implications of this article may be the furthering of the discussion about knowledge management, primarily on the use of knowledge as a strategic asset for the construction of competitive advantages for the organizational growth. Studied by several authors (Cooper, 1999; Choo, 2003; Kusunoki, 2008), business growth through knowledge requires deepening, especially in establishing the attributes that can be used in its production and dissemination (Mcelroy, 2003; Ichijo, 2008). In addition, the article contributes to the discussion about the need of human capital adequately prepared for the new market reality, which imposes itself on the age of knowledge (see Hitt et al, 1998; Sveiby, 1998; Johanessen et al. 1999; Choo, 2003).

They also facilitate the opening of other research lines in knowledge management, such as the relevance of the context and content in business competitiveness (see Mcelroy, 2003), of the learning environments (see Angeloni; Fernandes, 2000), and of knowledge creation environments (see Balestrin, 2007). And, in light of the findings, opportunities also arise in relation to the study involving human capital and, in this case, its relation with innovation and with tacit knowledge.

Managerial implications reinforce the aspects associated with knowledge as a strategic process for business growth. The addressed constructs (human capital, knowledge and innovation) allow marketing activities totally directed toward growth, expanding the possibilities of success including facilitation conditions for the use of the innovative capabilities of the in-house team. Although difficult to measure the models that proceed in this way already begin to be exposed in the literature, allowing JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 21-40

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organizations to apply and measure of actions directed by knowledge (see Teece et al, 1997; Cooper, 1999; Morgan et al, 2003; Acemoglu et al, 2007; Arling; Chun, 2011).

Organizations can take advantage of the results found in conducting an adequate process of knowledge management, specifically in relation to behavioral aspects, but also in relation to the mapped processes. On the other hand, executives can understand knowledge as a sustainable competitive advantage to be adopted and, in this sense, undertake efforts regarding the implementation of some of the possibilities that emerged from this research.

6.2 Limitations Without the intention of generalizing results, the study was not applied in other units of the Federation, as a means of comparison between different realities existing in the field of private security. In the same way, the categories “knowledge”, “human capital” and “innovation” could be extrapolated to meet more adherence to the total concept of knowledge management, especially if other categories are identified in the course of works to come. Finally, the use of a quantitative method would determine the total of organizations of the studied segment that use certain tools of knowledge management and other managerial information.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol.10 No. 1, Jan/Apr., 2013 pp. 41-60 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752013000100003

BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS’ PERCEPTIONS RELATED TO THE INFLUENCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN INDIVIDUAL WORK Ricardo Adriano Antonelli UTFPR – Federal Technological University of Parana/ Pato Branco, PR, Brazil Lauro Brito de Almeida Márcia Maria dos Santos Bortolocci Espejo UFPR - Federal University of Parana, PR, Brazil Fernanda Luiza Longhi FADEP – Faculty of Pato Branco, PR, Brazil ____________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT According to the literature, much has been said about the impact of Information Technology on organizations, but little about its impact on the individual. This study aims to identify Information Technology benefits in individual work, choosing as a proxy some “latu sensu” post-graduation students, from a federal university in the south of Brazil. For data collection, a questionnaire based on the studies by Torkzadeh and Doll (1999) and Pereira (2003) was prepared. Torkzadeh and Doll dealt with the process of working; Pereira, with the four phases of the decision-making process. The final instrument, after being validated and tested, amounted to 21 questions to detect the potential benefits of Information Technology. The results demonstrated that users are satisfied, by pointing an average of 2.69 on a scale of "1" (little satisfied) to "5" (very much satisfied). The framework, work process, got an overall average [2.82]. Managerial control [3.10] and productivity [3.06] had the highest ratings; innovation [2.34], the lowest one. With technologies fully implemented, greater satisfaction was observed for all constructs of the survey, with statistically significant differences. Such differences were also proven in the Information Technology solutions that use Enterprise Resource Planning technology, the best-evaluated one. When comparing age, it was found that younger users were more _____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 16/05/2012 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 12/12/2012 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência Ricardo Adriano Antonelli, Mestre em Ciências Contábeis pela UFPR, Professor do Curso de Ciências Contábeis da UTFPR – Campus Pato Branco. Rua Caramuru, 599, ap. 401 - Centro - Pato Branco/PR - Brasil - CEP 85.501-051 Fone: (46) 3225-6096 E-mail: ricardoaantonelli@yahoo.com.br Lauro Brito de Almeida Pós-Doutorando em Administração pelo PPAD PUCPR, Doutor e Mestre em Ciências Contábeis pela EAC/FEA/USP, Professor PPG Mestrado em Contabilidade UFPR. Av. Visconde de Guarapuava, 4517, ap. 171, Batel - Curitiba/PR – Brasil - CEP 80.240-010 – Fone: (041) 3779-7893 E-mail: gbrito@uol.com.br Márcia Maria dos Santos Bortolocci Espejo Doutora em Controladoria e Contabilidade pela Universidade de São Paulo-FEA/USP Professora - UFPR - PPG Mestrado em Contabilidade Av. Prefeito Lothário Meissner, 3400 – Jardim Botânico - Curitiba/PR – Brasil - CEP80.210-170– Fone: (041) 3360-4417 E-mail: marciabortolocci@ufpr.br Fernanda Luiza Longhi Advogada e Especialista em Direito Processual Civil pela Universidade Castelo Branco – RJ Professora – FADEP – Faculdade de Pato Branco – Curso de Direito. Rua Goianases, 195, Centro - Pato Branco/PR Brasil - CEP 85.501-020 - Fone: (46) 3223-4444 E-mail: fer_longhi@hotmail.com Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2013 All rights reserved.

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satisfied with the benefits of technology. Concerning the number of employees, small business users were less satisfied with Information Technology.

Keywords: Information Technology. Benefits on the Individual. Work process. DecisionMaking Process.

1. INTRODUCTION The many improvements which have been witnessed in the different areas of knowledge in recent years have led organizations and people to constantly adapt to them. Information Technology (IT) has been one of the important factors to induce change in the environment. Fetzner and Freitas (2007a) argue that since the midtwentieth century, organizations have experienced a period of intense innovation and use of technologies, critical elements to the pursuit of higher levels of performance and competitiveness; and they also say that there has been a corresponding recognition of the IT potential contribution to organizational success.

In the early 60's, IT set out the first benefits for organizations, specifically contributing to the automation of operational processes. In the 70â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, IT started a new stage of contributions by providing customized management reports to support the decision-making process, and using the data stored in databases of information systems.

The 80â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s were marked by the emergence of PCs, causing a revolution in the organizations of that time. Borges, Parisi, and Gil (2005) believe that, due to computers, data, which used to be centralized in mainframes, became then available to users and managers at their desks. Thus, IT made it possible to improve internal efficiency as well as personal productivity. As a result of such a new way of seeing and using information, many information systems were recognized as strategic because they presented positive impacts on the competitiveness of companies that used them.

The evolution of IT kept developing in the 90â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, when other major advances came forth: the beginning of the Information Technology Age, the strategic importance of IT in business, and the popularization of the Internet, primarily responsible for the birth of e-business. Nowadays, the involvement of organizations in IT is obvious, with minimal chances of survival for those [companies] that do not use it (Borges, Paris, & Gil, 2005).

In this evolutionary technological process, changes in focus and paradigms in organizations have been taking place continuously, and also been incorporated by IT. Parallel to these developments, the definitions and concepts of IT have also been changing. Therefore, it is important to define the concept used in this work, as it has been discussed, for example, by Henderson and Venkatraman (1993), by Walton (1994), by Laudon and Laudon (2000), by Laurindo (2002), by Padoveze (2007) and by others. Some authors have considered IT consisting only of machines, while others have defined it more broadly, including people in the technological context. For the present study, the definition considered was taken from Laurindo (2002), who conceptualizes IT in a more comprehensive way, including data processing, information systems, software engineering, software and hardware set, as well as human, administrative and organizational aspects.

Understanding how IT impacts on an organization and its staff is not only a challenging experience, but also a great opportunity for deeper studies. Torkzadeh and Doll (1999, p. 107) explain that the analyses of IT impact on organizations, besides being wide, provides research opportunities and significant challenges. In similar ways, Fetzner and Freitas (2007b) believe that the process of implementing technology is JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 41-60

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complex and multifaceted, and can be approached from different perspectives and in ranges of analysis from the individual to interorganizational areas.

In Antonelli, Espejo, Almeida, and Longhi (2010) bibliometric study, an extensive research both in national and international journals has been carried out in order to examine thematic and methodological trends of publications dealing with the impact of IT, between the years 2005 and 2009. One of the researches tried to verify the point of view where the impact of IT was being analyzed from. Just two, out of the thirty-eight articles selected, studied IT at the individual level, emphasizing, therefore, the lack of research in this area. Such verification also supports other studies over the last decade

by Torkzadeh and Doll (1999), who said that researches about the impact of IT has not yet been developed at the level of individual work.

In this context, the study of the impact at the individual level is important for two main reasons: (i) first, due to the lack of research with such an approach, and (ii), second, due to the need to consider human factor in IT studies. Rezende and Abreu (2000) think that the human element - peopleware - should be included as an IT component. According to them, people should also be responsible for the integration of technological tools. In this sense, Pereira (2003) says that without the human interference, IT would have neither functionality nor utility. According to these considerations, the guiding question of this study is: Which are the perceptions of business professionals related to the influence of information technology in individual work? It follows the aim of this study is to verify such business professionals’ perceptions related to the influence of IT in individual work. It is still needed to validate the research tools to be used in this survey.

This study is divided into five sections, beginning with this introduction. It is followed by the theoretical and empirical basis, and by the methodological procedures.

The analysis of the results and the conclusions with recommendations for further researches are discussed in the fourth and fifth parts.

2. THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL BASES Considering the many possible studies of IT impacts on organizations, inquiries have been undertaken with several outbreaks either in Brazil or abroad. Shang and Seddon (2002), for example, investigated the benefits organizations can get from their investments in ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). They suggested a framework of benefits originated from the analysis of 233 corporative systems and interviews with 34 organizations. Focusing on a specific economical sector, Spathis (2006) studied the positive impacts of ERP systems in the field of accounting organizations in Greece.

Hyvonen, Jarvinen, and Pellinen (2006) carried out a case study in a European company with the purpose of analyzing the use of ERP systems to help in ABC (Activity-Based Costing). Fawcett, Magnan, and McCarter (2008) – due to issues relating to barriers that prevented the success of an application – used a “quali-quanti” methodological approach to investigate the achieved benefits with the successful implementation of SCM (Supply Chain Management) in U.S. companies.

In Brazil, some studies are usually quoted, for example: (i) Mascarenhas, Vasconcelos, and Vasconcelos (2005) who discussed the impacts of IT and its strategic role in the context of personnel management transition; (ii) Silveira and Zwicker (2006) who analyzed the use of IT as a source of sustainable competitive advantage for industry organizations, (iii) Ferreira and Silveira (2007) who studied 27 supermarkets of JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No. 1, Jan/Abr. 2013, pp. 41-60

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different sizes, trying to assess the impacts of computerization in the management of these institutions; (iv) Nascimento and Reginato (2007) who evaluated the contribution of IT tools, more specifically, BI (Business Intelligence) in the area of controlling, and its function is to provide the decision-making process with useful information; and (v) Albertin and Albertin (2008) who showed the relationship between IT benefits and business performance, as well as its application in managing technological projects through a specific instrument developed for this purpose.

Given the diversity of the aforementioned studies, the considerations of Torkzadeh and Doll (1999) and Freitas and Fetzner (2007b) are corroborated by the finding of different approaches to the impact of IT, such as cost reduction, competitive advantage, providing information for decision making, organizational strategy, time reduction, improvement in relationships with customers and suppliers among others.

The theoretical and empirical bases of this study is essentially grounded on empirical researches analyzing the benefits of IT in individual work developed in the working-process (Torkzadeh & Doll, 1999) and in the decision-making process (Pereira, 2003).

2.1. Benefits of Information Technology in individual work IT can affect individual work in different ways. Torkzadeh and Doll (1999) in their seminal study, argued for a framework able to measure the impact of IT at an individual level, and based on four constructs: productivity, innovation, customer satisfaction and management control. Later, Torkzadeh, Doll, and Koufteros (2005) validated that instrument. Pereira (2003) studied the impact of IT on the individual work process, using Torkzadeh and Doll (2003) framework with the addition of another construct: decision-making process.

Both such studies make use of the userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perception of IT to measure its impact.

Pereira (2003) argued that this strategy is based on the individual cognitive process that has its own scheme to understand the external world. The cognitive process is based on Behavioral Theory of Management, and, on a study by Doll and Torkzadeh (1991), it is represented by a â&#x20AC;&#x153;system to value chainâ&#x20AC;? to explain the relationship between the use of IT and its impacts (Figure 1). For these authors, the impact of IT is a key concept that incorporates downstream effects; to study it, at the individual level, is a direct reflection of the use of technology which precedes organizational effects (Doll & Torkzadeh, 1991).

Figure 1: System to Value Chain Source: Doll and Torkzadeh (1991) It should be noted that most studies referenced herein analyzes the impact of IT on individual work. As it will be described hereafter, the instrument used for this measurement examines the possible positive impacts on the individual by means of the above five constructs. Considering that the word "impact" may lead the reader to think JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 41-60

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about both positive and negative aspects, the word "benefit" is sometimes used here to emphasize IT positive aspects.

2.1.1. The benefits of IT in the perspective of the Work Process In a seminal study, Torkzadeh and Doll (1999) drew up a framework to measure the impact of IT in individual work. In order to create such an instrument, they carried out an extensive literature search to identify the points which should be dealt with.

Torkzadeh and Doll (1999) listed definitions for the four constructs that describe "how" the impact of an application at the individual level is within an organizational context. Application should be understood as the use of IT to perform the work. The definitions and the literature are described in Table 1.

Table 1. Definitions of the impact of IT on work Construct

Short definition

Productivity

To the extent that the userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance improves, per time unit.

Innovation

To the extent that an application helps users to create and test new ideas in their works.

Customer satisfaction

To the extent that an application helps the user to add value for internal or external customers of the company.

Management control

To the extent that the application helps to regulate work processes and performance.

Source: Adapted from Torkzadeh and Doll (1999, p. 329) With the constructs set out and the literature review completed, Torkzadeh and Doll (1999) made 39 closed questions of the five-point Likert-type scale to measure the impact of IT in all four dimensions considered above. For initial validation of the instrument, a pilot study was conducted, by applying the factorial analysis, with the purpose of purification, verification of unidimensionality, reliability, concision and simplicity of the structure of the factors.

While developing the pilot study, 89 interviews were made, though 24 of them were excluded at purification. In the analysis of reliability, by applying Cronbach's Alpha test, three other questions were also excluded. So, the final version had just 12 questions, which were applied to 409 technology users belonging to 18 different organizations from different industries and sectors. The authors pointed out that the wide diversity of the sample contributed to the generalization of the results and made the questionnaire application in different realities possible.

Torkzadeh and Doll (1999) successfully concluded their study not only for having conceptualized the impact of IT, but also for developing valid and reliable measurements to evaluate it. The suggestions to apply their framework are: (i) to compare users of the same software, by identifying their differences and training needs, (ii) to use parts of the instrument to assess the different kinds of applications, and (iii) to use the instrument to facilitate the identification of situational factors and processes which determine the implementation effectiveness, and also to evaluate the degree to which individuals learn how to apply new technologies.

Later, Torkzadeh, Doll, and Koufteros (2005) carried out another study in order to revalidate the instrument mentioned above. They proposed a new validation approach by using confirmatory techniques and tests of factorial invariance. Data were collected JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No. 1, Jan/Abr. 2013, pp. 41-60

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from two samples. One with IT users, in the U.S., the other one, in Mexico, both of them with respondents from different management positions in the organizational hierarchy. The results clearly illustrated that the initial four constructs adequately measured the impact of IT on individual work. Reliability was high, and the factorial invariance tests showed that, generally speaking, the evaluation model was invariable regardless the countries being studied or the levels of management.

The authors thought that the proposed framework should be confirmed with the replication of the study in order to test its stability and to develop appropriate standards to evaluate specific applications. In this sense, there are the following studies: (i) Maçada and Borenstein (2000) measured the users’ satisfaction from a Decision Support System (DSS), and they concluded that the four dimensions of the model are enough to analyze a prototype in a public organization. (ii) Lunardi, Correa, and Borba (2004) evaluated the ERP implemented in a university hospital from a Federal Institution of Higher Education, through the perspective of the user’s satisfaction.

2.1.2.

The benefits of IT in the perspective of decision-making

In the twentieth century, it was thought that the management of organizations should be rational, controllable and likely to be standardized. Such a view represented an essentially logical decision-making process, centered on the chief executive officer, who was expected to possess extensive knowledge of all alternatives and their consequences. Therefore, he did not need to give explanations about the criteria he had adopted for his choices (Wijnberg, Ende, Van Den, & Wit, 2002).

Pereira, Becker, and Lunardi (2007) say that from the 1960s on, IT began to be used to help in the decision-making process by means of mathematical models. The expectation, at the time, was the possibilities of using IT, through algorithms, to analyze all the alternatives and their consequences. In contrast to such expectations, the authors argue that in the last few decades, the complexity, unpredictability and hostility of the external environment have made business decision-making difficult. Ruggiero and Godoy (2006) say that the decision-making process in organizations has been changing over the years, particularly due to the speed of IT advancement.

Considering the importance of IT, nowadays, in supporting the decision-making process, Pereira (2003), besides adapting and validating such an instrument for the Brazilian context, also expanded it with the addition of the construct “decision-making process” at an individual level. The main aim of this study is to evaluate the perception of bank employees related to the impact of IT on their work.

The construct decision-making process is grounded on Simon’s (1960) study, and has three main stages which are performed at different times: (i) intelligence: search for situations requiring a decision-making process; (ii) design: creation, development and analysis of possible alternatives, (iii) choice of an alternative amongst those available.

Later, the author added a fourth stage to the process: (iv) implementation. In Table 2, the concept of the construct decision-making process comes in detail.

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Table 2. Definition of the impact of IT on decision-making process viewpoint Construct

Short definition It is understood as a synonym of management, which encompasses not only the final act of a choice amongst alternatives, but the whole process of decision making, including the four stages of the process:

Decisionmaking

(i) intelligence: is there a problem? (ii) design: which are the alternatives? (iii) choice: which alternative to choose? (iv) implementation: is the choice working?

Source: Adapted from Pereira (2003)

While adapting Torkzadeh and Doll’s (1999) instrument, Pereira (2003) emphasized the care he had in the translation, back translation and adaptation phases, which made it possible to validate the questionnaire for the Brazilian banking environment. She explained that great care had been taken in performing these stages in order to maintain the original sense of the questions and, at the same time, to adapt them to Portuguese.

In the questionnaire designed by Pereira (2003), Torkzadeh and Doll (1999), questions were kept, and another 15 ones included, all of them related to the decisionmaking process. They were also pre-tested with elements from the sample, and obtained a very high value for Cronbach´s Alpha - 0.90 – proceeding to implement the survey without any question modification for that module (Pereira, 2003). The final version of the questionnaire, which was developed and validated by Pereira (2003), had 27 questions: 12 of them adapted from Torkzadeh and Doll (1999), and other 15 ones included.

To emphasize the statistical analysis power in his discussion of the final results, Pereira (2003) used Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) procedures, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and an adaptation of the method MTMM (multitraitmultimethod). The author also said that the aim of using such statistical techniques was to check the validity of the constructs. The final instrument for the decision-making process left five questions out, keeping only ten from the original instrument, with the percentage of variance explained through EFA, of 77.7%.

After Pereira (2003), other analysts started using questions related to the decisionmaking process along with the ones developed by Torkzadeh and Doll (1999). (i) Ruggiero and Godoy (2006), for example, in order to identify and analyze the opinions of human resource managers concerning the aspects of the use of IT in their work, and (ii) Lucht, Maçada, and Hoppen (2007) who extended the model of the work process including issues related to decision-making process and information security in order to build an expanded conceptual model to measure such impacts in users’ of an Information System individual work.

2.1.3. Conceptual model of the research Figure 2, the conceptual model of this research details the constructs and investigates variables. In the first group, we have the information technology of the individual's work consisting of two other constructs. The first is the work process, based on Torkzadeh and Doll (1999) and Torkzadeh, Doll, and Koufteros (2005). It is composed of the following constructs: productivity, innovation, customer satisfaction and management control. The second one is the decision-making JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No. 1, Jan/Abr. 2013, pp. 41-60

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process, based on Pereira (2003) and composed by the constructs: intelligence, design, selection and implementation phases.

Constructs

Productivity Innovation

Work Process

Customer Satisfaction

Management Control

Information technology in individual work

Intelligence

Design

DecisionMaking

Choose Implementation

Figure 2: Conceptual model of the research 3. METHODOLOGY This survey has been carried out replicating the instruments developed by Torkzadeh and Doll (1999) and Pereira (2003). A survey, according to Babbie (2001), has three main purposes: to describe, to explain and to explore. Therefore, this study aims to measure, following an ordering scale, the intensity of IT benefits in professional activities from the point of view of its own users’ considerations. According to the criteria of Hair, Babin, Money, and Samouel (2005), it can be classified into quantitative, exploratory and descriptive research.

Torkzadeh and Doll (1999) said that the results they obtained have support for generalizations, because they had got several answers from a wide variety of applications and organizations. In this study, we have tried to set a diverse population frame, comprising people from different kinds of organizations (private ones, public and mixed ones, and from the third sector), from different sectors (trade, industry and service), from different-sized companies (small, medium and large ones), from different departments (inventory, financial, commercial, etc.), from different ages, different length of professional experience, etc.

Considering the diversity of samples, the population frame was set with business students, classes of 2008, 2009 and 2010, from Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), enrolled in the following “lato sensu” post-graduation courses: Business Management, Controlling, Accounting and Finance, MBA in Integral Audit and People Management.

The instrument for data collection had twelve questions originated from Torkzadeh and Doll (1999); another ten, from Pereira’s (2003) instrument, both of them of the Likert type, with five levels each, ranging from "1" (very little) to "5 "(very much). They JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 41-60

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intended to measure the intensity of perception of the IT benefits in the work of the individual.

To characterize the respondent, 14 questions were used, either closed or open. It is Important to note that of two questions from the characterization block, one asks whether the application used by the respondent is in the implementation phase. If the answer is yes, it is expected that the impact is lower than those that are not being implemented. Another question checks whether or not the application is part of an ERP. Some studies, in the literature, also observe that ERP brings great changes in any environment it is inserted, like the study by Newman and Westrup (2005). According to these authors, the ERP systems have represented a fundamental change for accountants.

Turban, McLean, and Wetherbe (2004) also think that ERP systems have provided solutions that benefit and improve the efficiency, quality and productivity of enterprises, improving their results as well as customer satisfaction. Finally, the instrument comprises, at first, 22 Likert-type questions to measure the benefits of IT in the work of the individual and, then, other 14 questions to characterize the respondent, amounting to 36 questions.

Data were collected in two ways: (i) visits were made to “lato sensu” postgraduation students, classes 2010, during their lessons, in order to explain to them the research and to hand out the printed questionnaire: 145 valid responses were obtained back; (ii) to the other classes, 2008 and 2009, an electronic version of the questionnaire was sent by e-mail, along with a presentation of the research and a request for collaborating. Another 76 valid answers came back; amounting to 221 when added to the above ones.

Data statistical treatment was performed in three stages. At first, techniques of descriptive and univariate statistics were used; and then, multivariate statistical techniques, in the case of Cronbach's Alpha and EFA (Exploratory Factor Analysis). At last, to test data normality, the tests of Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk were employed, followed by the group analyses of by using the Mann-Whitney Test of hypotheses.

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results of this research are described in four parts. The first one characterizes the sample. The next two validate Torkzadeh and Doll’s (1999) and Pereira’s (2003) tools respectively. The last one crosses the answers.

4.1. Characterization In the block of the instrument, concerning the characterization of the sample, some questions were highlighted. The first one asked about the application(s) the respondent had been using in his professional activity. According to the 221 responses, more than 50 different types of software were in use, with the highest reference for "Excel" with 16.7%, "SAP" with 16.2%, "Cordilheira" with 5.88% and "Datasul" with 7.0%.

Concerning to the respondents’ main functions performed in the organizations, more than 25 different functions were mentioned. About 56.5% of the respondents carried out more than one function. From the ones with a single function, 37 [16.7%] there were just financial functions; 21 [9.5%], accounting ones; 7 [3.16 %], human resources; among some others.

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In relation to age, it was observed that most respondents are young people aged between 20 and 30 [64%]. The time length of the respondentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; professional experience was also analyzed, along with age. Most of them do not have more than a decade of professional experience: 26.7% up to five years, and 41.6% six to ten years.

Working time in the current organization was also observed, so that employees with up to four years are the majority with 61.9%.

To characterize the working environment in which the respondents are in, some of the questions dealt with the organizational characteristics. It was observed that 84.7% of the respondents were working in private companies; 7.2%, in public ones; 6.3%, in mixed organizations; only 1.8%, in the third sector. Such figures show that the sample covers IT users from all business sectors, in spite of the different proportions.

Also respondents from private and mixed organizations were asked to sort them, according to their main activity, into commerce, industry or service providers: 73 out of 201 are service providers; 56, industries; 31, commerce companies; 41 no specified activity. The number of employees was used to rank companies by their size, according to the SEBRAE1 (2011) methodology, as it can be seen in the fragmented sample in Table 3. Large organizations are more common in the sample.

Table 3. Size of companies Classification

Industry (56)

Trade and Services (104)

Size

Total

Percentage

Micro (up to 19 employees)

02

3,6%

Small (from 20 to 99 employees)

03

5,4%

Medium (from 100 to 499 employees)

11

19,6%

Large (more than 500 employees)

40

71,4%

Micro (up to 9 employees)

12

11,5%

Small (from 10 to 49 employees)

24

23,1%

Medium (from 50 to 99 employees)

15

14,4%

Large (more than 100 employees)

53

51,0%

Source: Research based on the classification of SEBRAE (2011)

With the characterizations discussed so far, the intention of having a sample with a high degree of diversity seems to have been achieved, due to the variety of softwareused; the age groups of respondents; the different time length of their professional experiences; and the organizational characteristics of the companies.

4.2. Validation of the Work Process Instrument (Torkzadeh & Doll, 1999) Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to validate the Instrument; at first, because it had been employed in the original studies, and also for the intention to verify the correspondence of the factors with the theoretical basis. The relationship with the basic studies is grounded on Fieldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (2009) considerations. He argues that Factor Analysis can help to identify groups or clusters of variables as well as to reduce the data set, and does not require that the researcher has prior knowledge about the dependence between variables. a private non-profit organization established in 1972 with the mission of promoting competitiveness and sustainable development of micro and small enterprises.

1

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Factor Analysis was carried out with the method of principal components by assuming the sample corresponds to the population. For a better explanatory power of the factors, the Varimax orthogonal rotation was used. According to Field (2009), it consists in trying to add a smaller number of variables toeach factor resulting in more clusters of interpretable factors. EFA was initially performed with a number of factors with eigenvalues greater than one, generating three factors for the instrument [5.5; 1.50; 1.32]. Similarly to Pereira (2003), there was the proximity to the fourth factor [0.87], opting to carry out another round for the extraction of four factors. Originally, Factor Analysis was performed with a number of factors with eigenvalues greater than one, generating three factors for the instrument [5.5; 1.50; 1.32]. Similarly to Pereira (2003), the proximity to the fourth factor [0.87] was observed, and then it was decided for another round to extract a fourth factor.

Checking the table of communalities, the PROD_103 variable, which asked if "this application allows me to accomplish more work than would otherwise be possible", presented low value [0.61], when compared to the other ones. Then, a new round was held without this variable, trying to improve the model's explanatory power, which rose from 76.6% to 78.9%, culminating with the definitive withdrawal of the assertion. So, as a final result, EFA had four factors [Table 4], showing the strength of the model with the following details: (i) the correlation matrix had all its values close to zero, (ii) the KMO test was satisfactory with 0.860, and the one of sphericity validated the use of EFA, (iii) the anti-image matrix had all its diagonal values greater than 0.50, and (iv) in the table of communalities, all the indicators had a high explanatory power, with their values above 0.70.

Table 4. EFA of the Work Process survey Rotated Component Matrixa Factor (Component) Encoding - Description of the Issue 1 2 3 4 PROD_101 - This application saves me time.

0,792 PROD_102 - This application increases my productivity.

0,825 INOV_111 - This application helps me come up with new ideas.

0,785 INOV_112 - This application helps me try out innovative ideas.

0,794 INOV_113 - This application helps me create new ideas.

0,854 SATIS_121 - This application improves customer service.

0,755 SATIS_122 - This application improves customer satisfaction.

0,854 SATIS_123 - This application helps me meet customer needs.

0,851 CONTROL_131 - This application helps management control the work 0,818 process.

CONTROL_132 - This application helps management control performance. 0,850 CONTROL_133 - This application improves management control.

0,839 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.

Rotation converged in 5 iterations.

Source: Research a

As the research variables behaved similarly to the baseline study, the interpretation of the factors remains the same as explained in Table 1. So Factor (1) from Table 4 relates to management control; Factor (2) relates to innovation; Factor (3) to customer satisfaction; Factor (4) to productivity. To check the reliability of the scale, Cronbach's Alpha of the instrument was calculated with eleven final variables, individually and by construct. Caution in relation to the estimated coefficient should be emphasized, so that no correlation was negative. Table 5 details the values found for Cronbach's Alpha and its comparison with previous studies.

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Table 5. Cronbach’s Alpha of the Work Process Survey Constructs

Survey

Pereira (2003)

Productivity (4) Innovation (2) Customer Satisfaction (3) Management Control (1) TOTAL Source: Research

0,78 0,83 0,84

0,74 0,80 0,81

Torkzadeh and Doll (1999) 0,93 0,95 0,96

0,88

0,82

0,93

0,89

0,82

0,92

The obtained coefficient was 0.89; higher than in Pereira’s (2003) study, and slightly lower than Torkzadeh and Doll’s (1999). Such amounts corroborate both the model acceptability and reliability. With the results obtained, either by EFA or by the Cronbach's Alpha, it can be said that the model is effective, just as mentioned by its creators.

4.3. Validation of the Decision-Making Instrument (Pereira, 2003) The same parameters above for EFA validation were used here to validate the decision making instrument, resulting in the three factors further detailed in Table 6.

The details of the generated EFA are: (i) the correlation matrix has all values close to zero, (ii) the KMO test was satisfactory with 0.924, and the sphericity test continues validating the use of the EFA; the anti-image matrix had all the diagonal values higher than 0.50; (iii) in the table of communalities, all of the indicators show a high explanatory power with values above 0.71, (iv) the model, at last, successfully explains about 78.4% of the variation of the indicators.

Table 6. EFA of the Decision-making Process survey Rotated Component Matrixa Factor Encoding - Description of the Issue 1 2 3 INTELIG_151 - This application helps me to sort the identified problems.

0,805 INTELIG_152 - This application helps me to describe the characteristics of the 0,791 problems.

CONCEP_161 - This application helps me to describe alternatives to decision 0,880 making.

CONCEP_162 - This application helps me to consider the alternatives to 0,856 decision making.

CONCEP_163 - This application helps me to analyze the decision making 0,830 alternatives.

ESCOL_171 - This application helps me to select the most appropriate 0,654 alternative to solve the problem.

ESCOL_172 - This application helps me to choose the best alternative to solve 0,592 the problem.

IMPLE_182 - This application helps me to review an implemented decision.

0,683 IMPLE_183 - This application helps me to monitor a decision implemented.

0,826 IMPLE_184 - This application helps me to implement a decision.

0,761 Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.

Rotation converged in 5 iterations.

Source: Research a

In the study by Pereira (2003), the results obtained by EFA resulted in four factors corresponding to their constructs. In the present research, as it can be seen in Table 4, the EFA has generated only three factors, since the constructs intelligence phase and JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 41-60

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selection phase are coupled in Factor (2), which indicates the variation similarity of IT benefits, either in checking any existent problem or in choosing an alternative. Factor (1) corresponds to the designing phase and Factor (3) to the implementation phase.

The results of Cronbach's Alpha have been satisfactory (Table 7), with values higher than those of Pereira (2003). No correlation had negative results, which enabled the analysis of the coefficient at issue.

Table 7. Cronbach’s Alpha of the surveys Decision-Making Process Constructs Intelligence (2) Design (1) Choice (2) Implementation (3) TOTAL Source: Research

Survey 0,87 0,94 0,87 0,83 0,93

Pereira (2003) 0,78 0,90 0,74 0,72 0,89

The final results of the validation of the instruments demonstrated their high reliability and strength. The framework of Torkzadeh and Doll (1999) remained with four constructs, though a question has been taken from it, resulting in eleven ones to measure the benefit of IT in the process of individual work. Pereira’s (2003) instrument remained with the ten questions, but grouped into three constructs which measure the IT impact on the decision-making process.

4.4. Relationship between Characterization and Respondent Satisfaction The descriptive analysis of both basic instruments was performed by assigning the degrees of awareness of the benefits through the use of the Likert scale, ranging from "1" (very little), "2" (a little), "3" (neither little nor much), "4" (much) and "5" (very much). In Table 8, the simple averages of the assertions can be seen as well as the weighted average of the constructs and instruments, which were calculated by multiplying the replies (scale 1-5) by the factorial weight of each assertion statement achieved from EFAs. In the Work Process (WP), the overall average ( ) was 2.82, with respondents more satisfied with the benefits of management control [3.10] and productivity [3.06].

Innovation received the worst satisfaction average [2.34]. Analyzing by assertions, the PROD_102 question had the highest average [3.82], while INOV_113, the lowest one [2.83]. When comparing the benefits in the working process with the main functions performed by the sample (financial, accounting and human resources), one realizes that many tasks that were once carried out manually have been automated with the use of IT and hence more tightly controlled, for example, payable and receivable accounts, import of accounting entries, generating reports, payroll calculations, etc.

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Table 8. Average of the sample perceived benefits Symbolism: Simple average = Weighted average =

Work Process (WP)

Productivity Innovation Satisfaction Management Control

Decision-Making Process (D-MP)

Intelligence phase Design phase Choice phase Implementation phase

Analysis by

Question

Construct

Instrument

Questions PROD_101 PROD_102 INOV_111 INOV_112 INOV_113 SATIS_121 SATIS_122 SATIS_123 CONTROL_131 CONTROL_132 CONTROL_133 INTELIG_151 INTELIG_152 CONCEP_161 CONCEP_162 CONCEP_163 ESCOL_171 ESCOL_172 IMPLE_182 IMPLE_183 IMPLE_184

3,74 3,82 2,96 2,88 2,83 3,76 3,14 3,36 3,68 3,74 3,70 3,38 3,23 3,75 3,62 3,64 3,06 3,11 3,36 3,39 3,38

General average of the instruments  Source: Research

3,06 2,34 2,82 2,79 3,10 2,64 3,14 2,56 1,92 2,55 2,69

Customer satisfaction had a median average, so that it is possible to see, in any organizational department, the facility to generate information on-line for customers by using IT, which helps, above all, to satisfy customers. Another point concerns the applications that, in general, have more than one function, which allows detecting IT users’ accumulation of functions and, therefore, without time to explore and investigate new ideas because they are more demanded than others. Such results show that the technological tools used by the sample are centered on an industrial model, aiming at improving productivity and management control.

The Decision-Making Process (D-MP) had an overall average of 2.56; the design phase being the best evaluated one [3.14], and the choice phase, with 1.92, the worst of all. By analyzing each question, all the assertion averages are higher than 3.00. It may be observed that IT usefulness in checking possible alternatives (design phase) is the most intense one in the decision-making process; its magnitude, however, is lower when choosing an alternative (choice phase). According to Pereira (2003), the choice and implementation phases are thought to be "practical” in the decision-making process, as direct people participation is more relevant than IT use. Therefore, the results of this study support the author’s point of view, in the sense that the choice and implementation phases have been little noticed by the sample [1.92 and 2.55].

In the unified analysis of both instruments (WP + D-MP), an overall average of 2.69 was obtained. It demonstrates a satisfaction that ranges from "little" (2) and "neither little nor much" (3), the instrument WP has been slightly better rated than the D-MP.

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In the respondents’ characterization it was asked whether the IT used was fully deployed, because the benefits are expected to be higher in this case. With the data displayed in Table 9, it can be observed that fully implemented ITs had a higher average [2.77 against 2.50] in all the constructs of both instruments. To check whether the difference between averages was statistically significant, it was firstly checked for data normality by using Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests. With a level of significance of 5% in both tests, in relation to the average of the instruments, the null hypothesis was accepted (H0), resulting in non-normal data, requiring the use of a nonparametric test.

The Mann-Whitney Test of Hypotheses was used in order to compare two sampling averages of unpaired data, with a level of significance of 5%. The null hypothesis, of the Mann-Whitney Test of Hypothesis, refers to the fact that there are no statistically significant differences between the sampling averages. When comparing the means of the users who have a fully deployed IT with those who do not have it, the null hypothesis was rejected, indicating the existence of statistically significant differences.

Thus, on average, the difference of the benefits of IT for users who have a fully deployed technology is demonstrated, as it was expected.

Table 9. Average of the perceived benefits related to implementation and to ERP Fully Implemented IT?

Is IT part of an ERP?

Constructs

Yes

No

Yes

No

I do not know

General Total (WP+D-MP)

2,77

2,50

2,80

2,55

2,65

WP – GENERAL

2,89

2,65

2,94

2,69

2,76

WP – Productivity

3,11

2,91

3,15

3,02

2,88

WP – Innovation

2,42

2,14

2,46

2,16

2,37

WP - Customer Satisfaction

2,86

2,61

2,90

2,61

2,82

WP - Management Control

3,17

2,93

3,24

2,96

2,98

D-MP – GENERAL

2,65

2,35

2,67

2,42

2,54

D-MP – Intelligence

2,69

2,50

2,73

2,55

2,54

D-MP – Design

3,27

2,80

3,21

2,99

3,19

D-MP – Choose

2,00

1,72

2,03

1,76

1,92

D-MP - Implementation

2,63

2,37

2,70

2,37

2,50

Total number of responses (221)

158

63

106

70

45

Source: Research

Another assertion referred to the IT tool used, whether it was part of an ERP, considering that in the literature, many studies highlight the benefits that ERP technology can bring when compared to other technologies (Turban, McLean, & Wetherbe, 2004). In Table 9, it is possible to observe that for those who knew how to answer this question, satisfaction is actually higher for ERPs [2.80] users. Similarly to the implementation, all constructs of ERP users got better averages than non-users of JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No. 1, Jan/Abr. 2013, pp. 41-60

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such a technology. In the statistical comparison of averages, by using the MannWhitney Test of Hypothesis, the null hypothesis was rejected, which indicates the existence of statistically significant differences of the benefits for the users of ERP technology, thus agreeing with the above mentioned theories.

When comparing the response averages with the respondents’ age, it can be observed that the most satisfied are aged 36 to 40 years; the least satisfied are over 46.

Regarding satisfaction as a result from years of professional experience, those who had experience of "16 to 20 years" [2.82] are more satisfied; those with less experience ["up to 05 years" (2.68) and "06 to 10 years" (2.66)] are less satisfied, possibly indicating a non-adaption to such a technology.

Regarding the size of the organizations/respondents satisfaction, it is observed that smaller and larger companies have satisfied IT users as well ("up to 09 employees" with 2.79 and "above 500 employees" with 2.64). The least satisfied ones are in companies of "50 to 99 employees", with 2.41.

5. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS In order to verify the IT benefits at business professionals’ individual work, the validation of the research instruments used here was performed by EFA with rotation Varimax and Cronbach's Alpha. The first one, related to the work process (Torkzadeh & Doll, 1999), had 12 initial assertions that turned into eleven, thus improving the model with an explanatory power of 78.9% and a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.88. The eleven assertions were fragmented into the four constructs of the original study, without requiring any new interpretation of the factors, which are, respectively: productivity, innovation, customer satisfaction and management control.

The decision-making process instrument (Pereira, 2003) remained with the ten questions of the original study, with an EFA explanatory power of 78.4%, and Cronbach's Alpha of 0.93. The difference for the baseline study is that in the rotation of EFA, the present study resulted in just three factors, not four. The first factor is the design phase, the second one corresponds to the choice and intelligence phases; the last one, to the implementation phase. It should be noted that both instruments had performed well in their validations, thus making it possible to go on with the research.

It is believed that the choice of the sample has been successful, and the issues of sample characterization proved their diversification, both in individual characteristics, as in the organization. Regarding the respondents’ satisfaction level, the weighted average obtained was 2.69 on a scale of "1" to "5". The work process instrument [2.82] obtained a higher average satisfaction than the decision-making process [2.56], although the difference is negligible. The constructs management control and productivity were the best evaluated ones [3.10 and 3.06 respectively], indicating the biggest support of IT in labor income; in the control of work and performance processes. In contrast, innovation got the worst evaluation [2.34], highlighting the slightest help of IT for users to create and test new ideas in their offices. The construct customer satisfaction [2.79] had a median evaluation if compared to the other constructs in relation to the description of helping the user to create value for the customers of the organization.

In Pereira’s (2003) instrument, the design phase was the best evaluated one [3.14], indicating the help of IT in checking what the possible alternatives to make a decision JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 41-60

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are. On the other hand, the choice phase got the worst evaluation [1.92], indicating the low help of IT when it comes to choosing an alternative. The intelligence phase, concerning the checking of problems, as well as the implementation phase, concerning the operation of the choice, had an intermediate evaluation. With the characterization of the sample, some conclusions could have been made. Users using IT fully implemented tools are, on average, more satisfied, probably because they have more benefits available, which agrees with the statistically significant differences between the means.

Another aspect concerns the users using ERP technology. They are more satisfied than those who do not use it; with statistically significant differences between them, according to the Mann-Whitney Test of Hypotheses, confirming that the ERP technology can increase its users’ benefits. Regarding age, the research has demonstrated that older users are less satisfied with such a technology, while middleaged and younger people [36-40 and 25-30] are very satisfied. It has also been verified that users with more professional experience are more satisfied with IT than others as well, especially the ones aged from 16 to 20. Another conclusion refers to younger generations’ greater familiarity with IT than older ones, due to their contact with technology since childhood.

Regarding organizational characteristics, it can be seen that greater user satisfaction is at the extremes, i.e., micro-companies (up to 09 employees) and larger ones (over 500 employees). Since the least satisfied are in small organizations with 50 to 99 employees. With the results surveyed so far, it can be effectively seen that, in case of decision-making, IT has been helping users both in operational and tactical tasks. At this point, it is possible another conclusion: big companies, which have higher technological needs, also require more financial resources to use IT; while micro ones, which do not have so many financial resources nor so complex processes, do not need IT that much to support their activities. Small companies, which are in the middle of the scale, have technology needs but not enough financial resources to be appliedto IT, resulting in less satisfied users with its benefits.

As a limitation to this research, it is important to point out: (i) the impossibility to generalize its results on account of the sampling method used, a non probabilistic one, in spite of the sample diversification; (ii) the researcher’s absence when the questionnaire was being filled in; (iii) the questionnaire being applied in the printed form and online version.

Thus, considering the results, as well as the above restrictions, it may be suggested for further research: (i) replication of this research in a larger sample, (ii) implementation of the instrument across different cultures to check for their differences, and (iii) the use of the instrument within organizations before and after implementing a given technology.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 10, No. 1, Jan/Apr., 2013 pp.61-80 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752013000100004

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP BUILDING IN IT OFFSHORE OUTSOURCING: INSTITUTIONAL ELEMENTS FOR A BANKING ERP SYSTEM LICENSING Luís Kalb Roses Catholic University of Brasília, DF, Brazil __________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to design a conceptual model of institutional elements for the building of a client-supplier strategic partnership in IT outsourcing, involving an ERP system licensing. This model resulted from a case study in a Brazilian transnational bank, which is one of the 10 largest American banks in terms of assets volume. Qualitative content analysis technique evaluated the data collected from interviews, documents, and observations. The results show the importance of a multidimensional institutional perspective with a set of regulative, normative, and cognitive elements to structure a client-supplier partnership. The data analysis confirmed elements predefined in the theory developed, as well as identified new ones.

Keywords: Offshore IT outsourcing; strategic partnership; ERP system; institutional theory.

1.

INTRODUCTION

The outsourcing of information technology (IT) refers to the transfer of part of the internal IT services of one organization (client) to another (supplier), by means of a contract. The process usually includes the transfer of decision-making rights over production factors (people, facilities, equipment, technology, and other assets) related to these services (Hirschheim and Lacity, 2000). In exchange, for an established period, the client pays the supplier for the management of its assets and for the provision of IT services (Loh and Venkatraman, 1992).

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 20/03/2012 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 17/01/2013 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência Luís Kalb Roses, Doctor in Administration by the Post-Graduation Program in Administration of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre/ Brazil – and in Management Science by the Applied Research Center in Management of the Pierre Mendès-France University – Grenoble, France. Professor at Catholic University of Brasília – Brasília, Brazil – where he teaches and researches IT Governance in the Stricto Sensu Post-Graduation Program in Knowledge and IT Management. The main lines of research include IT outsourcing governance models, IT service quality, IT-Business strategic alignment, agile methods for software development, and IT project management. In one of the 10 largest American banks, he is IT manager. Address: SGAN 916 Norte, Modulo B, Sala A128, 70790-160, Brasília (DF), Brazil. Telephone: (61) 3448-7137.E-mail: lkroses@gmail.com Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2013 All rights reserved.

62 Roses, L.K.

The IT outsourcing arrangement of particular interest to this study is the licensing of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system. The ERP is “a comprehensive body of activities sustained by several modules of application software [IS] which help the industrialist or another business manager to manage important parts of his/her business…” (Foldoc, 2011). Standardizing and speeding up processes, standardizing human resources information, integrating financial information, integrating customer order information and reducing inventory are the five major reasons why companies decide for an ERP project (Nazemi, Tarokh, and Djavanshir, 2012).

The licensing of ERP systems shows a failure average rate above 60% in terms of implementation time, costs over budget and benefits realization, according to a research performed by Panorama Consulting Group (2011) in the second half of 2010, involving 185 organizations from 57 countries. The situation can be worse if the client chooses an offshore supplier (located in another country), when several barriers can arise for clientsupplier relationship, being among them (Simon, Poston and Kettinger, 2009; Momoh and Shehab, 2010; Sousa, Giardino and Trezza, 2011; Khan, Niazi and Ahmad, 2011; Amid, Moalagh and Ravazan, 2012): mismatch in culture, value, and norms; geopolitics instability; imperfect information about the suppliers; unrealistic expectations on cost savings; differences in time zones; knowledge transfer difficulties in both directions (client-supplier); layoff and loss of human capital; location of client and supplier team members; lack of project management; lack of protection for intellectual property rights; lack of due diligence resulting from offshore bandwagon mindset; lack of top management support; lack of technical capability; high system complexity; and key users with poor skills.

Moreover, Lee and Kim (1999) posit that organizations (clients) face difficulties to form and manage the relationship with their suppliers when a relationship based only on a contract (arm’s length) is changed to a partnership one. Partnership is a cooperating relationship alternative (Tomlinson, 2005), mainly when the focus is the quality of the services or products involved (Collins, 1997). Macedo-Soares (2011) asserts that firms are more and more competing globally through partnerships, despite new paradigms and managerial tools to manage them. Klepper (1995) considers client-supplier strategic partnership in IT outsourcing as a complex phenomena and suggests a close examination to understand and manage this relationship dynamics, through the integration of a set of elements derived from several theories.

Kern and Willcocks (2002) suggest further an investigation about the institutionalization process of the client-supplier relationship in IT outsourcing, when they applied the Interaction Model (Hakansson, 1982) to explore this relationship in 12 client organizations. IT governance is about institutionalized practices through processes (ITGI, 2012) and the adoption of an institutional theoretical perspective contributes with elements from economic, political, and social orders (DiMaggio and Powell, 1991).

The banking sector is exposed to “very highly technical and institutional pressures”, as “they face both efficiency/effectiveness demands as well as pressures to conform to procedural requirements” (Scott and Meyer, 1991, p. 123). In this sense, an ERP is an alternative for them to advance in new markets as those of foreign countries, as it manages through their modules several business processes of a branch - products, accounting, customer relationship, payments, funds transfers, current and saving accounts, and so on.

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Strategic Partnership Building in IT Offshore Outsourcing: Institutional Elements for a Banking ERP 63 System Licensing

In this context of institutionalization process and banking sector, the following question guides this research: What are the institutional elements for the successful building of a client-supplier strategic partnership in IT outsourcing through the licensing of a transnational banking ERP system? To answer this question, this research adopted the strategy of a single case study in a transnational Brazilian bank.

2.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP IN IT OUTSOURCING

Anderson and Narus (1990, p. 46) describe relationship satisfaction as “a focal consequence of a working partnership” between a client and a supplier. In the IT outsourcing context, Grover, Cheon and Teng (1996) define partnership as interactive relationships of long standing that contribute to client-supplier relationship success. The essential characteristic of a strategic partnership is the cooperation of the partners (Das and Teng, 1998; Tomlinson, 2005). Morgan and Hunt (1994) say “cooperation promotes the success of the [client-supplier] relationship.”

The cooperation of the partners occurs when the “business partner wish to pursue mutual compatible interests in the alliance, instead of acting in an opportunistic way” (Das and Teng, 1998, p. 492). Opportunism links to egotistical behavior and bad faith (Williamson, 1975, p. 26-27). Thus, there must be incentives in the client-supplier cooperation to inhibit opportunism and promote an environment of trust in their relationship (Collins, 1997). To Blumberg (2001, p. 828), “commitments can reduce the motivations to opportunism while establishing additional costs to such behavior.”

Commitment means the goodwill to exert a maximum effort towards the continuation of the long-standing partnership (Wilson, 2000, p. 250). Hagen and Choe (1998, p. 589-590) define trust as the “expectation that one can depend on the promises of the other and that the other will act in a cooperative spirit towards the one who trusted him in unforeseen circumstances”. Ring and Van de Ven (1992) sustain the need of a strong trust in strategic partnerships. ERP implementations that meet clients´ process needs normally are not fast and the client-supplier cooperation in this scenario is very critical (Anderson, Banker, Menon and Romero, 2011) for the partnership between them.

2.1

Commitment-trust theory

In the context of the commitment-trust theory, Morgan and Hunt (1994, p. 22) consider that “commitment and trust lead directly to cooperative behaviors, which are pointers to the success of the partnership [in the long run]”. They point out the reduction of opportunism, communication quality, and shared values in the generation of trust between client and supplier from a partnership perspective. Shared values are also a factor that generates commitment in this kind of partnership. One partner commits only to whom he or she trusts, explaining the positive influence of trust on commitment.

Coercive power, when one part imposes itself upon the dependent one, results from the costs of change and from the benefits generated by the partnership, besides being a destructive factor for both commitment and trust.

To Grover et al. (1996), the benefits that a client receives from IT outsourcing may be of an economic (cost reduction), strategic (access to distinctive competencies, competitive advantage, etc.), and/or technological (access to latest technology) nature.

The costs of change are the costs of ending the partnership (Morgan and Hunt, 1994).

Communication, although associated with the exchange of information between the parties (Mohr and Spekman, 1994), happens through the formal and informal sharing of

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significant information (technical, strategic or operational), which engenders trust between them (Lewicki and Bunker, 1996). Lee and Choi (2011) identify on-going trust in client-supplier relationship as a requirement to IT outsourcing benefits.

2.2

Model of the institutional elements

The commitment-trust theory does not explore in depth the perspective of either partner, since commitment and trust dimensions do not discriminate their influence in a specific partner, be client or supplier. Thus, based on the commitment-trust theory model (Morgan and Hunt, 1994), this study presents a model of institutional elements with the aim of outlining the client view regarding IT client-supplier strategic partnership, according to Figure 1. An institutional approach gives the opportunity to identify and integrate regulatory, normative and cognitive elements derived from several theories (Scott, 2001, p. 51) - the purpose of this study - to institutionalize the process of client-supplier relationship.

Normative Elements

Shared Values

Supplier Commitment

Costs of Change

Benefits

Client Commitment

Client Trust

Strategic Partnership Dimensions

Client-Supplier Cooperation from client perspective

Regulatory Elements

Client-Supplier Communication

Cognitive Elements

Figure 1 - Model of the institutional elements of the IT strategic partnership

The reduced opportunism of the supplier is represented by its commitment to the partnership with the client. This commitment exerts a positive influence on client trust (calculative trust), there being neither the need for opportunism consideration with its negative influence on the client trust, nor for regulatory elements to mitigate its existence. Nor is the coercive power considered, since the model outlines the relationship between partners and the commitment-trust theory itself treats its influence as a non-assessed hypothesis.

2.2.1 Regulatory Elements Regulatory elements aim at controlling behavior, which is rational and moved only by the interests of the parties (Williamson, 1975). This control occurs through the establishment of rules that punish through penalties or that reward through incentives, according to a formal agreement signed by the parties - client and supplier. The power that characterizes the regulatory dimension must be legitimized based on a “normative frame that both restricts and supports the use of power” (Scott, 2001, p. 53), which makes the regulatory and normative dimensions interdependent.

The transaction cost economic theory indicates some safeguards – or regulatory elements – capable to minimize transaction costs in the client-supplier relationship

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(Williamson, 1985, p. 60, 62, 167; Williamson, 1996, p. 124), as a consequence of opportunism (Williamson, 1985, p. 32): multiple sourcing (or alternative suppliers); reciprocal exposure when investing in assets (or hostage); periodic contract renewal; and reputation. The mechanism of multiple sourcing puts the suppliers in a competitive environment to serve the client, which induces the quality of the goods and services involved in the transaction between them (Williamson, 1985, p. 61).

Hostage occurs when they invest in assets dedicated to their relationship, which demonstrate the actual commitment of both to the future of their exchanges, mitigating the exposure of the one of them to the opportunism of the other, since they will share possible value losses of those assets. Examples of supplier investments are material assets, new facilities, and personnel training (Bahli and Rivard, 2003). Also, if the contract is flexible to face unforeseen events and permits agreements through its periodical reviews (Williamson, 1985, p. 62), it generates economies at the transaction cost level for the client-supplier relationship.

Further, depending on the idiosyncrasy of the assets involved in the services agreed, the long-term duration of the contract indicates the importance attributed to the relationship by the partners, as foreseen in the game theory applied to Political Science (Axelrod, 1984). The development of IS (or software) is an idiosyncratic service (Aubert, Rivard and Patry, 2004). This is the situation of a client licensing an ERP system from a supplier, which involves IS development by the latter as a service to the former, mainly in the process of this system customization for the client needs and the client participation in the management of its implementation.

The reputation effect to the partners happens when one of them does not fulfill what the agreement establishes, having a negative effect on the present and future businesses of the given partner (Williamson, 1985, p. 395). But, reputation effect happens only if the lack of fulfillment is open to public knowledge, its consequences are clear and provable, and the part that suffers the lack of fulfillment of the agreement penalizes the responsible one.

The agency theory strives to identify the most efficient form of contract to the agency relationship, in a situation of potential divergence of interests between principal and agent, which strengthens the conditions of opportunism and uncertainty outcome to the fulfillment of the expected results (Eisenhardt, 1985). Thus the â&#x20AC;&#x153;control system [about the behavior and/or results] evaluates and pays [based on performance], motivates behavior [as established by the economic theory regarding transaction costs] and also alters the standard of risk sharingâ&#x20AC;? (Eisenhardt, 1985, p. 137), which becomes more balanced between the principal and the agent and, in this way, motivates cooperating efforts between them in the relationship. The pricing model must fit these aspects.

Furthermore, regarding the pricing model, the use of service level agreement is common in the IT client-supplier relationship. This corresponds to the mandatory acceptance by the supplier to reach certain levels of performance agreed with the client, as well as supplying rights and solutions to the client (Click and Duening, 2005, p. 119).

Thus, the following propositions are posited: P1a: Alternative suppliers are a regulatory element in the IT strategic partnership; P1b: Hostage is a regulatory element in the IT strategic partnership; P1c: Periodic contract renewal is a regulatory element in the IT strategic partnership;

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P1d: Long-term contract is a regulatory element in the IT strategic partnership; P1e: Reputation is a regulatory element in the IT strategic partnership; P1f: Pricing model is a regulatory element in the IT strategic partnership; and P1g: Service level agreement is a regulatory element in the IT strategic partnership.

2.2.2 Normative Elements The prescriptive concept of the institutions derives from Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons sociological studies, as seen in their focus on family groups, social classes, religious systems and voluntary associations, where beliefs and common values are more often than not present (Scott, 2001, p. 55). The reference standards emphasize the “normative rules that introduce a prescriptive, evaluative and mandatory dimension to social life” involving both values as norms (Scott, 2001, p. 54). Durkheim (1984, p.

28-29) postulates that the order component of social solidarity is the authority of the legal rules, as defined either formally or by common use.

These rules offer a positive contribution that is a cooperative contribution derived essentially from work division (Durkheim, 1984, p. 77). Law, however, is not the only form to regulate cooperation between the parties. There is another element that comes from moral aspects (Durkheim, 1984, p. 162). While the contractual relationship lasts, both parties must respect the rules either in a direct or indirect way. These rules, whose order is social (as is that of the law), even if not sanctioned by a legal code, also carry a binding character, although in a diffuse way.

Thus, rules of a purely moral character or collective practices under the protection of public opinion follow legal rules. These rules of moral order compel individuals to act according to the ends that are not their own, implying mutual allowances, agreeing to commitments and considering the interest of the others as superior to their own (Durkheim, 1984, p. 173). In other words, this kind of rules imposes flexibility on selfinterests (Durkheim, 1984, p. 174). Macneil (1980) characterizes these rules as relational norms. They involve behavioral expectations which “occur in relations, must occur in relations if the relations are expected to last and must occur as long as their continuation is prized [by the parties]” (Macneil, 1980, p. 64).

Dunning and Lundan (2010, p. 1229) state the multiplication of uncertainties in the human environment, “primarily due to the incommensurability and/or opaqueness of the norms and values that guide decision-making processes and that provide the rationale for the design of the formal institutional system”. Parsons (1964a, p. 118-119), who learned from cognitive psychology, refers to value as the orientation element that is common to social interaction. Values are normative standards that describe a desired social system, while norms contextualize these standards to specific situations and members, defining the desired expectations and the rewards or penalties to apply (Parsons, 1964b, p. 124).

The norms, nomenclature adopted in this paper (legal norms and relational norms), have the power to reduce the political manipulation by the individual on their own interest, binding them not only to the laws but also to the description of jobs, procedures for activity performances, standards of quality, etc. (Scott, 2001, p. 55).

Thus, the following propositions are posited: P2a: Legal norms are normative elements in the IT strategic partnership; and

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Strategic Partnership Building in IT Offshore Outsourcing: Institutional Elements for a Banking ERP 67 System Licensing

P2b: Relational norms are normative elements in the IT strategic partnership.

2.2.3 Cognitive Elements The cognitive dimension of the institutions exploits “the central role performed by the construction socially mediated by a common referential frame of meanings” (Scott, 2001, p. 58), while cognitive elements refer to the “shared assumptions which constitute the nature of social reality and the frames through which the meaning is built”. Hence, emphasis is on “the cognitive dimensions of human existence” (Scott, 2001, p. 57), where the relationship between culture and cognition arises from the fact that external cultural environment models the internal interpretative processes of the individuals.

The cultural-cognitive perspective comes from the cognitive science studies developed at the Carnegie School (USA) by Herbert Simon and James March (DiMaggio and Powell, 1991, p. 18), as well as by Harold Garfinkel in ethnomethodology studies, a student of Parsons (DiMaggio and Powell, 1991, p. 19) who based his work on the studies of Alfred Schultz in phenomenology (Garfinkel, 1967, p. 76). In ethnomethodology, Garfinkel (1967, p. 76) considers that “descriptions from the point of view of the interests of the collectivity members in the management of their practical affairs” are the bases of social life. These descriptions are the knowledge shared and used by the collectivity members to communicate with each other (Garfinkel, 1967, p. 77). Giddens (1984, p. 29) mentions communication as one of the dimensions that structures social interaction from a shared cognitive perspective.

Hakansson (1982) highlights the importance of communication during the institutionalization of a long-standing client-supplier relationship, while Dey, Clegg and Bennett (2010) point out communication as a major risk factor to an ERP implementation. In this context, Khan et al. (2011), through an extensive literature review regarding offshore software development outsourcing, identified language and cultural issues as an outstanding barrier for client-supplier relationship success in IS development outsourcing.

In an interdependent relationship between the parties, typical of a strategic partnership, Sheppard and Sherman (1998) consider essential the capacity to exchange information. Sharing meanings and interpretations, or cognitive sharing, allows communication of a better quality (Lander, Purvis, McGray and Leigh, 2004) and contributes to a framework of trust between the partners (Lewicki and Bunker, 1996, p.

121). It provides “the necessary basis to a non-opportunistic behavior”, while avoiding the development of asymmetric power (Hardy, Phillips and Lawrence, 1998, p. 69).

Willcocks, Lacity and Kern (1999) mention the risks of power asymmetry development that benefits the supplier in the post-transitional phase of IT outsourcing, while Kwahk and Ahn (2010) point out the negative impact of client-supplier misfits due to different countries on ERP implementation success. Thus, the following proposition is posited: P3: Common language is a cognitive element in IT strategic partnership.

3.

RESEARCH METHOD

The nature of this research is descriptive-exploratory through a single case study strategy, as the phenomenon under study is contemporary, not easily dissociable from its context and characterized as a “technically unique situation in which there might be many more variables of interest than data points” (Yin, 2001, p. 32). The case study

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“contributes in a unique way to the understanding of individual, social and political phenomena” (Yin, 2001, p. 67), which includes organizational processes.

Further, this research follows both Miles and Huberman (1994, p. 34) criteria for a case study adoption: a) a politically important case, because of its relevant characteristics to the moment, as its is related to a bank strategy to a better position in international markets; b) a timely case, when the aim is the one of investigating new trends or unexpected events, as the unit of analysis is related to a strategic project under occurrence; and c) a convenient case, considering the aspects of less time, cost and effort, as the researcher has easy access to the case study data.

3.1

Place and unit of analysis

Brazilian banks are relevant to this research because they strongly use IT in the distribution of their products and services, as well as in the automation of their internal affairs. In 2010, according to Febraban (2010), Brazilian banks expended an amount of US$ 11.8 billion in IT and invested US$ 895 million in the acquisition of third-party software and applications, this last one representing a growth of 8% in relation to the previous year.

The Brazilian bank under study, which this study identifies as BANK, is among the three largest Brazilian banks and one of the 10 largest in America in terms of assets volume; has a base of more than 50 million customers; has a working staff of over 100 thousand employees; in 2010 had net profits of over US$ 10 billion and total assets of over US$ 800 billion; and has more than 10 thousand service points with automated teller machines (all services and operations are made in real time). This level of automation characterizes BANK as the one that invests in IT the most. In 2011, it invested about US$ 650 million, which represented approximately a quarter of the volume invested by the Brazilian banking sector (US$ 2.66 billion).

The unit of analysis – the case – is the building process of the client-supplier strategic partnership in the IT outsourcing, involving licensing of a banking ERP system

by BANK (client) from an offshore supplier. The purpose of this licensing is the businesses processes automation of BANK´s international branches. A specific project of BANK conducted the process of licensing of the ERP system, identified in this paper as SYSINTBRAN – System for the Automation of the International Branches [of BANK]. The acquisition and implementation costs of the system, including hardware and telecommunication infrastructure, will be above US$ 25 million.

The ERP system will have a great impact on the businesses of BANK´s international branches and on the way BANK manages them. It will reduce costs related to the actual replicated structures of IT abroad; automate the businesses of BANK´s international branches; redesign the management processes of these branches; process in a centralized way at BANK´s IT headquarters, located in Brazil; standardize the actual different routines used by international branches; integrate the international branches with current BANK´s processes, including not only its legacy systems, but also its management practices (accounting, auditing, customer relationship, and policies for products and services); and mitigate the actual operational risks with the current three ERP systems used by international branches, which have several deficiencies related to their obsolescence. These systems do not provide strategic, economic, or technological benefits to BANK. Moreover, the licensing of an ERP system is a fast way for a bank to put in place the best practices in the banking industry (technology infrastructure, businesses, electronic security, compliance to norms, etc.), mainly when the target market is abroad.

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3.2

Procedures for data collection, analysis and reliability

Documents, observation and interviews were the data sources for analysis purposes of this study. The documents studied were BANK´s IT policy for its international branches, minutes of the meetings between BANK and ERP systems suppliers that were candidates in the selection process, ERP system requirements listed

by BANK, software license agreement signed by BANK and the supplier selected, and other documents from the SYSINTBRAN project, mainly those used to support its steering committee´s decisions.

Between October 2007 and February 2008, the researcher´s observation happened during BANK´s meetings with the ERP system supplier better ranked in the selection process, as well as during a workshop organized by BANK with this supplier for the presentation of its ERP system. From 2009 to 2011, the researcher´s observation happened as a participant during the implementation process of the ERP system in BANK´s European Branches. In August 2008, BANK signed the license agreement contract to implement this ERP system in its international branches. This implementation is under way in the European Branches and is scheduled to happen in the Branches located in other continents – South America, North America and Asia until 2014.

In total, the researcher interviewed 20 BANK´s employees with direct or indirect involvement in the SYSINTBRAN project, during the period between December 2005 and April 2007. These employees authorized the researcher to record the interviews, who transcribed them for analysis purposes. Table 1 shows the profile of the employees interviewed according to their departments, as well as the date, duration and the interaction form of the interview (i.e., whether the researcher was personally present or performed Internet/Skype™ calls).

For the analysis of the data collected from the documents, interviews and researcher observation, this study applied qualitative content analysis technique through categorical analysis (Bardin, 1977, p. 153). The unit of significance, or register, was themes (thematic analysis). In this way, the categorization criterion was semantic and not syntactic (aggregating verbs, adjectives, pronouns, etc.) or lexical (aggregating by the sense of the words) (Bardin, 1977, p. 118). The themes are clippings of units with variable length extensions, including several sentences.

For the categorization of the themes this study developed a category-system, which was not sufficiently exhaustive to restrict the analysis (Miles and Huberman, 1994, p. 85) and, consequently, jeopardize the perception of unusual data having important significance to the research (Marshall and Rossman, 1995). Regulatory, normative and cognitive institutional elements already presented in this study formed the category-system, which was the basis of the protocol used for data collection during the interviews, observations and documents.

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Table 1 - Characteristics of the interviews Departments

Employee Profile

Date

Duration

Form

01 business manager

29.09.2006

31min44sec

In person

01 project manager

29.09.2006

1h03min51sec

In person

30.04.2007

1h40min12sec

In person

02 IT consultants

29.04.2007

40min29sec

In person

01 IT manager

09.12.2005

35min19sec

In person

(in Europe)

13.12.2005

25min55sec

In person

01 project consultant

29.04.2007

8min43sec

In person

01 project consultant

30.04.2007

14min05sec

In person

01 manager

15.12.2005

33min40sec

In person

01 manager

16.12.2005

24min30sec

In person

International Branches

03 managers

13.12.2005

22min30sec

In person

02 managers

16.01.2006

16min

Internet/Skypeâ&#x201E;˘

(in Europe)

01 manager

21.12.2005

43min

In person

02 managers

27.12.2005

28min35sec

In person

01 manager

13.01.2006

16min15sec

Internet/Skypeâ&#x201E;˘

International Businesses

01 project manager 01 project manager Information Technology

Organizational Strategy

The regulatory elements of the category-system are: alternative suppliers (Williamson, 1985; Hagen and Choe, 1998), hostage (Williamson, 1985; Somaya, Kim and Vonortas, 2010), periodic contract renewal (Williamson, 1985; Bahli and Rivard, 2003), long-term contract (Axelrod, 1984), reputation (Williamson, 1985), pricing model (Lacity and Willcocks, 2001, p. 168) and service level agreement (Cullen and Willcocks, 2003, p. 73); the normative elements are legal norms (Durkheim, 1984) and relational norms (Macneil, 1980); and the cognitive element is the common language (Ge and Voβ, 2009; Khan et al., 2011).

The reliability of the study derives from the use of several sources of evidence, allowing data triangulation (Yin, 2001, p. 119-128). Moreover, it derives from the following criteria recommended by Tashakkori and Teddlie (1998, p. 92): a) referential adequacy, which reviews the analysis at a later time of the research from the stored data; b) precise description of the data sources, data collection procedures, methods of analysis, and protocols; and c) member verification, or the verification of the results by the research respondents, considered the most important criterion for the reliability of a study with a qualitative approach (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998, p. 92).

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4.

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

From BANK´s perspective (client), Figure 2 illustrates the model of the institutional elements of the strategic partnership in IT outsourcing, as a result of the analysis. The model is segmented into regulatory, normative and cognitive institutional elements, which are the ones for establishing a strategic partnership between BANK and its ERP system supplier (“... in a philosophical view, what we are going to search is a partnership relationship where I open a market for an enterprise and it brings me a good solution and helps me to build things which I will need over time… ” – a quotation from one of the project managers).

Contract laws Arbitration Rules

Normative Elements

Costs of Change

Benefits

Flexibility Information Exchange

Shared Values

Client Commitment

Solidarity

Strategic Partnership Dimensions

Client-Supplier Cooperation

Quality Certification Supplier Commitment

Client Trust

Regulatory Elements

Client-Supplier Communication

Alternative Suppliers

from client perspective

Hostage Reputation

Common Language

Periodic Contract Renewal Long Term Contract Unit Pricing Fixed Pricing

Cognitive Elements

Function Oriented Metrics Requirements Specification Project Management Model

Risk and Rewards Sharing ERP and Technology Expertise Service Level Agreements Due Diligence Sequential Implementation

Figure 2 - Model of the institutional elements of the strategic partnership in IT outsourcing

4.1

Regulatory categories

Data analysis confirmed the regulatory elements – alternative suppliers, hostage, periodic contract renewal, long-term contract, reputation, pricing model, and service level agreement – all of them pertaining to the category-system and related to the propositions P1a to P1g, respectively. Although the analysis confirmed periodic contract renewal category, it is specific for maintenance services (“… error-corrections, procedural questions, recovery and backup information, and general consultation exist...” – maintenance clause of the contract), not for the survival of the software license agreement, which is perpetual. Thus, both client and supplier consider the importance of their relationship future.

The analysis of the pricing model category allowed the identification of three correspondent subcategories (Click and Duening, 2005, p. 122-123): a) fixed pricing, established for the duration of the agreement, it allows the client to know in advance the supplier price for future services, but requires a clear scope definition of the service and of effective metrics before signing the contract; b) unit pricing, by which the client assumes a predetermined rate the supplier will apply to at particular level of service; and c) risk and reward sharing, as client and supplier have an amount of money at risk and

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the supplier gains a percentage of client profits, if the performance of the service provided is optimal and supports client business objectives. This last form of pricing is typical in client-supplier strategic partnership involving IT outsourcing (Lacity and Willcocks, 2001, p. 168) and is related to distributive fairness in the relationship, meaning contributions shared according to the value produced by each of the partners (Ariño and Ring, 2010).

There are four forms of pricing in the agreement negotiated between BANK and the selected supplier: a) a license fee, that entitles BANK to use the system pursuant to the agreement and as per the scope defined, based on a limit of concurrent users, customer accounts, and Internet subscribers (BANK´s customers accessing the ERP system through Internet Banking investments); b) maintenance charges, a percentage (22%) over the license fee that must be paid annually; and c) customization charges that BANK must pay for any customization it requests to be developed by the supplier in the system, as those to explore new business opportunities or to comply with norms, be internal (internal controls) or external (central banking norms) to BANK. If concurrent users, customer accounts, or Internet subscribers increase or decrease to certain levels established in the license agreement, BANK pays an additional license fee or receives a discount, respectively. This study considers license fee and annual maintenance charges in the fixed pricing subcategory; customization charges in the unit pricing subcategory; and the possibility of BANK paying more or receiving discounts over the license fee (levels of concurrent users, customer accounts, and Internet subscribers) in the risk and reward sharing subcategory.

The data analysis identified due diligence as a new category, meaning the inspection or auditing of the information provided by the supplier (Click and Duening, 2005, p. 94-109). This category encompasses BANK´s visits to the supplier’s clients; the workshop when the supplier presented the functionalities and technical architecture of the ERP system and when BANK could identify gaps for its requirements; and ERP performance tests by specialized companies. A final regulatory category is the sequential implementation of the ERP system. This manner of implementation is adequate when the ERP system is not uniform in its functionalities to serve different countries (Madapusi and D’Souza, 2005), as it is the situation of BANK´s international branches. Furthermore, it allows a controlled implementation tied to the payments by BANK to the supplier, which is an instrument for BANK´s decision to continue in the relationship in case of dissatisfaction with the supplier services.

4.2

Normative categories

Data analysis confirmed legal norms and relational norms categories, which are related to the propositions P2a and P2b, respectively. The exploration of these categories, however, allowed for the identification of contract laws and arbitration rules subcategories linked to legal norms; and flexibility, information exchange, and solidarity, bounded to the relational norms. The contract laws enforce the agreement´s credibility. Besides the British law, the agreement considers the German, American, and Indian laws in regulating its long-term duration.

In a different way from the German law, the British law does not give adequate support to client-supplier relationships (Deakin, Lane and Wilkinson, 1997, p. 111).

Arbitration rules, which are related to all disputes, controversies and differences of opinion arising out of or in connection with the agreement, are subject to the International Chamber of Commerce, according to the contract signed between BANK

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and the supplier select by the SYSINTBRAN project. In this way, contract laws and arbitration rules categories provide the legal norms for client-supplier solidarity.

Based on Macneil (1980) relational norms, Heide and John (1992) identify three elements: a) flexibility, as a bilateral expectation or willingness in making contract adaptations according to circumstantial changes; b) information exchanges, as a bilateral expectation that the parties will proactively supply useful information among themselves; and c) solidarity, as a bilateral expectation that the relationship is of high importance, prescribing behaviors directly related to its continuation.

Scott (2001, p. 52) mentions certification as a normative element when moral recognition supports institutionalization. Thus, the norms of quality certification are “standards through which structures or behaviors can be compared and valued” (Scott, 2001, p. 54-55) or “the understanding of fair practices in business” (Scott, 2001, p. 55).

Thus, this study identifies the quality certification category as a new normative element, since BANK considers the importance of the suppliers having ISO 9001 and CMM-I certifications, which induces quality in their software development processes.

4.3

Cognitive categories

Data analysis confirmed the common language category related to proposition P3.

It represents the sharing of meanings that permits conversations during the communication process (Lander et al., 2004), and, thus, information exchange between the parties involved (Sheppard and Sherman, 1998; Simon, Poston and Kettinger, 2009).

It links to the need of a common language to establish the communication between BANK and the suppliers’ representatives. The suppliers’ representatives did not speak the native language (Portuguese) of BANK´s representatives, but spoke English. In this context, one crucial requirement from BANK´s side to exchange information with the suppliers was the use of the English language as a common language.

English fluency of the last manager of the SYSINTBRAN project was decisive to speed up the conclusion of the relationship building process, through the selection of one of the ERP systems. This manager considered English fluency as an important criterion to select members to SYSINTBRAN project, because of the need to establish conversations with the suppliers (“… in some cases, I consider English fluency more important than technical abilities to understand what the suppliers say…” – a quotation from the last SYSINTBRAN project manager). Ge and Voβ (2009) have already highlighted the importance of cultural and language aspects to ERP implementation success.

Four new categories were identified in this study - function point metrics, requirements specification, project management model, and ERP and Technology Expertise. Function point metrics are productivity metrics that allow projections of the cost and effort in the software development process (Pressman, 1995, p. 64, 105). Thus, knowledge sharing with regard to the development efforts of the supplier for new functionalities in the ERP system allows the client to evaluate how fair the service is, avoiding situations of opportunism by the latter. Function point metrics supports unit pricing, being an example of the integration between regulatory and cognitive elements.

BANK already adopts function point metrics to estimate about inputs, outputs, data files, queries and external interfaces (Leffingwell and Widrig, 2000, p. 105) of an IS. The supplier who signed the license agreement with BANK adopts this kind of metrics (“We use the function point technique....” – quotation from a supplier representative observed by the researcher).

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Requirements specification is the basis to agree about services requests from BANK related to ERP customizations by the supplier. The requirements of the system are the criteria by who develops (supplier) an IS and who demands (client) it can assess the respective quality of the service (Pressman, 1995, p. 232). Requirements are the client´s needs or what the system must comply with (Leffingwell and Widrig, 2000, p.

231). They must be documented in such a way to facilitate a common understanding between client and supplier to assure deliverables by the latter according to the former´s expectations.

UML – Unified Modeling Language –, e.g., is a kind of requirements specification language whose purpose is to “specify, visualize, document and design artifacts of a system and can be used with all processes along with the development cycle [of an IS or software, including ERP customizations] and through several implementation technologies” (Furlan, 1998, p. 33). The supplier uses its own model of document to specify the requirements and share them with BANK for analysis and agreement purpose. Sometimes, requirements documents are exchanged several times between the supplier and BANK until they agree on them.

The third new category identified - project management model - involves the establishment of a process to organize the communication between client and supplier.

This model must encompass a plan to follow up schedule, deliverables, staff allocation, etc., of the project implementation. It can be based on traditional frameworks as PMBOK (PMI, 2008). BANK has a Program Management Office based on PMBOK practices. Nevertheless, a common set of documents, decision structure and meetings were established to facilitate a common follow-up of the project progress with the supplier.

The fourth and last new cognitive category found - ERP and Technology Expertise – has a major impact on the ERP implementation, as it is related to the availability of the appropriate knowledge and skills about the ERP and related technology from both supplier and client. The allocation of unskilled personal from the supplier side was seen by the SYSINTBRAN project as a factor of many delays in the ERP implementation, as well as to several quality issues (“… the system didn´t reach the expected quality by Bank, which caused the systematic of reprogramming the implementation due dates.” – quotation in the project document to review the expenditures and implementation dates, as observed by the researcher). On the other hand, it was observed that the client staff training on the ERP functionalities and this staff allocation with IT and business background skills linked to the ERP business processes and technology was a critical success factor, sometimes helping to compensate for the deficiencies of the supplier´s staff skills. Ilfinedo (2011) highlights the importance of the ERP external expertise to support the client during its implementation, besides the client having internally related skills.

5.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

This paper developed a model of the institutional elements for client-supplier strategic partnership building in IT outsourcing, through the process of licensing an ERP system. Those elements, studied from the perspective of the client (BANK), have the power to afford supplier commitment to the relationship as well as client trust in the supplier. In this sense, they are elements of a cooperative client-supplier relationship.

Cooperation is the foundation for a successful client-supplier relationship (Morgan and Hunt, 1994) in the sense of a partnership. Consequently, this study considers these JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 61-80

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Strategic Partnership Building in IT Offshore Outsourcing: Institutional Elements for a Banking ERP 75 System Licensing

institutional elements as key factors for client-supplier partnership success in IT outsourcing.

Client trust has three dimensions, according to the institutional elements: calculative, normative, and cognitive. The categories alternative suppliers, hostage, periodic contract renewal, reputation, long-term contract, pricing model (fixed pricing, unit pricing, and risk and reward sharing), service level agreement, due diligence, and sequential implementation are regulatory institutional elements that contribute to the supplier commitment in the relationship with the client. Also, supplier commitment is an inductive factor for calculative trust of the client in the supplier.

The categories legal norms (contract laws and arbitration rules), relational norms (flexibility, information exchange, and solidarity), and quality certification are normative institutional elements, which contribute to the normative trust of the client in the supplier. The categories common language, function-oriented metrics, requirements specification, project management model, and ERP and Technology Expertise are cognitive institutional elements. The first allows information exchange between BANK and the foreign suppliers that participated in the ERP selection process; the second, permits BANK to foresee the real costs of the supplier services; the third, supports the management of the day-to-day interaction with the supplier regarding the follow-up of the activities going on and that must be set to achieve the project implementation, as well as resources allocation, services payments, structure of management, project status reports, etc.; and the fourth, to support the ERP implementation in terms of its technological infrastructure and support for user acceptance tests.

The results of this study contribute to a client-supplier relationship in IT outsourcing, through the application of a multidimensional perspective based on the institutional theory. From this standpoint, it highlights elements from several theories and integrates them as drivers to the supplier commitment and to the client trust in their relationship, starting from the commitment-trust theory as a theoretical basis. The results also contribute to organizational practice, since it explores a contemporary phenomenon and identifies elements that serve as references for the successful institutionalization of the IT outsourcing in the context of ERP system licensing. In this sense, it is important to posit that a successful ERP implementation from a technical and relational standpoint will have a positive impact on its use for business purposes (Zhu, Li, Wang and Chen, 2010; Velcu, 2010; Law, Chen and Wu, 2010).

The institutional elements here identified may improve the management processes to sustain an offshore client-supplier relationship in IT outsourcing. From an international business perspective, Dunning and Lundan (2010, p. 1229) assert â&#x20AC;&#x153;the complex interdependencies resulting from the overlapping of different institutional systems are increasingly difficult to predict and manage.â&#x20AC;? The model of the institutional elements here developed aims to support a better governance of a cross-border IT outsourcing, as the partnership building process is the main one for the success of this kind of client-supplier relationship (Bahli and Rivard, 2003). In a strict sense, the banking industry can benefit from the results of the present study in the IT offshore licensing processes.

One of the limitations of this study is the impossibility to generalize its results, although it contributes to theoretical generalization (Yin, 2001). Another limitation refers to the qualitative content analysis. Bardin (1977, p. 115) calls attention to the fact that, although valid in the development of specific deductions in a precise inference category, it is not valid in general inferences. The identified categories may be subject

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to question, since the analysis of the content, as a whole, is not exhaustive (Bardin, 1977, p. 115). Nevertheless, its potential remains precisely in exploring the reduced corpus of data and establishing more discriminating categories.

Finally, this study suggests three opportunities for future research, based on the model of the institutional elements developed. First, quantitative research projects with part of its elements, as they are several, when the use of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis may be of great relevance. The model may require some modifications to assure its suitability for the observations collected through statistical significance. The second opportunity is the development of a similar model from the supplier perspective, as this work explored only the client perspective. The results may indicate a more holistic model to explain the client-supplier relationship in IT outsourcing. Finally, the third opportunity is to compare the results of this study with those of studies developed in a similar context.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol.10 No. 1, Jan/Apr., 2013 pp. 81-98 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752013000100005

THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS TO PURCHASE FROM ONLINE SUPERMARKETS: A QUALITATIVE RESEARCH WITH CUSTOMERS FROM ‘ZONA SUL ATENDE’ André Barcelos Moreira Pontific Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil Marie Agnes Chauvel (in memoriam)* Federal University of São João del Rei (UFSJ), MG, Brazil Renata Céli Moreira da Silva Pontific Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil ____________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Zona Sul was the first supermarket chain in Rio de Janeiro to provide online sales purchases services and it is the leader in its segment in the city. Therefore, it was chosen as the object of this study, which attempts to describe and analyze the decision-making process of consumers who use the Internet to shop for groceries. Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with these consumers. The interviews were held at the moment they were shopping and the interviewees´ navigation was recorded by means of a software. The results showed that the interviewees search for convenience, speed and ease to purchase. Aspects from the website that partially compromise these objectives were identified. The conclusions bring suggestions to make the shopping process easier and faster.

Keywords: Decision to Purchase; Online Shopping; Supermarket; Zona Sul; Consumer

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 29/09/2010 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 01/01/2013 * The authors André and Renata want to thank Marie Agnes Chauvel (in memoriam) for all the lessons learned.

Marie was a great teacher, researcher and friend and we are very thankful to have known her. Without her orientations, this article would not be ready.

Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondênci André Barcelos Moreira, MSc in Management (PUC-Rio). Institution: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro – IAG/PUC-Rio. Address: Rua Marquês de São Vicente 225, Gávea, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Department of Administration – IAG/PUC-Rio. Cep: 22.451-900. Telephone: (55.21) 2138-9200. E-mail: andreb_mkt@yahoo.com.br Marie Agnes Chauvel (in memoriam)*. PhD in Management (COPPEAD/UFRJ). Institution: Department of Administration and Accounting of the Universidade Federal de São João del Rei (UFSJ). Campus CTAN - Av. Visconde do Rio Preto, S/N - Colônia Do Bengo, Prédio Direito, Sala 2.00. CEP: 36300-000, São João del-Rei, Minas Gerais, MG., Brazil. E-mail: mariechauvel@gmail.com Renata Céli Moreira da Silva, MSc in Management (PUC-Rio). Institution: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro – IAG/PUC-Rio. Address: Rua Marquês de São Vicente 225, Gávea, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.

Department of Administration – IAG/PUC-Rio. Cep: 22.451-900. Telephone: (55.21) 2138-9200. E-mail: renata.celi@gmail.com Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2013 All rights reserved.

82 Moreira, A.B. ; Chauvel, M.A. ; Silva,R.C.M.

1. INTRODUCTION The Internet has provided retailers with the opportunity to innovate their communication with consumers and to even make customized deliveries (Srinivasan, Anderson & Kishore, 2002). The number of online buyers in Brazil has jumped from 4.8 million in 2005 to 9.5 million in 2007, an increase of 97.9%. As for the online retail in particular, revenues in 2008 were 8.2 billion Brazilian Reals (Época Negócios, 2009).

The supermarket activity, due to changes in its consumer profile and to the new technologies available to the retail industry, has had to adapt to new realities where, therefore, it is important to know consumer behavior in this new channel: the Internet.

In 2007, for the first time ever, the volume of supermarket purchases through the Internet surpassed sales made by telephone: 1.7% through the Internet against 0.5% through the telephone (Abras, 2008). Nevertheless, the lack of studies related to the decision-making process of supermarket consumers shopping through the Internet in Brazil is highly noticeable.

Cutieri and Donaire (2000) cite the Nielsen data, where it is shown that supermarkets are one of the major representatives of the traditional retail industry and are also the main distribution channels of essential goods for the urban population. The share of the supermarkets in the distribution of food in the Brazilian market is 85% (Cutieri & Donaire, 2000).

Zona Sul was the first supermarket chain in Rio de Janeiro to provide online sales purchases, started in 1996, and is the only one that has a specialized distribution center, becoming, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, a leader in this segment. According to a report published by the Globo.com news agency, Zona Sul has an average of 800 online purchases made daily and 10 thousand active and registered consumers. There is an estimate that the revenue for 2012 from online purchases may be approximately 100 million Brazilian Reals, which accounts for 10% of the total revenue (Globo, 2012).

Since it is a pioneer in the selling of online grocery items in Rio de Janeiro and being an online segment leading supermarket chain, Zona Sul Atende was chosen as the object of this study. The research attempts to describe and analyze the decision-making process of consumers who use the Internet to do their grocery shopping at Zona Sul. In this context, the question of the research is: How does the decision-making process of the consumers who use the Zona Sul Atende take place?

Due to the scarcity of studies related to this theme, a qualitative methodology was opted for. Twenty in-depth interviews were conducted with online supermarket consumers. In order to achieve a detailed understanding of the decision-making process, the interviews were made during an actual purchase and the navigation of each interviewee was recorded by means of a screenshot software. The results showed the main motivations for the use of Zona Sul Atende as well as both the negative and the positive points noticed by consumers during the purchase.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Online shopping According to the marketing literature, the consumer purchasing process comprises a few stages, such as: recognizing needs, search for information, evaluation of alternatives, decision to purchase, and post-purchase behavior (Kotler, 2000; Blackwell, Miniard & Engel, 2008). Ambrose and Johnson (1988) add in what pertains to the

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The Decision-Making Process to Purchase from Online Supermarkets A Qualitative Research with 83 Customers from ‘Zona Sul Atende’

variables of the behavior of online purchases, there are: recognizing needs, means to purchase (resources), other factors like personal and social considerations.

Kim, Kim and Kandampully (2007) identified five characteristics of the shopping environment which are important in online services: convenience, customization, information, communication and website appearance. Later, Kim, Kim and Kandampully (2009) conducted a research which evidenced that convenience, website appearance and entertaining appeal are essential for satisfaction from online shopping.

The authors state that it is important to provide an easy-to-use online shopping environment. Jayawardhena and Wright (2009) also conducted a research to identify determinants to decide to purchase online. The results pointed to such factors like convenience, involvement and the attributes of the website as the main influence factors for consumer excitement to purchase online, and the attributes of the website also influence the consumers’ intention to return.

The literature points to a variety of advantages, aiming at consumers, when shopping online: they do not depend on the store´s opening hours and location (Blackwell et al., 2008); availability of the previous shopping record, they do not need to interact with salespersons, nor do they need to feel pressured by them, the possibility of searching for bargains, which is named by the authors as a "treasure hunt", (Mittal, Holbrook, Beatty, Raghubir, & Woodside, 2007, p. 567).

As for grocery shopping, Murphy (2007) states that online shopping may be attractive to different consumers: those who “are time deprived”, such as families with jobs that require a lot of time from their daily routine; parents with very young children, for those who think that grocery products may be too tempting; people who do not own a car; senior citizens or physically challenged people; the “techno freaks”, those who prefer the computer to socializing in the supermarket environment.

According to Blackwell et al. (2008), for some consumers, shopping is synonymous with working, and not with having fun. These consumers may adopt Internet shopping more easily, which promises to be faster and easier, with a lower level of personal involvement. The author also points out that, for this type of consumer, the task of a marketing professional is to make the shopping process as easy and as fast as possible.

In this context, utilitarian and hedonic values exist. The utilitarian value may be conceptualized as a judgment of functional benefits and of a cost-benefit ratio analysis, including more cognitive aspects, such as economic aspects, as well as time saving and convenience. As for the hedonic value, it is more related to the benefits and the costs of the purchase experience. One example to be given is the entertaining part (Overby & Lee, 2006).

For Overby and Lee (2006), the hedonic value seems to have a meaningful role for infrequent online buyers, but not for frequent buyers. These authors conducted a research that attempted to understand the shopping profile of the consumer who currently shops over the Internet. The authors concluded that the utilitarian value of the purchase has a higher influence on the retailer´s preference over the Internet than the hedonic value of the purchase. According to them, some consumers prefer Internet shopping when they are in search of utilitarian values, such as lower prices and convenience. The authors then recommend that online retailers concentrate on providing an adequate utilitarian value to their consumers before concentrating on other factors of the website.

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2.2 Influence of the website´s environment According to Mummalaneni (2005), a website´s environment characteristics can influence consumers´ satisfaction, their loyalty intentions and the number of items purchased. Kim and Stoel (2004) also examined the issue of the website´s quality how it influences on the customer's satisfaction. Manganari, Siomkos and Vrechopoulos (2009) addressed the existence of the influence of the virtual store's atmosphere over online shopping behavior.

Mowen and Minor (2007) state that the store's environment influences an individual´s emotional state, which may affect their online behavior. Menon and Kahn (2002) conducted a research that investigated the effects of the stimulus and the pleasure induced from shopping experiences over the Internet. Their results show that marketing professionals have to carefully consider the website´s emotional impact on consumers. If the intention is to promote a website that performs a direct task like a single purchase, or something that requires an immediate reaction, and if a deeper exploration by the user is not required or desired, then perhaps it should be developed to be stimulating. If the intention is to make consumers spend more time browsing the website, it is preferable to develop a website that provides pleasant sensations. This will even stimulate impulse buying (Menon & Kahn, 2002).

According to Mowen and Minor (2007), a store environment conveys a message to consumers, like that of a high quality, for instance. The use of beautiful and eyepleasing photographs is a way to induce pleasure in consumers as well as the use of good humor on certain occasions. Stimulus may be induced in several manners, such as the use of striking colors and an informative content that requires some effort by the user in order to be understood (Menon & Kahn, 2002).

2.3 Perceived Risk One the most cited risks by the literature about Internet shopping has to do with privacy and the security of the information transmitted (Kovacs & Farias, 2004).

Kovacs and Farias (2004) suggest that it is necessary to treat differently users who have already shopped on the Internet and users who have never shopped on the Internet. They state that satisfaction risk and socialization loss risk are also important risks to be considered when addressing individuals who have never shopped online. Satisfaction risk is the risk that the chosen alternative is not consistent with the previous beliefs related to it. Whereas, the socialization loss risk regards the fact that consumers prefer to do their shopping outside the Internet, as a source of pleasure and social interaction.

This risk in particular did not present itself in the explanatory research done by HorMeyll (2002) among consumers who currently shop on the Internet. In the interviewees´ statements, consumers saw themselves standing out from conventional shoppers, as more innovative.

Another risk cited in the literature is the lack of sensory information. As pointed out by Blackwell et al. (2008, p. 155), through the Internet, it is impossible to try on clothes or touch and smell fruit, vegetables and leafy greens. Therefore, disappointments may occur more easily there than in the physical stores. Arruda and Miranda (2003) also add that some individuals quit or simply did not complete their online shopping, as through this system, they do not see and touch the product, hence the preference for the physical store.

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2.4 The layout of virtual stores Vrechopoulos, O’Keefe, Doukidis and Siomkos (2004) conducted an experimental investigation related to the use of three different types of layouts, typical of a supermarket online grocery shopping environment: Freeform, Grid and Racetrack. The importance of the study, according to the authors, is the interface design and interaction between the consumer and the computer are critical factors for the success of a business via the Internet. The research results showed that the layout significantly affects consumer behavior. The three types of layouts aforementioned may also be found in the literature regarding physical stores (Lewison, 1994), but the authors of the study mentioned adapted the navigation parameters of the layouts to the online environment as follows: (1) Grid: consumers visiting an online store based on the Grid layout structure navigate through an organizational hierarchical structure, for instance: product category → product subcategory → end product; (2) Freeform: visitors of a Freeform store may quickly find their desired products through a search tool or by choosing any item which is permanently on display on any webpage of the store; (3) Racetrack: the Racetrack layout forces consumers to navigate through specific paths to find their desired products. This is done by placing only two “aisles” on each webpage. Consumers then need to choose one of the aisles on display to continue the navigation in the store.

Results from the study performed by Vrechopoulos et al. (2004) regarding perceived usability, ease of use, entertainment and time, for each layout, were: (a) Perceived usability: participants in this experiment perceived the Freeform layout as more useful to find products on the store´s online shopping list; (b) Easiness of use: participants perceived the Grid layout as easier to use. The Racetrack layout was perceived as the most difficult to use; (c) Entertainment: the Freeform layout was perceived as a little more fun, by a very small margin; (d) Time: it was found that this layout significantly affects the time consumers are willing to spend shopping. The layouts in which the participants spent the most time on were Racetrack and Freeform.

3. METHOD According to Neves (1996), the lack of exploration in the literature available, related to a certain theme, and the intention to understand the various aspects of a complex phenomenon are elements that make the use of qualitative methods of research appropriate. In addition, one of the advantages of the qualitative methods of research is the fact that “they allow for a better understanding of meanings, of values and of opinions of the social actors regarding situations and personal experiences” (Fraser & Gondim, 2004, p. 140).

Given the scarcity of studies on the theme, the flexibility of the method was also taken into account, which favors the details of the phenomenon to be investigated and it is very useful for developing insights (Gephart, 2004). For the present study, it was decided to use a combination of two qualitative research techniques: in-depth interview and systematic observation In this study, the use of in-depth interviews had as its purpose investigating how the interviewed consumers perceived grocery shopping on the Internet; the intent was to

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know their opinions and beliefs about themselves and the researched shopping process.

The interviews were initiated with questions about the profile of the interviewed consumer; following this, they were asked to do their shopping normally, and to say something in a loud voice if they came across a fact they regarded as worthy of the researcher´s attention.

Then, the interview itself was conducted, based on an existing script, developed from the literature review and taking the consumer decision-making process stages into account (Kotler, 2000; Blackwell et al., 2008). The interviews were recorded.

The observation, on the other hand, was used to investigate how consumers behave. The systematic observation method was opted for; a distance between the observer and the observed phenomenon was kept, as well as the objectivity of the observation process. The shopping processes were recorded by means of an open source software, called CamStudio (CamStudio, 2008). CamStudio is able to record all screen and audio activity on computers and create digital video files. Therefore, the shopping process, each movement by the interviewee’s cursor was recorded on a video format for later analysis.

A total of twenty in-depth interviews were conducted. Interviewee choice was made through an accessibility criterion. Individuals aimed at were people who actually shopped through Zona Sul Atende and who planned to do the next grocery shopping on the Internet. The interviews were conducted as the interviewees wished, who were previously contacted by the researcher in order to schedule the interview. Respondents were in charge of scheduling the interview and setting the interview location and time, which could be either in their own home or work place.

Eight interviews were conducted in their own homes and twelve of them in their work place. This procedure aimed to assure that the interview and the observation process would take place in a real shopping situation, initiated by the consumer, based on their needs, at the moment they needed and wished to shop online and in the location and under the conditions of their choice.

4. RESULTS 4.1 The website Figure 1 is a screenshot of Zona Sul Atende On-line (Zona Sul Atende, 2008). On the right-hand side column, the user´s identification fields are found, as well as links for shopping by session, through the online offers insert or through the Compra Fácil, Easy Shopping, and a link to a Chat room with one of the attendants should support be needed. On the top bar, there are several navigational options to browse the website.

The Meu Zona Sul tab shows all the products purchased by the user through the Internet, the telephone and also all the Zona Sul physical stores. The customers can also opt for navigation by sessions, to see all the offers, Zona Sul´s suggestions or to opt for the search tool to find products.

At the right-hand corner, the total amount spent is found. This amount is updated as the user adds or removes items from the shopping cart. Through this website area, the user can also see and edit the items in the shopping cart and in the checkout. The righthand side column shows nearly all the special offers. However, if the user scrolls down, they will find a link to the one-hour delivery service. This service is limited to 10 items and is available to some areas in the southern district of Rio de Janeiro. Also on the

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right-hand side column, there is a blank space where users can type in their postal code and then get information about the next delivery time in their area.

The central part of the website is its dynamic area as it changes during user navigation. For instance, when navigating the vegetable session, the available vegetable options and their prices are displayed. On the left-hand side of each product there is a photograph which can be zoomed in. Below the price of each item there is a figure, which is the product´s weight. Users have only the option of buying multiples of this minimum weight and not fractions. When users are on the homepage, the central area is composed of the Zona Sul Atende´s suggestions.

Figure 1 – Home Page of Zona Sul Atende In order to find the products, users may opt for the navigation by session. When they find the product category whey want to see (regular vegetables, for instance), the Zona Sul Atende offers the user a list of the items found in that session. Another product search option is the Compra Fácil – Easy Shopping.

Through it, the user lists the products on their shopping list and the alternatives are displayed for each one of the items, one after the other. A third alternative is the use of the online offer insert for product search. This insert is a digital version of the insert which is physically distributed by the stores from the Zona Sul chain. The user may also opt to use the tab where the offers are and choose the “insert of the week” item to find the products offered with a discount.

Zona Sul Atende keeps a record of all the user´s shopping. Therefore, when going back to the website, customers can verify their previous purchases. This feature's purpose is to speed up the customer´s shopping, especially if the shopping is routine with many items bought. If a problem occurs during the shopping process, for instance, if the Internet connection fails, the Zona Sul Atende will record the shopping process and will display it to the customer as “Shopping Process Interrupted”. When shopping is

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completed and decided to go to the checkout, the user sees a series of options. In addition to being able to opt for to send it as a gift, the user can choose the delivery address and delivery times offered by Zona Sul Atende; users can even schedule the delivery for the day and the most suitable time. Finally, if the user needs the website´s team support, they can do it through the chat room option, by email or the telephone.

However, there are specific working hours in which this type of service is available. The team´s support is not offered 24 hours a day.

It is possible to state that, according to the aforementioned layout classifications, the Zona Sul Atende is a combination of Grid and Freeform. If the customers search for products on their shopping list using the search by session option, they will be using a Zona Sul Atende feature, based on the Grid organization layout type. However, as customers also have the option to search for a desired product directly through the website´s search tool, the layout type used can be classified as Freeform. As such, it is expected that the more advanced users, who search for usability and performance, that is, those who want to rapidly find a product, choose to shop primarily through the Zona Sul Atende, freeform, search tool. On the other hand, users who are trying to learn how to use the website, and who wish that the website experience be clear and easy, should opt to navigate through the section tab - Grid system.

4.2 Interviewees´ Profile A total of eight man and twelve women were interviewed; fourteen of them were originally from Rio de Janeiro and six of them were originally from other states; however, all of them lived in Rio de Janeiro at the time of the interview. The age of the interviewees ranged from 27 to 56 years; with an average of 35.6 years. Ten interviewees were single, eight of them were married, and two of them divorced. Being a regular user to the Zona Zul Atende was the criterion adopted and the search for interviewees was made by means of accessibility.

4.3 Recognition of Needs In the first stage of the shopping process, the recognition of the needs for online grocery shopping seems to be similar to the needs of the physical grocery shopping. The interviewees reported that they usually start to notice that is time to go shopping when their pantry is running out of groceries. Oftentimes, their cleaning ladies are the ones who start the whole process; they let them know when they are running out of items, which are needed to perform their tasks, and then they make a shopping list. Some of the interviewees also said that they decided to go grocery shopping when they realized that some of the specific items they needed ran out.

Only one of the interviewees mentioned that the special offer insert sent by Zona Sul generates an interest in shopping; and even then, only if the special offer insert shows an item which is routinely part of the consumer´s shopping list.

4.4 Evaluating Alternatives Once the need of “stocking the pantry” is identified, the question related to how to do it is then raised. As they are regular users of Internet grocery shopping and the fact they were contacted to take part in the research about this type of shopping, the interviewees spontaneously did not mention any decision-making process. They had already opted for online shopping. Yet, the reasons why they were led to opt for this type of option were investigated.

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The two advantages unanimously mentioned by the interviewees were: time saving and convenience. As for the former advantage, some statements summarize well the fact that the lack of time is not only about lack of time itself, but it is about the fact they are reluctant to spend their free time shopping: “During the week, I am very busy. I would have to go to the supermarket on Saturday morning. I don´t want to waste my Saturday, which is when I have other things to do, and I don´t want to go shopping. So, the decision is I will do it online.” “It´s much cheaper to pay for the delivery and then use my time to enjoy life.”

Thus, the findings of the research match those from Blackwell et al. (2008) who describe the use of their time by people who do not regard going shopping as fun: respondents tried to quickly finish their shopping to dedicate their free time towards pleasant activities. As far as convenience is concerned, carrying the shopping bag, the weight, and getting around were the most cited aspects. When the number of items purchased becomes high and heavy, Internet grocery shopping becomes a good option, especially for those who do not own a car.

Other advantages perceived include: the ready-to-use shopping list from the website, users can also look inside the kitchen cabinets if they do not know whether they have an item or not or to make sure they are buying the right brand, they do not need to dress up to leave the house, they may interrupt their shopping and continue later and find out, during the entire shopping process, how much they are paying for the items chosen.

In addition, many respondents stated that they do not like to go grocery shopping: “Supermarkets are not places for leisure. Some people think they are, to see products on display. I think that the more you look, the more you buy. And all the associated inconveniences put an end to leisure.” “I hate going to the supermarket. I have never liked it”.

A group of interviewees in particular stood out due to the main reason why they changed from the physical supermarket to the online supermarket: consumers who had previously resided in other cities and who, due to the unpleasant experience they had in other supermarkets in Rio de Janeiro, they started to shop online when they moved to Rio de Janeiro. Their statements give a good idea as to what made them adopt grocery online shopping: “I decided to buy on Internet because I get irritated whenever I go to the supermarket, because I like to go shopping. Shopping in general. But cashiers are impolite, supermarket shoppers leave their cart wherever they want, and I think that the supermarkets are a little too dirty here. Supermarkets are very small, very cramped. In São Paulo supermarkets are bigger, you know? (…) So a way to get away from getting irritated is shopping online.”

This does not mean that disadvantages do not exist when shopping on the Internet.

The main disadvantages stated by the interviewees were: lack of information, especially sensory information about the products; the long time it would take for the purchased items to be delivered; higher prices; the risk of not receiving something that was ordered. Yet, according to the interviewees´ evaluation, the benefits largely outweigh the disadvantages.

As for their choice for the Zona Sul Atende, the interviewees revealed that they did very little supermarket search as compared to other alternatives. During the research and observation process, all the interviewees went directly to the Zona Sul Atende

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website. When they were questioned about this behavior, some of them said they had searched for alternatives on specific occasions. Two female interviewees stated that they had made a price comparison between Zonal Sul and Pão de Açúcar.

As the total amount spent on grocery shopping was similar, the Pão de Açúcar alternative was eliminated and neither of them went back to compare prices again.

Another two female interviewees said they occasionally did a price search to buy a large number of items. But both of them said they had an interest in doing this type of search for the monthly grocery shopping.

This lack of interest in evaluating alternatives takes place, according to the interviewees, mainly due to three reasons: habit, so that there is no other charge for one more delivery fee and, mainly, because the price comparison process is regarded as boring. In short, the interviewed consumers do not want to spend too much time and effort in search for information about the supermarket and its prices. This might occur due to the Zona Sul customer profile, whose positioning is more focused on more demanding people, with a higher purchasing power. On the other hand, this may signal that the customer's knowledge about the website's functionality and the service as a whole inhibits the search for other alternatives.

4.5 Grocery Shopping As the purchases analyzed in this research were scheduled by the interviewees themselves, they were all regarded as planned grocery shopping. As a matter of fact, it is possible to say that most of the monitored purchases were partially planned, as the interviewee already had their own reasonably structured shopping list, whether in writing or in their minds, and the decisions regarding brands or flavors were made at the time of their shopping (Blackwell et al, 2008).

The Zona Sul´s shopping lists offered to its customers were used by twelve interviewees, and even by those who had their own ready-to-use written lists, who were eight interviewees. One detail that contributes for someone not to feel the need to write down a shopping list when they do their grocery shopping on the Internet is that, when consumers are shopping from home, they can get away from the computer and verify the pantry in order to find out what is missing. During the research, one female interviewee looked inside almost all of the cabinets at home to verify even the brands that should be bought.

The disadvantages perceived, during the study when not making a shopping list, are two. The first disadvantage, a more intuitive one; is that there is a higher risk that the person might forget an item that needs to be bought, especially if the item is not included on the website´s shopping list, as it happened to some of the interviewees. The second disadvantage, a less obvious one, which was frequent to see during the research, was that people who do not make their shopping list decide to end their shopping because they were bored after a short time, around 40 minutes in general.

Whenever a user does not make a shopping list, they often start to remember the items by association. For instance, one female interviewee remembered to buy snacks when shopping for beer. Another interviewee considered the possibility of shopping for chocolate powder after shopping for coffee, because she remembered that, in her kitchen cabinet, the chocolate powder is kept near the coffee. In these cases, the search on the website ends up being hard work and this partly happens due to some characteristics of the search mechanism, which will be meticulously described in the “website organization” item.

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Some of the statements show the sentiment of the female interviewees: “It´s not that practical” (…) “Searching for the product on the shelf is faster.” “When I say the shopping list over the telephone I say “I want eggs”, he already knows where to quickly click and order one, two or three dozens of eggs. And he is much faster than me; I'd have to say “wait a minute”…eggs, they are in the vegetables and fruit session or it is here or it is there.”, and I keep looking where the eggs can be found so that I can choose them. Therefore, on my standard shopping list, this gets easier.”

On the other hand, people with a ready-to-use shopping list in their hands tend to hold on to it until the end of the shopping process, even if they do not remain faithful to it. Comparing the website´s shopping list with the one they keep at home may also be a boring task. This happens because the shopping list kept at home is not as organized as the one on the website. For instance, the website´s list is organized alphabetically and oftentimes, the one kept at home does not have a logical order.

In the research, it was clear that this type of task spoiled the interviewees' good mood, especially when the shopping list they have at home was long. However, the read-to-use shopping lists on the website seemed to serve as an efficient support when shopping: they help users not to forget an item (in the case of users who did not make a shopping list) and help them quickly find their favorite brands and products.

At the same time, the shopping lists tend to keep users from comparing similar items, taking into account brands and prices, as when they see that the last item bought is on the current shopping list, customers readily included it in the shopping cart.

4.6 Price Comparison All the interviewees made a price comparison between all the items on the website, one way or another. Sixteen of them checked out the Zona Sul Atende and saw the items available with a discount, one by one. It is important to highlight, however, that this search for offers did not make consumers choose items by price. As aforementioned, users already had a memorized shopping list (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2000, p. 404) and this search, in fact, was like a “treasure hunt”, in which customers expected to find their favorite brands on sale.

The special offers tab also seems to be a good stimulus for impulse buying. After all, as the user goes over all the available items, one by one, they could develop an interest on a sale item which was not on their list.

A female interviewee stated that she always checks the special offers tab before she finishes shopping, according to her: “In order to see if there is a bargain. I don´t miss the opportunity”.

4.7 Environmental Influences Previously in this study, the research conducted by Menon and Kahn (2002) was mentioned, in which researchers reported the results on the pleasure and stimulus induced from online shopping. As in this case, eleven interviewees reported that their shopping was boring. More specifically, shopping begins at a neutral level, neither stimulating nor boring, and little by little it begins to progressively become boring.

As seen, many interviewees spontaneously reported that, after approximately forty minutes of shopping, they were tired and felt like ending the process: “Now I am getting into the stage where I am kind of fed up of shopping. At this exact moment, I can´t look at, you know, at things I am really in need of.”

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All the interviewees agreed that, the less time spent shopping, the more pleasant the shopping experience is. Factors that caused tiredness, according to them, are: (1) It is necessary to scroll down and up all the time, to see and compare items; (2) To click and to have to wait for the screens to change, repeatedly; (3) The need, at all times, to keep checking the shopping list kept at home with the one on the website; (4) When mandatory items need to be bought, where the associated pleasure is non-existent, such as cleaning products and toilet paper; (5) To look for and to have difficulty or take a long time finding a desired item.

Few interviewees reported having experienced stimulus sensations during shopping. One of the female interviewees, curiously, often took turns between the website´s search by session and the search system. She spontaneously reported that she took turns between these two options in order to keep the shopping experience from becoming monotonous.

Two interviewees felt a stimulus when looking into the special offers tab on the website and said they really liked finding the item they usually buy at a discount; one of them felt a stimulus by looking at pictures of the items they liked very much and was tempted to make an impulse purchase. One female interviewee reported that making an impulse purchase is stimulating. This “treasure hunt” (Mittal et al, 2007, p. 567), or search for bargain products, seems to be something that breaks the monotony of the shopping process. In addition to the obvious appeal of the discount, the emotional point of view is a moment of rupture from a potentially boring experience for the website´s user.

4.8 The Website´s Organization When one thinks of online grocery shopping, the experience seems to be simple.

The process is about making a shopping list, searching the items on the website and concludes the purchase. However, the search for items could be more difficult than imagined.

The first problem encountered has to do with the number of items listed whenever a user searches for a product. As the number of options available at times is big, the consumer ends up wasting a lot of time and making a huge effort in order to find a desired item: “A lot of time is wasted when looking for mineral water among dozens of brands.”

As for the Zona Sul´s website, being , regarding its layout, a combination of Grid and Freeform, the findings of Vrechopoulos et al. (2004) were confirmed during the interviewee monitoring process. Users who are more familiar with the website hardly used the item search to find the products they need by sessions, preferring instead, the search mechanism as a first option to find the products.

Although the Grid system, or by sessions, seems apparently more intuitive and easier to use, the research´s results suggest it is more exhaustive. It was common to see interviewees start their shopping process searching for the items through the sessions tab, and then later they opted for the Freeform option. According to the interviewees, this choice has the purpose of saving time. However, the Zona Sul Atende search mechanism presents a few problems.

The problems recorded by the search mechanism Freeform, are related to the fact that the search takes place by using the exact words. For instance, one of the interviewees tried to buy a razor for her husband as Presto Barba, but as the correct JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 81-98

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name is Prestobarba, she did not find it. The system can not sensibly recognize similar words; therefore, it simply did not find any items.

Another problem is that, when searching for some items such as milk, consumers may receive a list of items which are not exactly what they are looking for. This happens because the website does not perform searches by relevance; it performs searches by exact words. For instance, if a customer types in milk in the search system, they expect to receive milk in carton or in powdered options. However, what really happens is that all the items containing the word milk are listed, with the sessions alphabetically organized.

That is, alphabetically, the systems retrieves “chocolate powder”, “coffee and cappuccinos”, “cereal bars”, “whipped cream”, “chocolate bars” and “coconut milk”, before offering, as a priority, “powdered milk” and “milk in a carton”.

Whereas, in the search by sessions, Grid, items are not always logically grouped as expected by consumers. One of the interviewees, searching for toilet paper, suggested such sessions “cleaning” and then “bathroom”. There was not a toilet paper option in these sessions. Toilet paper was found in the “toiletries and personal care” session and then in the “toilet paper and tissues” session.

Another female interviewee did not know that soft drinks were divided into “regular” and “diet”: “Come on, I can´t find them….I will not find them here because I have accessed the ones which are not diet, now they are separated, diet soft drinks in one corner and non-diet soft drinks in another corner. That´s why I will not find them (…) “In the past, they were not separated like this.”

As consumers need to redo a search to find what they want, the shopping experience starts to become frustrating. This contributes to the customer to opt to end their shopping. Thus, a more flexible and smart search tool, as well as a friendlier organization of the sessions, would have much to offer consumers in order to make it a more pleasant shopping experience.

4.9 Perceived Risks In general, interviewees stated that they perceived few risks from shopping on the Internet. Some interviewees, four of them, stated that they feel they run some type of risk when using their credit cards to pay for their items purchased on the Internet. Yet, they had never experienced problems with that.

The risk of receiving items such as lower quality fruit and vegetables, due to the lack of sensory information, was not reported. In general, customers trust Zona Sul Atende to shop for these items for two main reasons: (1) Zona Sul places itself as a more expensive supermarket, which sells high quality products, so they believe low quality items will not be delivered; (2) If a low quality item is delivered, all they need to do is complain and an exchange of items will be performed. One of the interviewees says: “Now, it´s not my case, but a lot of people do not like to shop on the Internet because you can not choose the quality of the vegetables. I don’t worry too much about it, because I´ve never had a problem with that. I take chances, I order the items, and this will not keep me from shopping on the Internet…”

Perishable items, according to the interviewees, are delivered with an even better quality than if they had chosen and picked them in a physical supermarket. A female interviewee stated that one of the most important advantages of the online supermarket

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is that “the description of the items is what the product is exactly about”. That is why, she says, “they choose the items better than myself”.

This is regarded as a relevant benefit. Once more, time and effort are spared.

However, Zona Sul Atende needs to meet expectations. According to one of the interviewees; “They will not display something that looks….ugly….which may cause you to complain. And Zona Sul Atende, as far as I understand, is a place where you can choose items “with your eyes closed…”

The lack of sensory information about the product becomes a problem only when the interviewee has personal preferences: “In my case, for instance, I like a harder kiwi.

Not green, but hard. Some people like it softer. I will not be typing in “hard kiwi, papaya like this....”, so this is what you can´t get.”

Some consumers clicked on the item´s picture with the purpose of verifying its quality, but, in general, this resource was primarily used to make sure that the item was the item desired by the shopping process. Nonetheless, this is an aspect that can not be ignored, for a bad picture could disqualify the product.

One of the female interviewees decided not to buy an item because its picture was unpleasant to the eye. “I am here thinking that if I worked for Zona Sul, I would try to pick the best picture of this Pamplona bacon and the best picture of the other items, and, still, this Pamplona bacon looks awful”.

One difficulty found is the interpretation, by the consumers, of the weight of the fruit and vegetables by unit. This type of problem caused a brand new situation to one of the female interviewees: “Fruit, I don´t buy it from online supermarkets, because once I bought half a kilo of tomatoes and a half-a-kilo tomato was delivered. A tomato this size was delivered! So I don't know if it was the type of the tomato, which I didn't see which type it was. I saw "tomato, half a kilo", gee. When I saw it, it was a huge tomato, like this (showing the size of the tomato).”

Another risk cited by one of the interviewees is the lack of information about the item´s best before dates. This type of information is not available and some interviewees said they experienced receiving items whose date was very close to being expired.

Lastly, the risk of a desired item not being available was mentioned. Two interviewees said they were “devastated” when a supermarket staff member called to say they did not have the item ordered and stated that they did not accept substitute items in these cases. In their evaluation, the website should not offer out-of-stock items.

As for the risk of losing socialization, the findings of this research literally match the findings of Hor-Meyll (2002). There are no problems perceived in relation to the potential loss of socialization. As summarized by some interviewees: “If I could shop in a supermarket dedicated only to myself….A supermarket is not a place to meet people, it is a place to shop.”

For the interviewees, not being in contact with people during the shopping process is an advantage and not a disadvantage. Standing a line, tolerating impolite people and a messy crowd are not necessary.

4.10

The importance of brands to manage risks

All of the interviewees determined their shopping through the brands they are familiar with, searching for lower prices among the acceptable brands. When asked for

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the reason for this, the answer was unanimous: safety: "Over the Internet the advantage is that I can buy the products I am already familiar with".

Some interviewees reported that, on the Internet, the item´s brand becomes more important as there is no sensory information about the item purchased. Other interviewees went beyond this reasoning reporting that they would be unlikely to try new brands on the Internet, leaving this activity reserved for the physical store: “Trying out….this is something more likely to happen when I go to the supermarket and see the items” (…) “You can see it, you can touch them, but through the computer you can't."

Another important point is that the Zona Sul brand serves as a quality assurance.

As previously seen, the supermarket´s reputation minimizes the risk perceived when shopping on the Internet, mainly regarding the perishable items. When questioned about the brands of fruit, vegetables and leafy greens purchased on the website, the interviewees´ answer was: Zona Sul. That is, the supermarket already has the image of an establishment which is concerned with the quality of its products. According to the statements collected, a supermarket which has not developed this kind of perception among their users may find difficulty selling perishable items on the Internet.

In addition to knowing Zona Sul's physical stores, some interviewees reported that a very important factor for building their trust is the after sales service. A female interviewee said that the attendants really listen to the customer when a problem occurs and other interviewees reported that they shop for items with no concerns because they know whom, if a problem occurs, they will be able to complain and exchange the item hassle free.

5. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS This study attempted to describe and analyze the decision-making process by consumers who use the Internet to do their grocery shopping. Its object of study was Zona Sul Atende, which is a pioneer in this type of service. The research was performed by means of in-depth interviews and observation of situations involving a real online shopping process, performed by the interviewees. The main findings of the study are the following: - Convenience is the main motivation to do grocery shopping on the Internet.

Time and effort saving (getting around, carrying weight), as well as avoiding the inconveniences of the physical supermarket environment (lines, lack of space), were the main reasons reported for opting for this type grocery shopping.

- The interviewees seek mainly time saving, convenience and security, so they dedicate little effort in search of other alternatives. Thus, the acquired knowledge about Zona Sul, the way its website works, the delivery system and after sales function seem to strongly contribute to user loyalty. The service meets users´ expectations and knowing the way everything works keeps users from searching for other options.

- Despite the convenience attributes reported by the interviewees regarding the online service, a lot of them showed such feelings as boredom and tiredness when doing their shopping (normally after approximately forty minutes shopping), and some of them finished their shopping process without purchasing all the items desired due to exhaustion. This happens, primarily due to two factors. First of all, there are, according to the interviewees, too few stimulating moments in the shopping process. One exception is the search for “good deals” in the special offers tab. Secondly, the search

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for items may be hard work. The search through the Freeform system is regarded as the faster mode by more experienced shoppers. However, the system could be improved if it considered similar words and ordered the options by relevance (not only alphabetically). The second alternative is the Grid system, the search by sessions. It also brings some inconveniences due to the fact that the organization by sessions does not always meet the expectations customers intuitively have.

- The shopping list saved on the website is an important tool, which, in addition to reducing risks of items being forgotten, it makes the search process easy and fast.

- The perception of risks, according to the statements collected, is low. This happens mostly due to the experienced acquired from the supermarket. On one hand, knowing the physical version of Zona Sul brings security as to the quality of the products offered. On the other hand, delivery services, customer support, and after sales services are regarded as reliable. In general, the Zona Sul´s reputation of being careful contributes to minimizing the perceived risks, even for the perishable products and they usually depend on the sensory evaluation, such as fruit. Interviewed customers in this study made it clear that they buy such items online because they trust Zona Sul in particular. However, they expect, naturally, that their expectations be met. Therefore, the care for the quality of the items delivered is an essential element to assure and reinforce customer loyalty in the services provided.

-The risk of socialization loss was not identified. On the contrary, interviewees showed satisfaction in being able to do their shopping without interacting with other people.

As a whole, these results show that Zona Sul knows how to gain the trust and loyalty of their interviewees. This happens due to the quality of the services offered, which contribute to minimizing the risks perceived. Nonetheless, there are opportunities to improve the level of customer satisfaction, by enhancing the search mechanisms and the organization by sessions in order to bring them closer to the users´ mental model (that is, the way they, intuitively perform a search task and select items for their purchase). Such a measure would also favor doing a higher volume of purchases by reducing the time spent in the search for items and the exhaustion caused by this process.

This study contributed to the perception by the consumers who do online grocery shopping. Therefore, it provided us with insights for new research themes. An interesting point to be researched would be to quantitatively investigate among a higher number of consumers this perception of online grocery shopping.

In addition, doing this research with consumers who shop for other grocery items could complement this study and offer ideas about how to have a more efficient website in the eyes of the customers. Research from the point of view of the supermarket could also be done: how they define the type of website used for shopping, how they see customer satisfaction and feedback. Therefore, it is essential to continue this line of research as a lot of individuals shop on the Internet and, with this type of research, there would be a better support to supermarkets and a better understanding of the consumers' point of view.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 10, No. 1, Jan/Apr., 2013 pp. 99-118 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752013000100006

BEEF TRACEABILITY BY RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM IN THE PRODUCTION PROCESS OF A SLAUGHTERHOUSE Eliana Tiba Gomes Grande Goiano Federal Institute - Iporá Campus, GO, Brazil Sibelius Lellis Vieira Pontifical Catholic University of Goiás, GO, Brazil ____________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT The goal of this work was to analyze the feasibility of continuing the traceability of beef through the use of Radio Frequency Identification technology in the production process of a slaughterhouse. In this process, the relationship between the end product (a piece of meat and the offal) and its source (the animal) is not maintained, even if the animal has been traced until the slaughterhouse. In the present work, critical points in the production process involving loss of traceability were identified and simulations using the middleware fosstrak and an associated simulator to validate a solution to this problem were performed. It was found that traceability is feasible, provided that the antennas and the RFID readers are placed in strategic locations such as the hooks where the carcasses are hanged and on the trays with the cuts of meat.

Keywords: middleware fosstrak, traceability - RFID, beef – industry, production engineering.

1. INTRODUCTION The Brazilian beef market has evolved in the product quality delivered to the consumers through investments in genetics, improved pastures, balanced cattle feed for each development stage, humane slaughter (Roça, 1999), meat processing following the rules of health surveillance (BRASIL, 2007) and in the search for new technologies such as the Mobile Information and Wireless Technologies (Costa, 2010). However, product traceability does not meet the end user requirements with regard to providing a safe product with high palatable and organoleptic characteristics, by controlling all stages of production, processing, storage and transportation. The animals that use the Brazilian System of Identification and Certification of Bovine and Buffalo Origin (SISBOV) as a means of traceability lose their identity when they are slaughtered and their products are referenced to only by the batch of animals. The Radio Frequency Identification systems (RFID) technology can ensure that traceability is continued after slaughter, increasing the added value to the end product, expanding the possibility of _____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 06/07/2012 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 03/01/2013 Eliana Tiba Gomes Grande, Master in Production and Systems Engeneering - PUC GOIAS, Goiano Federal Institute - Iporá - GO - Brazil Address Avenida Oeste s/n, saída para Piranhas – Iporá/GO – ZIP: 76.200-000 E-mail: eliana.tiba@ifgoiano.edu.br Sibelius Lellis Vieira - Doctor in Electrical Engineering – Unicamp. Affiliation - Pontifical Catholic University of Goias - GO - Brazil, Av. Universitária, n.1069, Setor Universitário, Goiânia/GO - ZIP: 74605-010 E-mail: sibelius@pucgoias.edu.br Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2013 All rights reserved.

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exportation and decreasing tax evasion with the strict control of production. RFID technology is a revolution in the identification process of goods, persons and services, with a direct impact on inventory and access control to logistic processes in the entire supply chain. Smart labels are more resistant than bar codes, have greater storage capacity and data reusability. These are some of the positive factors of using such a technology.

This technology can monitor all development phases of the animal (breeding, raising and fattening), generating important data control such as vaccinations, diseases, weight gain, including traceability control. Thereby, it becomes possible to improve logistics control (Nogueira, 2005), since it allows to inform the exact position, in real time, of the animals leaving the farms until their arrival at the slaughterhouses, and from then to the commercial establishments, and finally to customers, enabling to expand the competitiveness of Brazilian agriculture in the international market (Campanhola, 2005). Furthermore, the use of RFID technology also allows inventory control with greater reliability of data provided at the time of the events at any point in the production chain.

The Radio Frequency Identification Technology is widely used in the supply chain, in which generally there is only a tag read and a transfer of the data to the upper layers, generating real-time information for decision making (Schuster et al., 2007). In the slaughterhouse, at all times, there is a dismemberment of the an animal carcass generating different cuts of meat, as well as the aggregation of various cuts of meat from different animals in the same package, which leads to difficulties in maintaining the traceability of the animal identity.

The dismemberment and subsequent aggregation of the end product information of each processing stage are the critical control points for the implementation of the RFID system. In most processes, only the aggregation (assembly) of various pieces occurs in order to create a product (Krajewski et al., 2009).

Regarding the difficulties of the current tracking and the search for new technologies that will increase the quality of the product, the following questions are presented: Is the deployment of RFID within the slaughterhouse feasible? What are the critical points where traceability could be lost in the production process? Does the system really ensure the traceability of the end product, considering the specificities of this production process?

1.1. Objective The objective of this study was to identify the feasibility of traceability within the continuity of the production process of a beef slaughterhouse, to establish critical points of traceability loss in the production process and to propose a solution that guarantees the traceability and perform simulations with the use of computing environments to prove the viability of this proposal.

There is as an empirical justification to the little importance given to the great effort made by rural enterprises in the use of information technology such as electronic scales, earrings and readers, which treats each animal individually in order to produce a higher quality product and with high added value in the market, if all this information is lost (discarded) in the slaughterhouse. However, analyses of the continuity of traceability within the production process are scarce, which stimulated the accomplishment of this work.

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2. THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS 2.1. The Brazilian beef market It is noticeable that the agribusiness sector has contributed to the Brazilian trade balance. However, the global demand for agricultural products is relatively decreasing and the variability of prices and quantities of agricultural trade have been higher than manufactured products, and the agricultural trade exchange relationships have declined over the last 30 years (Carvalho & Silva, 2005). These facts place the country in a vulnerable position. In this case, the adoption of the replacement of importation by exportation of manufactured products becomes relevant, and increasing the volume of the agricultural products exported does not necessarily mean improvement of the Brazilian society welfare.

Statistical data of livestock production in 2010 shows that nearly 29 million bovines were slaughtered, a number that is still in continuous growth, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE, 2010) indicators, presenting advances in productivity indexes and finishing of products. Out of this total, more than 1.23 million tons of beef were exported in 2010, to a record value of US $ 3,896.90 per ton (BRASIL, 2011).

Brazil exports to over 170 countries, having as largest importers Russia, China, the Middle East countries, the United States and Europe (ABIEC, 2011). Beef is the third in the ranking of the most exported products of the country, encompassing both fresh and industrialized meat, edible offal and salted tripe (BRASIL, 2011).

The farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s adherence to traceability resulted in the identification of individual animals in the herd size control of each category and in the possibility of determining a performance and reproduction quality. Therewith, new information controls were acquired, such as Animal Identification Document (DIA), the purchase documentation, the use and output of inputs (nutritional and sanitarian) and animal transportation documents. However, there has been no return from SISBOV system to support beef cattle farmers in their decision making (Cocaro & Jesus, 2007).

One of the reasons for the absence of information return to the beef cattle farmers is given by the lack of continuity of traceability after the slaughter. The adherence of RFID technology in the manufacturing process of slaughterhouses can ensure traceability of most animal products and byproducts.

2.2. The radio frequency identification technology RFID technology is an automatic identification system that aims to provide information on people, pets, assets and products without human interference (Finkenzeller, 2003), so to speak, it can automatically reduce potential human errors (Glover & Bhatt, 2007). EPCglobal Inc. is a nonprofit organization that aims to establish the EPCglobal as a global standard for automatic identification. EPCglobal is a collection of inter-related hardware, software, data standards and essential services that are operated by EPCglobal and its delegates (Traub et al., 2010).

RFID technology is based on radiofrequency waves to exchange data, allowing remotely storing and retrieving information in order to waive the proximity or even the presence of an operator. As there is no need of human interference to specifically perform the entering data task, it is an automatic means of data capturing.

The RFID architecture is arranged in three layers. The physical layer consists of a set of hardware formed by tags, antennas, receivers/transmitters, a reader (interrogator)

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of the RFID and computers, or any other devices that can view or manage the data provided by this environment. . In the second or intermediate layer, where the RFID middleware is found, the data provided by the physical layer is summarized and organized and forwarded to the application layer. The third layer is where the information technology systems, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or dedicated systems are located, which process the data provided by the intermediate layer and transform them into valuable information for business processes and decision making.

In order to standardize the communication between the layers and enable data to be understood, no matter the technology and systems used in each company, a standard known as EPCglobal was developed. This standard specifies the Electronic Product Code (EPC) in order to facilitate the information exchange and negotiation between physical objects, to promote the existence of a competitive market for components of the system and encourage innovation of products and systems.

2.3. The physical layer The operation of the physical layer of RF technology is based on transponders (tags) installed in products that communicate with the antenna (fixed or mobile) and it sends the data to the RFID reader and then the reader transfers these synthesized data to hosts (Figure 1).

Figure 1 - Physical Architecture of RFID (GLOVER & BHATT, 2007)

The RFID antenna transmits a wave that has both magnetic and electric characteristics, hence the name electromagnetic wave. The use of the antenna depends on the circumstances of its operation and the narrow frequency range designated by the RFID system. The types of antennas are linear and circular polarized and monostatic and bistatic circular polarized.

The antenna is connected to the RFID reader/interrogator. The readers/interrogators can exchange information in one direction (half duplex communication â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from the tag to the reader) or two-way (full duplex communication â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from the tag to the reader and from the reader data can be written on the tag). The two types of communication take place by means of radiofrequency waves in broadcast, which happens in the reader's interrogation zone, namely, within the reach of the waves.

The transponders are RF tags or simply RFID tags which have as a basic structure a chip capable of storing information and one impedance performing as an antenna protected by a material such as plastic or silicone. The transponder (tag) is responsible for identifying a being or object carrying it when this being or object passes through the reader´s interrogation zone, being it passive or active (Santini, 2008).

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2.4. The intermediate layer The EPC Middleware is software whose goal is managing the data captured by the readers/interrogators and providing these data to the EPC Information Services (EPCIS) and enterprise systems (Grumovski, 2009). The implementation of a middleware, in a general and basic way, for a RFID system is divided into three sublayers (Figure 2):  Data transmission sublayer: contains different models of tags and readers which identify the physical tags and readers in order to enable them to communicate.  Operating sublayer: contains the middleware that makes the integration among the different readers with different systems. It is in this layer that various valid tags readers are identified and all of them are aggregated into the same information.  Business sublayer: the entire infrastructure of a company that uses the RFID system. It is characterized by a great heterogeneity due to different types of platforms supported.

Figure 2 - General Architecture of RFID middleware (FLOERKEMEIER et al., 2007)

2.5. The EPCglobal Network The EPCglobal Network is responsible for the standardization of the EPC code and aims to facilitate the information exchange and negotiation between physical objects, to promote the existence of a competitive market for the components of the system and encourage innovation of products and systems (Traub et al., 2010).

The EPCglobal standards include data standards and information exchange standards that form the basis of business exchange and also the specification for RFID devices and rules that manage the EPCs data coding in these devices.

The EPCglobal standards define the interfaces between system components that facilitate interoperability of components produced by different manufacturers. These systems provide choices for the end users, both in the systems´ implementation between trading partners and internal company use (Schuster et al., 2007).

The EPC is an identification and naming scheme designed to identify univocally, among the participating countries, all physical objects, virtual and services commercialized. The "unique identity" means simply to assign a name to the entity, in such a way that a certain name is different from any other assigned by another entity.

The EPCglobal network architecture, the unique identity is the EPC, is defined by the specification of the tag data. The digits that make up the EPC are divided into two parts: one that identifies the manufacturer and the other one, the product type. However, the EPC uses an additional set of digits which are a serial number for exclusive item identification.

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The EPCglobal network is structured in essentially six elements which are:  EPC Number: global and exclusive identifier, which serves to hold queries on the object it identifies.  Reader or interrogator: data capture device, portable or fixed, which connects to the network.  EPC Middleware: software that controls the readers. It works with or without a local repository of EPC numbers and associated information.  Application-Level Events (ALE) Specification: this is the interface standard application-level developed by the EPCglobal that allows customers to obtain consolidated and filtered EPC observations from a variety of sources.  Object Name Service (ONS): shared resource that has information associated to the EPC number (equivalent to the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet).  EPCIS: EPC information service that contains all the data for an EPC. It uses Physical Markup Language (PML) which is a language defined in Extensible Markup Language (XML) in order to enable query and obtain data related to EPC numbers.

2.6. The Fosstrak and Rifidi Emulator platform The middleware has as its functions in the management of information and communication, meeting the needs of generic and independent platform application set.

It must simplify communication applications through abstractions and support resource sharing to distributed applications, which means it leaves the platform transparent for applications, besides filtering and aggregating the data received from the physical layer (Bernstein, 1996).

Fosstrak meets all the functionality required by a middleware system, with an easy-to-use intuitive interface. Additionally, Fosstrak has the EPCglobal Network certificate, as it meets the EPC standard requirements (Floerkemeier et al. 2007).

The Fosstrak platform is an RFID open source system that implements the EPC Network specifications. This platform is divided into four modules (Fosstrak, 2012), as shown in Figure 3:  EPCIS repository;  Client application;  Filtering and Collection Middleware with ALE;  Support for Low Level Reader Protocol (LLRP), and LLRP Commander.

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Figure 3 - Fosstrak with ALE and Middleware supports LLRP (http://www.Fosstrak.org/fc/ modified by author)

Rifidi Emulator is used to create a simulation of the physical layer, including tags and readers (Rifidi, 2012).

The LLRP Commander is a plug-in that must be installed in Eclipse. The LLRP Commander makes use of the Eclipse environment to create, modify and manipulate XML messages between the simulator and the client application layer. Once Rifidi Emulator simulation is created, Tomcat can be activated in order to enable ALE Webclient configuration.

To view the reports with aggregated data sent from the Fosstrak ALE Middleware, the application that displays incoming requests Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is started. This application represents the client layer, where the generated filtered result is located and middleware aggregation is made available to the upper layer, the business layer. Once the communication between the Emulator and Rifidi Fosstrak is started, the screen that represents the client application should automatically receive the information from the lower layers.

After the Fosstrak Webclient ALE setting up, the middleware can be run by Eclipse. In this environment, logical readers are created to connect the physical readers to the Rifidi Emulator.

The middleware Fosstrak sends messages to the Rifidi Emulator simulator in order to receive readings from the tags within its coverage area. The result of these readings is also sent to the middleware in form of messages.

The report visualized in Fosstrak refers to the tags read from time to time within the Rifidi Emulator reader´s coverage area. This time is determined by the middleware and can be changed by the user on the display module and editing XML message LLRP in the LLRP commander.

The middleware Fosstrak filters and aggregates the tags readings sent by Rifidi Emulator and make them available to the client application.

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2.7. The structure of a slaughterhouse Taking into account a slaughterhouse that performs the slaughter and meat industrialization, we have the following steps: animals reception at the corrals, drive to the slaughter, overhead spray on animals before slaughter, stunning, bleeding, skinning, evisceration, the split carcase in two half carcasses, refrigeration, cutting/ boning and storage/shipping.

At the reception stage the animals are examined by health surveillance inspectors for physical verification. After the inspection, the animals are separated into batches by origin and gender. They remain in the stalls waiting for a ranging period between sixteen to twenty-four hours, where they lie to spare muscle glycogen and water undergoing diet (Thornton, 1969).

Figure 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Basic flowchart of bovine slaughter Source: Slaughter Environmental Technology Guide (beef and pork) - Series modified by authors

Once the rest period is finished, the animals are led into a hallway with several divisions and separated into smaller lots for slaughter. This corridor named "syringe" tapers to such a point where the animals walk in a single line. Throughout the way the

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animals are overhead sprayed with chlorinated water with pressure regulated jets removing manure and other animal dirt before slaughter (Steiner, 1983).

Stunning is the method used to deaden the animal before slaughter in itself. When the animals reach slaughter, they go into a narrow box where they are deadened with the application of the stunning method. This method seeks to eliminate unnecessary suffering of the animal (Cortesi, 1994), provides an efficient bleeding, and yet a high quality meat for commercialization.

During bleeding, the animals are tied by chains to one of the hind leg. When the skinning stage is over the animals are hung on hooks where they remain until the boning stage. Still in the skinning stage, the front legs are removed, keeping the hooves. Then the free hind leg is removed (the one which is not tied to the chains), the removal of hire is initiated and the first hook is introduced. After that, the other hind leg is removed and hung on the second hook and the skinning process is continued. To avoid contamination of the carcass, the bladder and anus are tied up. The hooves are inspected and if approved, sent for processing. Otherwise, they are sent to the production of flour.

The end products resulted from the skinning process are the hide, head, horns and hooves. In this stage also the tail, the reproductive organs of the female animals, the testicles of the male animals and subsequently the heads are removed manually with the use of knives (Figure 4). The heads are washed and inspected in their cavities (mouth, nose, pharynx and larynx). At this point, the carcass is assessed, classified and typified by age, gender and typed to exportation or not.

Evisceration is the removal process of the abdominal and pelvic organs, including the intestines, the bladder, the three pre-stomach (reticulum, rumen and omasum) and the true stomach (abomasums). The parts are poured into trays and inspected. The edible viscera such as liver, heart, kidneys are immediately packed and sent for cooling.

The intestines are cleaned and from them tripe is produced which is salted in for processed meat or for medical applications use. The stomach is also emptied, cleaned and salted; sometimes bleached and refrigerated for subsequent dispatch. Gallbladder bile is extracted which is sold to pharmaceutical companies.

After evisceration, the carcass is sawed in half lengthwise, following the umbilical cord. The half carcasses are washed to remove all spinal cord traces and small fat nibs and/or tissues without meat. At this stage, the carcass is typified according to maturity, finishing, forming and hot yield. Completed the weighing, the two half carcasses are sent for refrigeration.

The use of low temperatures slows the onset of microbial activity as well as enzymatic and chemical reactions which modify the color and texture of meat. The chambers have their temperature stabilized between 0 and 4 째 C. Thus, the housing temperature is set around 7 째 C, so that the meat does not freeze and the blood does not drain ensuring its softness. The carcasses remain under refrigeration between 24 and 48 hours.

After the refrigeration period, the half carcasses are sent to be deboned, if not sent directly for shipping. This process is performed manually, using only knives. The parts are vacuum packed, labeled, boxed and sent for refrigeration (Figure 4).

Depending on the destination of the meat, it is routed to different storages. In the storage chambers, the sealed boxes are kept at a temperature of 0 째 C, administered by the "First In, First Out" (FIFO) method. When sent to distant destinations, the meat goes through a freezing process called "freezing tunnels", at a temperature of -35 째 C for 48

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hours. After frozen, the packets are routed by conveyor belts to freezing chambers, which are stacked on pallets, where they remain until they are shipped.

3. METHODOLOGY The challenge of this work is to describe a proposal of a traceability mechanism in a collection and processing of information environment that is provided by the SISBOV system, or even those that were recorded by the slaughterhouse at the animals reception time in the corral, in such a way that that information is kept up to shipment of products.

The points where this information could be damaged during the production process must be detected in order to conduct an analysis of how a tracking system based on RFID can avoid this situation. For each of these points there should be made a description of the information passing through the layers of the RFID system.

In order to raise these issues, a qualitative and exploratory in nature research was used. In the qualitative approach it is important to visit the organization researched in order to collect evidence and observations, focusing on the processes under study.

Understanding the processes can result in a map, which is the reflection result of the researcher about the territory investigated. It must work with more than one source of evidence, based on the literature review and the subjective reality of individuals captured in the natural environment of the research, in order to allow the construction of an objective reality in the research perspective. The ways to capture this complexity are the semi-structured (or non-structured) interview, participant observation and documentary research. Both confidentiality of sources and the name of the organization are sometimes required (Miguel, 2010).

In the combined approach, exploratory in nature, the intention is to explore the theme of research in order to provide subsidies for the quantitative phase. The aim is to generalize the results to different groups to which the result can be applied.

The method used was the case study, a strategy that fits in situations where issues should respond primarily to how and why, and to understand the context of the problem.

A protocol based on bibliographic research, technical visit, with direct observation by the authors, interviews and process simulation software were used.

The technical visit happened in late 2010 in one of the establishments of a large slaughterhouse in the country, located in Goiânia which, for private reasons, administrators asked not to disclose its identity. With the production manager monitoring, the whole internal processes of the slaughterhouse were shown and described, starting from the purchase of the animals to the storage and shipping area.

This visit was facilitated with the escort of a cattle farmer who has a business relationship with the company. The general manager assigned the production manager as instructor-guide of the entire production process.

The interview was conducted in a non-structured format with a professor from the Federal University of GoiĂĄs, Advanced Campus JataĂ­ with experience in veterinary medicine, and emphasis on technology and inspection of animal products. This professor provided information on the process of a functional slaughterhouse, including electronic materials and comments for preparation of use cases.

Based on the theoretical research, the technical visit and documents provided by the UFG professor, the relevant points in the production process were raised, points considered as the ones where the identification of the animal is lost. These points are

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identified as the skinning, evisceration and boning. For each of these points, a description of proceedings of the information passing through the layers of the RFID system was described. These points are defined as use cases, which must be carried out a series of actions based on pre-established events.

Another concern issue refers to economic factors and flexibility, which make it essential to conduct experiments with RFID hardware independently. In the search for solutions to solve this problem, the Fosstrak was found. This free and open system, which is EPCglobal certified, proved to be an appropriate solution for this study. It also communicates with an emulator called Rifidi Emulator that facilitates usability testing without the need for acquisitions of antennas, readers and electronic tags.

4. ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEMS AND PROPOSAL OF SIMULATED SOLUTIONS Based on the theoretical research, the technical visit and documents provided by the UFG professor, the relevant points in the production process were collected, which are the ones where the animal identification tracking is lost.

The SISBOV guarantees the traceability of the animal identity to the slaughter, and then its identity tracking is lost, and from then on the animals are grouped and identified in batches. This new identification is recorded in the meat packages. With the RFID system implemented within the production process of the slaughterhouse, this tracking can be continued with inclusions of new information such as classification, typifying, stay in the establishment and destination of the products of the animal.

Moreover, one can have a strict control of the quantity of meat sold versus the number of slaughtered animals, preventing tax evasion on the part of some clandestine slaughterhouses and slaughter carried out by small establishments which do not follow the rules of health surveillance.

The dismemberment and subsequent aggregation of end products information of each processing stage are the critical control points for the implementation of the RFID system. In the majority of the traditional production processes, there is only the aggregation (assembly) of multiple pieces (parts) to create a final product.

The RFID system is widely used in the supply chain, in which there is only a tag reading and transfer of the data to the upper layers, generating real-time information for decision making. In the slaughterhouse it is common to dismember the animal into various meat cuts and to aggregate the various cuts of meat from different animals in a package, which causes great difficulty preserving the relationship between the animal and the end product.

The Rifidi Emulator was used to create a simulated manufacturing process of slaughterhouse. Readers have been created in the relevant stages of the production process, such as in skinning, gutting, cutting, refrigeration, stock, in the tunnels freezers and freezing chambers. The tags were created to represent the tags contained in the components (hooks, conveyor belts, etc.) and dragged into the antennas of the readers.

Several reasons have led to the use of simulation to conduct feasibility tests in the production process of a slaughterhouse to maintain the animal traceability. The first one is because this simulation system is free of charge. The second is that the simulation can be made before the actual system is implemented. The third reason is the lack of an environment to perform these simulations in general.

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The first use case to be described is to record the association of the hooks with the animal during skinning. Upon skinning, the antenna located at the initial position of skinning identifies only one tag, which is the one from the animal. Each animal is referenced to two hooks, and each hook references one half carcass (left or right) of the animal. This association is feasible because the tag of the hook is fixed and possibly already recorded in the system and the animal tag recorded by the time it reaches the skinning phase.

The tag embedded in the bottom or implanted in the animal is not the only form of prior animal identification. The SISBOV considers as valid forms for animal identification an earring and a standard bottom/button, an earring or a standard bottom/button and a electronic device, a standard earring in one ear and a tattoo on the other one, a standard earring and the SISBOV management number marked with a hot iron, a single device with visual and electronic identification and only a standard earring. This paper considers only the forms of identification tags that have been built or deployed.

When this antenna identifies the second tag, which is the hook, the connection should occur between the hook and the animal. At this moment the two reading tags are recorded in a database that connects them, along with the current time of reading. The next tag that refers to the next hook must also be recorded in the database that refers to the same animal. From this point, when the arrival tag was removed or lost, the animal identification can be obtained from the database.

The second use case is in the evisceration. In the evisceration, the viscera are poured into trays which also have the EPC code, in which the animal is again referenced to. Once the inspection releases the process, the tags are read and an EPC code that references to all animals is printed as well which offal are in the same package. The package is not assembled with the parts of an animal alone, but with the parts that come from various animals. The business plan establishes the number of pieces per package.

This information is passed to the RFID middleware, which makes filtering and aggregation of tags and returns to the dedicated system, recording the package.

As described, the trays labeled with tags receive the viscera of the animal; these tags are already known by the system. During the visit that was made by the one of the authors, it was found that the viscera are separated. Edible offal are placed in one tray, and in another one, the stomach and intestines.

The edible offal are dumped into a tunnel to the packaging. Subsequently, the packing case is set up and sent for refrigeration. Each package receives an electronic tag with the identification of cattle from which they are originated. This is possible since there is synchronization between the hooks and trays. The reader identifies the hook of the tags that is referenced to the animal and passes it to the system. Another reader identifies the tray that is receiving the viscera, and passes the information to the system that associates the tray with the animal.

In the slaughterhouse´s current production system the edible offal of several animals are packet together, which makes it impossible to identify which animals are in the same package. Therefore, the association between the tag of the hook and the tag of tray is needed. The stomach and intestines cannot receive identification of the animal from which they are originated, as they are processed among thousands of other animals.

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The third use case of this work is during the boning process. Before the boning itself, the half carcass is divided into forequarter and hindquarter. The quarters, which are sold in this way, receive a label with the EPC code, which informs all the animal data. In case the quarters are sent for boning, several pieces of various animals are placed into a plastic bag to form a package, which hinders the identification of which animals make up the package. Again, tracking is necessary during the boning process through the association between the tags of the conveyor belt and the tags of the hooks at the entrance of this process.

4.1. Use case â&#x20AC;&#x201C; recording the association of the tags of the hooks with the ones of the animal during the skinning stage The first use case consisted of recording the association between the tags of the hooks with the ones of the animal during the skinning stage, and it begins with the identification of the first tag, which belongs to the animal. This information is read from time to time by the reader and forwarded to the middleware, which filters and aggregates this information into a single data, forwarding it to the client application (Figure 5).

In Figure 5 it is shown the three open applications, connected to one another. The first one, left of the screen, is the client application (in this case, a client application called Event Sink). The second, at the right bottom of screen, is the physical layer simulator, the Rifidi Emulator. The third, at the upper right of the screen, is the middleware Fosstrak using the LLRP Commander to communicate with the Rifidi Emulator.

Figure 5 - First stage of the simulation of the skinning stage (animal identification) As each half carcass is hung by its hind legs on two distinct hooks, the identification of the first hook is carried by the same reader which generates the association between the hook and the slaughtered animal. Thereby, the hook is associated with the animal, making the previous identification irrelevant, which allows one to remove the tag, but still guaranteeing the animal tracking along the remaining manufacturing process of slaughterhouse, which is illustrated in Figure 6.

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Figure 6 - Second stage of the simulation of the skinning phase (identification of the first hook) The second hook is also identified by the antenna and associated to the animal (Figure 7). It can be seen in this figure the emulation of the skinning stage by Rifidi Emulator, through the reading operation sent message, an access report type message (ROAccessReport) to the middleware Fosstrak. The sent message appears in the "ROAccessReport" Fosstrak middleware tab as a list containing the following data: date/time, the adapter used over the IP of the machine (server), the reader and the EPC code, among others.

Figure 7 - Third stage of the simulation of the skinning phase (identification of the second hook)

The middleware Fosstrak matches the EPC codes that do not repeat and generates a report from this reader making it available to the client application, called Event Sink, which is illustrated on the left of the screen in Figure 7.

4.2. Use case 2 - recording the association of the tags of the hooks with the ones of the trays during the evisceration stage In the second use case (recording the association of tags of the hooks with the ones of the trays during evisceration stage), an antenna (antenna # 0) positioned at the top,

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next to the conveyor belt, records the passage of hook tags at the entrance of the evisceration stage.

Another antenna (antenna # 1), located near the trays, also records the passage of the tags of the trays. The two antennas send this information in a synchronized way to the reader of this stage, which informs the Fosstrak middleware. The middleware, in turn, filters and sends the synchronized information to the client application, which records its entry in the evisceration stage (Figure 8).

Figure 8 - Identification of trays (Antenna #1) during evisceration.

As an example, if a package contains offal of two animals, and knowing that there are two trays and two hooks for each animal, there are four hooks and four trays at this stage. In the first and third trays the edible offal are dumped and in the second and fourth trays, the intestines and stomachs are dumped. In this case, the last two ones are ignored by the system. The offal of the two animals are bagged together, which makes impossible to track the specific animal from which the offal originated.

There are only two trays remaining to be recorded by the client application. Not tagging those trays is one option to avoid extra expenses with the tags of the trays that are going to be discarded is. Instead, a visual identification in the labeled trays such as a brand, or a different color could be made. With this identification the employees of this stage know that it is in that tray where the offal must be dumped.

According to this proposal there are two tags, one for each hook and a tag for the tray with the offal. Once the second tray is identified, a new tag is generated with data of the two animals to be attached to the package. This package, with this EPC code, can be tracked at any post-slaughterhouse point until its final destination. Through this code the two animals that generated the offal packet can be reached.

It is not possible to associate the product to an animal, because in the production process of the slaughterhouse under this study, the edible offal are not wrapped up individually. Edible offal are placed in a bag and then packed.

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4.3. Use case 3 - recording the association of the tags of the hooks with the one of the conveyor belt during the deboning stage In the third use case, in which there is the record of the association of the tags of the hooks with the one of the conveyor belt during deboning, there is a major concern point. The quarter (half carcass in two parts) that enters this phase must be identified by the reader at the entrance of the conveyor belt. It is supposed that the quarter goes through the conveyor belt being cut into pieces until only the bones remain, and its parts are packed one by one into separate bags, and placed into packages. These packages contain a certain number of pieces of several animals. Next, a situation where it is possible to use RFID for traceability part of an animal is presented.

The simulation made by the Rifidi Emulator in this stage (Figure 9) is simple, as the tag must be identified one by one. What it important is to know the package size and the size of each animal part, and only then it is possible to identify how many parts each package holds. These data must be informed by the production manager and added to the data provided by the scale at each point in the client application packaging.

Another important point is the quantity of parts per animal quarter. With the information of the package capacity, one can make a prediction of how many quarters are needed to fill each package.

Figure 9 - Identification of the hooks on deboning stage.

According to the information provided for this environment, it is possible to have a solution in which a reader positioned on top of the conveyor belt reads the tag of the hook, transferring it to the Fosstrak middleware, forwarding it to the system where the animal is identified.

As the parts of this animal are being packed, the system records it up to the point that the package is filled up with parts of the same type. Finally, a tag is generated with information from the animals that originated the parts of the package.

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5. CONCLUSIONS The traceability of products of bovine animals within the production process of a slaughterhouse, despite being compromised by the specificity of its process, has demonstrated its technical feasibility. Although RFID technology is not in itself enough to guarantee the traceability of the animal until the last link in the chain of beef production, this traceability can be ensured through a methodology that involves the positioning of readers in strategic places such as labels on hooks and trays, and labels on packages with all information from the animals they are originated, for inventory and shipping control.

The labels of the hooks and trays can be passive and contain the code that identifies the EPC. In order to know in which phase of the production process the animal is, readers installed at strategic locations identify the tag in its coverage area, and send this information to the middleware connected to them, which forwards this information in a filtered and aggregated style to the client application.

The use of a simulator such as the Rifidi Emulator to represent use cases of a slaughterhouse was presented as an option for achieving this crucial work, because without it would be impossible to implement this technology in a test environment. The simulation results of the use cases presented ensure the possibility of implementation of RFID in the production process of a slaughterhouse, being one of its benefits to guarantee the continuity of the traceability of beef products (quarters, parts) and the origin of offal in each package.

The RFID system, which consisted of tags placed on hooks and trays plus the readers located at the beginning of each stage in conjunction with the client application to the database well-structured in this study, can keep the identity of the animal in its end products, even when faced with the dismemberment of its parts and aggregation of products of the same type to generate packages.

The benefits acquired are not limited to animal traceability lost at slaughter in the current structure, but also in inventory control, agility in the area of product shipment, logistics control, transparency in the production and handling of products among others.

6. LIMITATIONS In this work some strengths and weaknesses in the use of Fosstrak middleware ,Rifidi Emulator and the traceability chain of beef were identified. The strengths are: Fosstrak middleware communicates seamlessly with the Rifidi Emulator; both do not require large computers (personal or notebook). Medium and small computers meet their implementation needs; the Rifidi Emulator is easy to install and use; the Rifidi Emulator has no limit to create tags or readers.

The weaknesses are: the Fosstrak middleware has difficulty forwarding this information to the client(s) application(s); Fosstrak middleware is difficult to install and use; Fosstrak middleware communicates with a reader by turns, the Rifidi Emulator is limited to configuration capabilities, for instance, placing the tag in the coverage area of the antenna is only done manually, both the Rifidi Emulator and the Fosstrak middleware have limitations in the Windows operating system (Windows7 operating system was employed in this work).

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Krajewski, L.; Ritzman, L. & Malhotra, M. (2009). Administração de Produção e Operações. Pearson Education do Brasil.

Miguel, P. A. C. (org.) (2010). Metodologia de Pesquisa em Engenharia de Produção e Gestão de Operações. Elsevier, Rio de Janeiro.

Nogueira , F. C. C. da C. (2005). Tecnologia RFID aplicada à Logística. Tese de M.Sc, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro.

RIFIDI. Rifidi – Software Defined RFID. Disponível em <http://www.rifidi.org>, 2012.

Acesso em: 09 maio 2011.

Roça, R.O. (1999). Abate humanitário: o ritual kasher e os métodos de insensibilização de bovinos. Botucatu: FCA/UNESP. Tese (Livre-docência em Tecnologia dos Produtos de Origem Animal) - Universidade Estadual Paulista.

Santini, A. G., (2008). RFID: Conceitos, Aplicabilidades e Impactos, Editora Ciência Moderna, Rio de Janeiro.

Schuster E. W.; Allen S.J.; Brock D.L. (2007). Global RFID: the value of the EPCglobal network for supply chain management. Springer-Verlag. New York.

Steiner, H. (1983). Working model of standardized technique for the hygienic slaughtering of cattle. Fleischwirtschaft, Frankfurt, v.63, n.7, p.1186-1187.

Thornton, H. (1969). Compêndio de inspeção de carnes. Londres: Bailliere Tindall an Cassel, p.665.

Traub, K.; Armenio, F.; Barthel, H. & al. (2010). The EPCglobal Architecture Framework.

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118 Grande, E. T. G. ; Vieira, S. L.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 10, No. 1, Jan/Apr., 2013 pp.119-144 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752013000100007

THE FORENSIC ACCOUNTING AND CORPORATE FRAUD Joshua Onome Imoniana Maria Thereza Pompa Antunes Henrique Formigoni Mackenzie Presbyterian University, SP, Brazil ___________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT This study is aimed at analyzing the characteristics of forensic accounting services performed by accounting firms in Brazil, using an exploratory approach. At the end of the study, there is a discourse analysis of a speech made by the CEO of one of the key players in forensic accounting services (Kroll) in Brazil. In order to guide this reflection, we pose the following question: what is the characteristic of forensic accounting that substantiates professional accountants’ innovation to curb corporate accounting malpractices? In this intent, we accept the premise that the bone of contention in some unhealthy business environments is the inability of an auditor to track frauds. We used the icons (categories and/or nodes) that dynamically represent formalism in the theory of self re-production to explain the patterns found in the speech. Our findings make us conclude that the idea that frauds have been least detected by auditors begins to gain shape as auditors are more adequately trained to detect frauds instead of emphasizing the traditional segregation of duties and safeguard of assets.

Keywords: Forensic, Accounting, Fraud, Audit

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 31/03/2011 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 16/02/2013

Joshua Onome Imoniana, Research Fellow at University of Bologna. He is a Professor of AIS and Auditing at the Graduate Program of Accounting at the Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, Brazil. As CeGit and ISACA Advocate, is a PhD in Accounting from the University of São Paulo 1992. phone: +55114702-7846 or: +55-11-21148273 E-mail: joshua.imoniana@mackenzie.br or josh.imoniana@yahoo.com Maria Thereza Pompa Antunes, is the Chair of Graduate School of Accounting and also Professor of Methodology and Financial Analysis in the Graduate Program of Accounting at the Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, Brazil. She received a Ph.D. in Accounting from University of São Paulo – USP in 2004. phone: +55-11-5539- 3737 ou 2114-8887 E-mail: mariathereza@mackenzie.br; Henrique Formigoni, Post-doctorate from University of Salamanca. Professor of Financial Accounting and Tax in the Graduate Program of Accounting at the Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, Brazil. He received a Ph.D. in Accounting from University of São Paulo – USP, in 2008. Phone: +55-11-2114-8836 E-mail: hformigoni@mackenzie.br; Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2013. All rights reserved.

120 Imoniana, J. O., Antunes, M. T. P., Formigoni, H.

1. INTRODUCTION The perspective of accounting influence on today’s society will continue to be bright as users foresee in information providers the need of upholding the pillars of corporate governance; that is, accountability, fairness, responsibility and transparency.

The last few years have witnessed a great expansion in both interest and research in the behavioural and social aspects of accounting, and there is little doubt that this area will be one of the increasing and important activities in the years ahead (Hopwood, 2009).

Under the new ideological principles of economic development primacy, marketization, and mixed ownership paved the way for a different view of accounting to emerge (Ezzamel, Xiao and Pan, 2007).

Aware of this trend of accounting, and particularly as it has been construed in all parts of the world as eliminating boundaries, a fight against corruption and international fraud that corrodes the pause of most of the developing countries, accounting must be seen as going through a new era, with its end products assisting in the investigation and processing of the perpetrators of fraud.

Assuming that one considers fraud as the main source of human greed and absolute arrogance of the human nature, and that it is also innate in those who perpetuate it, never contented with what they have or always taking advantage of a perceived lack of control, forensic accounting is regarded as one area of these fields of accounting that is going to receive greater attention in future research, be it sociological or humanistic approach.

If we did not close our eyes to what has beheld our society for various decades, we would not be deceived by the fact that fraud has always existed. To make matters worse, new technologies are being developed to bridge the gaps between employees and employers, businessmen and agents, considering punitive measures to make fraud less interesting, but this has not been enough. According to Imoniana (2003), stealing, fraud under extortion and threat to businesses are normally perpetrated by employees or executives who possess the following profiles of: 

Being ambitious, excessively calculating and good planners;



Living above their earnings;



Having social and psychological problems;



Having economic and financial problems;



Always believing in the laws of advantage;



Trusting their ability to perfectly manipulate others to conceal the trace of frauds;



Being a collaborative employee;



Gaining confidence of superiors and plotting their plans out of working hours;



Performing overtime, but reluctantly requesting to be compensated;



Taking short or no vacations; and



Knowing the business better than anyone.

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As implied, there is no gain saying that fraudulent acts and corruption have become a cankerworm that has eaten deeply into the fabric of our society. This seems to be in an escalating rate as we witness it day-in day-out through newspapers that public officers, managers entrusted with the life of businesses, manage business to their own advantage. Fraud has become an industry, not just for the fraudster; academics study it, investigators investigate it, lawyers litigate on it, and conference goers debate it; but the industry is built on managing the consequences of fraud rather than on preventing fraud (KPMG, 2009).

Ironically, this seems to be a lost game when we align what the accounting profession has always done to tackle issues at stake with the deliverables to the stakeholders, saying that it has taken its own part of the uncultured and deregulated society, whereby all the accounting information technologies are not enough to curb fraud.

Therefore, when we assume that the accounting profession is doing its own share of the task it seems to be comfortable, but one is yet to believe in this, since the normative positivist approach in accounting has not been totally ineffective, and also the purely positivist approach which takes with it an inductive approach is yet to be defeated. Thus, this is likely going to be the best bet of accounting for the near future.

In the recent years we have fraud auditing taking place as a result of a suspect of fraud in financial statements or accounting documents. In addition to this, we have expert witnesses; in this case, the accountant using his technical procedures and scientific know-how to give a proof, necessary to substantiate a decision, normally a litigious one, by providing accounting reports in accordance with the rules of law and professional ethics.

Today, the said fraud auditing has grown to include forensic accounting that entails a lot of more jobs. Invariably, the result may determine the future of the experts, should the evidence gathered be ruled as inadmissible in the court of Law. According to KPMG (2009) providing expert accounting assistance is not simply a matter of adding up the numbers. First, the numbers may not be easy to find or are not in perfect order. Some information will be available internally, some only externally.

So, considering the likeliness of information where something may be dubious, some information will require reworking to be useful and other information may not be available at all. Some parties may relate information about what happened, which may not bear any resemblance to reality. Then comes the need for someone to keep an eye on all these, hence, the requirement for an investigative bookkeeper otherwise known as forensic accountant.

Therefore, this study is aimed at analyzing the characteristics of forensic accounting services performed by accounting firms in Brazil, using an exploratory approach. At the end of the study, there is a discourse analysis of a speech made by the CEO of one of the key players in forensic accounting service (Kroll) in Brazil.

Thus, as the current article comprised a study to source unavailability of literature through research, be it normative or supportive in nature, one sees relevance in it. This is what Littleton and Zimmerman (1962) described as perceptive; a search for a rational justification of the already accepted practice rather than a free inquiry into one or another of the many aspects of accounting knowledge. We do not expect practicing accountants to be social scientists any more than we expect practicing physicians to be physical or natural scientists. Their opportunity for services is by far another kind; it

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122 Imoniana, J. O., Antunes, M. T. P., Formigoni, H.

lies in helping their clients or patients to the utmost of their professional abilities within the scope of ethical practices (Mautz, 1963, pp. 317).

Based on the aforementioned, we pose the following research question: what is the characteristic of forensic accounting that substantiates professional accountants’ innovation to curb corporate accounting malpractices?

2. LITERATURE REVIEW Antecedents of forensic accounting In the antecedents of forensic accounting, for clarification purposes, we take investigative auditing or forensic auditing as the basis of all these changes.

Accordingly, Joshi (2003) sees the origin of forensic accounting traceable to Kutilya, the first economist to openly recognize the need for the forensic accountant, who, he said, mentioned 40 ways of embezzlement, centuries ago. He, however, stated that the term “forensic accounting” was coined by Peloubet in 1946. In the same antecedents, Crumbley (2001) stated that a form of forensic accounting can be traced back to an 1817 court decision.

The United States culture has been described as a lawsuit society. The growth in litigation has produced accompanying opportunities in a field called forensic accounting. The field is highlighted by accountants who serve as expert witnesses on both sides of a dispute (Dykeman, 1982). The Brazilian society is a learning type, where lawsuits are very sluggish, and it favours those who use them as a management strategy to drag and retard their effects on businesses. Organizations lose 5 – 6% of revenue annually due to internal frauds with the equivalent of $ 652 Billion in US as of 2006 (Coenen, T.L, 2008).

Forensic accounting is primarily aimed at accounting practitioners who want to expand their services to attorneys. However, […] some expert witnesses have sparked negative relations such as the Judge in the Eastern Kodak-Berkey Photo anti-trust case: “[…] too many of the people come in and think that they can sell whatever counsel is willing to buy and profit from it […] you just can’t and shouldn’t be doing that kind of thing” (Dykeman, 1982).

Even though, as already introduced, forensic accounting takes care of fraud audits, Sarbanes Oxley is not leaving any stone unturned to provide for the coverage of any management negligence in the process of business controls. In this question, the SOX sections including Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) helps to clarify the auditor’s fraud responsibility.

Concepts of forensic accounting It is difficult to conceptualize forensic accounting without comparing it with auditing, mainly because auditing has been used to assess business positions, accounting malpractices and even today auditors do perform investigative jobs. We have seen auditors perform fraud investigation, expert witnessing,, due diligence; etc. Probably as a new era, and professional advancement unfolding various strengths and opportunities and also embracing various perspectives, there is none gainsaying that accounting is also in this same trend.

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KPMG (1999) defines forensic accounting as assistance in disputes which are likely to involve litigation, arbitration, expert determination, mediation or an enquiry by an appropriate regulatory authority, and investigation of suspected frauds, irregularity or impropriety which could potentially lead to civil, criminal or disciplinary proceedings; while focusing primarily on accounting issues.

Forensic accounting is intimately related to auditing, particularly when we mention forensic auditing. Thus, observing the comparative table 1, services provided by accountants include, amongst others: expert witnesses, being forensic services to give proof in accounting issues in litigations and auditing and to certify the veracity of accounting statements diligence. The forensic job is totally analytical in as much as in the end it tries to calculate the rate at which losses have been inflicted on the business.

Generally, reporting in forensic accounting is programmed for a certain period. Yet, different from auditing, , there are no regulatory organizations which control efforts to be put into forensic accounting.

Table 1 - Comparison of Forensic Accounting and Financial Auditing Items for analysis

Forensic Accounting

Auditing

Serve as a backing to prove a fraud in the business in an apparent risk prone environment.

Continuous to certify the state of the art of a business and comply with an efficient market theory

Scope of the job

Present analytical accounting and financial information to support legal and administrative decisions

Opine on the accounting statements of business entities considering all criteria used in its preparation

Details of tasks performed

Detailed planning of tasks aimed at documenting deterministic and calculative analysis.

Sampled and/or probabilistic procedures to serve as a base of concluding the financial statement.

Periodicity

When necessary and particularly according to the periods stipulated by the Judge or client.

Covering the fiscal year to substantiate the activities of the accounting period.

Reporting

Investigative or expert reports

Financial statements, management letters or auditorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; report.

Why, When and Where the services take place

Ideology of forensic accounting The ideas of separating financial auditing from forensic accounting supports the premise that, unless it is investigative, financial auditing is not meant to investigate frauds, even though we have the provisions from the PCAOB for auditorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fraud responsibility. Therefore, in the various researches about the participation of auditors in detection of frauds, one would observe that their statistics show low participation during the course of an audit. This attempt boldly explains the cornerstone of corporate auditing by distinguishing the levels of accountability, integrity, transparency, ethics, competence and independence, apart from emphasizing the scope of work, data gathering, review procedures and reporting.

Forensic accounting, therefore, emanates from social discourses, as the accounting profession tries to give an answer to a typical problem brought by the growth and diversity of opinions in the social science structure. At the highest level, the social norms which guide the selection process are ideological (Mason, 1980, p. 30). Such discourses are replete in the works of Foucault, 1972; Larrain, 1979; Eagleton, 1991 and the host of others.

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124 Imoniana, J. O., Antunes, M. T. P., Formigoni, H.

Characteristics of Forensic accounting In order to expatiate on the peculiarities of forensic accounting, it is worthwhile giving it a broader view under the taxonomies of a sub-activity of accounting. Such a breakdown for forensic accounting involves the following: a) Financial accounting, economics analysis, fiscal and criminal law, psychological, administrative and investigative dispensation; b) Application of forensic standards – possibility to use the reports in a proof of Law in courts or tribunals, c) Can be used in the following situations:  Investigation of frauds - thorough investigation and calculation of the impact on the business and therefore suggesting the arrest of the culprit for a criminal suit. Today, in the IT environment, where users’ profiles are very similar and access controls are somehow lacking, this becomes critical. A general problem in forensic identification arises when a suspect is observed to have a particular rare trait, or combination of traits, also known to be possessed by the criminal (Balding and Donnelly, 1995).  Legal disputes and/or arbitration  Preparation and submission of expert reports  Supporting of Judges in subjects relating to accounting  Verification of accounting records  Supporting in due diligence.

Yet, according to Zysman (2009) a capable Forensic Accountant should have the following characteristics:       

curiosity; persistence; creativity; discretion; organization; confidence; and sound professional judgment.

Still, according to the same author, a Forensic Accountant must be open to consider all alternatives, scrutinize the fine details and at the same time see the big picture. In addition, a Forensic Accountant must be able to listen effectively and communicate clearly and concisely.

According to Zysman (2001) forensic accounting activities include:  Criminal investigation, which are usually on behalf of the police with the aim of presenting evidence in a professional and concise manner.  Shareholders and partnership dispute that involve analysis of numerous year financial records for valuation and qualification of the issue in dispute;  Personal injury claim, where, for example, economic losses from a motor accident or wrongful dismissal may need to be quantified.  Business interruption and other types of insurance claim. These assignments involve a detailed review of the policy to investigate coverage issues and the appropriate methods of calculating the loss.

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 Business/employee fraud investigations which can involve fraud tracing, asset identification and recovery, forensic intelligence gathering and due diligence review.  Matrimonial dispute involving the tracing, locating and evaluation of assets.  Business economic losses, where a disputed contract, construction claims, expropriation, product liability claims and trade marks are the issues.  Professional negligence ascertains the breach and quantifies the loss involved, and mediation and arbitration, as a form of alternative dispute resolution.

Frameworks and Laws enhancing the control of fraud Lately, several frameworks otherwise known as best practices and Laws have been implemented to enhance the control of fraud in various countries that undoubtedly affect all corporations which have international exposure. They range from COSO (COMMITTEE OF SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS OF THE TRADEWAY COMMISSION, COBIT (Controls Objectives for Information and Related Technologies), Sarbanes Oxley Law involving specially Sections 101, 202, 302, 404, 409, 802 and 906 which introduces the PCAOB (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) Auditor independence, Corporate management responsibility; importance of Internal Control systems and the monitoring of the managerial responsibilities in general; corporate fraud, criminal concerns and penalization, to mention just a few.

According to Tarantino (2006), in order to comply with SOX controls, one has to be in accordance with the recommendations of COSO, COBIT international standards of corporate governance.

Therefore, it is quintessential that the said frameworks and laws agree with what every SEC and Central Banks worldwide as regulating bodies offer in congruence with the objective of protecting the interest of stakeholders. This would assist the effectiveness of curbing money laundering and drug trafficking, is notoriously alleged as having a link with terrorism. Following Albrecht, Howe and Romney, (1984) an individual is influenced by a moral perception, situational pressure in which one is encountered and opportunity is taken to commit fraud.

3.

METHODOLOGY

The study adopts an exploratory approach, distributed into theoretical and empirical to tackle the ideology of forensic accounting and its perspectives, and also, in the end, it performs a discourse analysis to solidify our research objectives.

In the theoretical approach, we summarized all the available literatures relating to the topic. This entailed a search in the host of libraries of the main schools of accountancy in the globe and the main databases: EBSCO, Business Sources Complete, Proquest, JSTOR and also Brazilian Institutional Database - CAPES that serves researchers nationwide and worldwide; and Journals such as AOS, JFA, AJM, BJSP, AR, JA, to mention just a few.

As we try to verify the characteristics of forensic accounting through empirical analysis, Bunge (1980, pp. 13-14) signals possible epistemological problems that should be checked.

This enlists categories of problems such as: logical, semantic, gnosiological, methodological, ontological, axiological, ethical and esthetical. Thus,

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126 Imoniana, J. O., Antunes, M. T. P., Formigoni, H.

within these problems, we relate forensic accounting more closely to gnosiological, which, according to the author aspire empirical concept.

In addition to this, we performed the discourse analysis based on a lecture given

by GOMIDE, Eduardo de Freitas â&#x20AC;&#x201C; CEO of Kroll, Brazil on March 5th , 2008 at The Municipal Government Centre of the City of Rio de Janeiro about Forensic Accounting and prevention of frauds. It is one of the steps in making every effort to continually improve the programs and activities developed by the institution towards goal congruence (MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATE OF RIO DE JANEIRO, 2008). The discourse has been extracted from the CONTROLLER'S Bulletin bimonthly Journal published in the format of dossiers concerning frauds and corruption.

While there is no fixed method prescribed for discourse analysis, there are common phases and some validation tests (Wetherell, Stiven & Plotter, 1987; Hollway, 1989).

In order to enhance our discourse analysis, we separate some terms, words, sentences, phrases and paragraphs used to guide emphasis given to the main portion of the speech by attributing coding categories with the aim to validate this discourse, we ran the NVivo Software for Qualitative Analysis version 9.

Thus, to establish the coding categories (otherwise referred to as nodes) that were used to analyze the discourse, we borrow a leaf from the coding families as proposed by Bogdan and Biklen (1992). The cited coding categories are: Context code; Situation code; perspective code; process code; activity code; event code; strategy code; and relationship and social structure code.

In our study, we associate them with the normal taxonomy for observable coding family (parent, child) for forensic accounting, among which we enumerated in the following discourse analysis. .

4. DISCOURSE ANALYSIS As a reminder, the discourse analysis is on a lecture given by Eduardo de Freitas Gomide â&#x20AC;&#x201C; CEO of Kroll, hereinafter referred to as EFG, in Brazil on March 5th , 2008 at The Municipal Government Office of the City of Rio de Janeiro about Forensic Accounting and prevention of frauds.

The entire discourse was analyzed and the frequency of the most frequent 32 words can be seen as in Table 2. In essence, these words or terms vary in their intent, peculiarity in the characterization of forensic accounting in which out of the mentioned words the most relevant ones were described by counts and weighted percentages respectively as follows: accounting 53 and 0.78%; analysis 25 and 0.37%; company 76 and 1.12%; financial 35 and 0.52%; forensic 39 and 0.58% and finally fraud 58 and 0.86%.

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Table 2 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Word frequency Analysis Word

Length

Count

Weighted Percentage (%)

Accounting

10

53

0,78

Analysis

8

25

0,37

Assets

6

18

0,27

Audit

5

19

0,28

Auditing

8

15

0,22

Billion

7

15

0,22

Brazil

6

16

0,24

Business

8

20

0,3

Case

4

21

0,31

Client

6

14

0,21

Companies

9

31

0,46

Company

7

76

1,12

Data

4

18

0,27

Financial

9

35

0,52

Forensic

8

39

0,58

Fraud

5

58

0,86

Identify

8

15

0,22

Information

11

22

0,33

Internal

8

27

0,4

Kroll

5

20

0,3

Million

7

15

0,22

More

4

16

0,24

People

6

18

0,27

Problem

7

22

0,33

Risk

4

23

0,34

Those

5

15

0,22

Time

4

19

0,28

What

4

39

0,58

When

4

25

0,37

Where

5

22

0,33

Which

5

46

0,68

Working

7

16

0,24

Thus, after a summary run by NVivo Software for Qualitative Analysis, one was able to assemble the following 23 categories describing forensic accounting and corporate fraud as in Table 3.

According to Laclau and Mouffe (2001) there are four key concepts that are interwoven, they are elements, moments, articulation and discourse. In the authors view, an element is a difference that has not been developed via discursive articulation.

Once an element is identified linguistically, it is transformed into a moment.

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128 Imoniana, J. O., Antunes, M. T. P., Formigoni, H.

Articulation is the practice of establishing a relation among elements that modify their identity.

Table 3 - Structure of Categories â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Forensic Accounting and Corporate Fraud

In this respect, in order to expatiate on the said discourse, we bring all the logical representations shown in the literatures and otherwise, and project them towards the nodes; see Figure 1. This in turn represented in a number of icons that dynamically symbolize something to us in a self-reproduction and have been presented as follows.

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Figure 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Logical representation of nodes in relation to their source

a) History of forensic accounting (Perspective code) As a recapitulation, Economics as a field of study was the first to mention forensic accounting some centuries ago. This was said to have been emphasized by Kutilya who cited 40 ways of embezzlement.

In this discourse, EFG cited that the activity of forensic accounting as a financial service at Kroll seemed to have started a fight against fraud first in United States of America around 1938. b) Concepts of forensic accounting (Context code) The main aim of forensic accounting is not only to understand how a fraud was committed, but to document it with the highest possible accuracy. According to Gomide (2008, p. 167) a good forensic accounting combines accounting analysis and also requires good accounting and investigative skills).

In the discourse, EFG cited that â&#x20AC;&#x153;it falls under general information or certain topics, or

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130 Imoniana, J. O., Antunes, M. T. P., Formigoni, H.

subjects as it can be sorted. […] general statements that people make to describe the subject, as investigative accounting, or even forensic auditing”.

In order to have a broader view of forensic accounting, see the text search run report figure 2 below.

Figure 2 Broader concepts of forensic accounting It shows right from the first text that “ good forensic accounting combines [….] economic analysis and criminal…. say profile of the subject being investigated. This goes as far as to showing that forensic accounting was initially coined by Peloubet in 1946.

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c) Focus of Forensic Accounting (Context code) Forensic accounting falls within the context of our environmental needs. That is, to give forensic assistance in accounting issues. This is very vital in the environment that is flooded with fast moving businesses and polluted with politicians who have powers to corrupt well meaning businessmen. This normally happens in detriment of well planned public projects that are roughly implemented.

In terms of qualities of a forensic accountant, Fitzhugh (2010) mentioned that by the nature of the job, forensic accounting favors individuals who have prior work experience in fields like law enforcement and auditing. Maturity and prior professional knowledge give forensic accountants a frame of reference to utilize their professional judgment and frequently a "gut" instinct developed from years of experience. Entrylevel staffers right out of college generally do not have that life experience to have developed these talents. d) Comparing auditing and forensic accounting (Situation code) The main difference between auditing and forensic accounting is that one performs audit to assist management in adequately implementing their strategies towards goal congruence, and also reports the true and fair state of affairs of a business to stakeholders to enable them make decisions while we perform forensic accounting to investigate conduct deviation and measurement of its impacts. Each forensic accounting job differs, and there are no generally accepted accounting principles for this practice area to provide guidance to practitioners on how to perform an engagement. It is an unstructured environment requiring self-motivation (FITZHUGH, p. 28, 2010).

On the contrary, audit is structured and is guided through generally accepted auditing standards and procedures. As we are aware, one of the main procedures reviewed by auditors is the segregation of duties. By segregation of duties, we mean definition of responsibility by exposing a clear line of authority when defining processes; they are all obvious steps of accounting for fraud. But in the vast majority of companies in which forensic accounting is requested and performed, this is lacking, thereby showing a point of vulnerability to be observed. e) Peculiarities of a fraudster EFG mentioned that when you see an employee who is excessively proactive, something could be wrong. “…. working weekends and never took a vacation. This is true in the football history, and took place in Victoria”. Another case, the client in São Paulo involved a Santa Claus: the guy never took a vacation in life, worked at home for 20 years or so, was the favourite character in the company, fancied himself at the end of the year, distributed presents, and had earnings of $ 1,500.00. Over seven years, defrauded the company of $ 6 million”.

According to EFG “In many cases in which we work, we see what is funny; it is the embezzler who hires us because we can expect to give him a certificate of good conduct. He thinks, "I will bring Kroll, who is reputed to be the best. It will audit, you will find nothing, so I'm fine." f) Extension of the forensic accounting investigation (Situation code) The general framework of forensic investigation limits its coverage to areas naturally prone to malpractices, they are areas such as: contracts and negotiations;

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132 Imoniana, J. O., Antunes, M. T. P., Formigoni, H.

billings; procurements and accounts payable. Others are payroll, information systems manipulation or maladjustments, to mention just a few.

“I often tell my clients that Kroll would not exist if they made a good contract analysis every year. If they made a simple analysis of adhesion of these contracts, I'd say 70% of fraud would cease to exist” According to Gomide (2008), “We base our strategy in such areas that have greater exposure to risk of fraud”. According to the business context such areas are: inventories, purchasing and generally they are exposed to theft of financial assets.

“These have an obvious reflex in the activities of the organization, in the profitability because it opens a wound in the business whereby the organizational climate becomes highly polluted”.

“We would say that a concurrent review of contracts would ultimately remove 70% of frauds. So, Kroll would not have as many clients as we have today if the simple verification of prices, volumes, due dates as stipulated in the contract are monitored.”

He mentioned further, “I have a client who paid unusual professional fees to a tax specialist to the tune of USD$ 20 million before the consultant was changed, such expense could also raise an eyebrow”. Marketing and publicity are very intangible, this is an escape to fraud; in general, outsourcing, which could be questionable, ought to receive management attention.

Concerning Turning Around Accounting Information Systems (TAAIS), through this tactics, the fraudsters are able to dribble the accounting information systems and module up the information provided by them to the decision makers. The structure and the integrity of the AIS are reviewed.

Normally, when companies acquire systems, they lose sight of adequate parameterization of such system when they try to borrow a leaf from the default parameter to reduce costs. This ends up in having a fragile ERP being implemented with wrong control procedures in place and even open to outsiders.

For Gomide (2008), it is very difficult to measure and monitor IT contracts. This is for us a black box which needs some clarification and some care. “When a client says he can only use certain technology (ABC or XYZ), we begin to raise some suspects.” g) Auditors fraud responsibility An auditor’s role in fraud detection takes a new turn as we adapt SAS No. 99 Implementation Guide. As it may not be different from other corporations all over the globe, Brazilian corporate management is very cunning. For them all controls are effective except if you are able to prove otherwise, meaning to say that it is virtually impossible for you to hold them responsible for fraud due to lack of direct evidence as they are able to camouflage traces of malfunction. So forensic accounting plays an important role in this moment since we perform information systems audits.

In the discourse, EFG represented fraud detection in forensic accounting with various symbols. Figure 3 – Forensic Accounting and Fraud - demonstrates the various interpretations one was able to have from this discussion.

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Figure 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Forensic Accounting and Fraud

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134 Imoniana, J. O., Antunes, M. T. P., Formigoni, H.

h) Monitoring frauds and enhancing financial performance According to EFG, what we do is use that information derived from historical performance doing the trimming of time - as companies change over time. Thus, we use the past two or three years of information, understanding the normal pattern of this company and detect exceptions. At the moment, one detects an exception and proceeds to a closer investigation, which is barely an audit. It is therefore important to map frequency, values, and probabilities and understand the internal controls that are in practice within the company. Wise characteristics, the skills needed are such as those shown in the Graph 1, ranging from analytic to fraud detection and asset tracing skills.

Graph 1- Enhanced Skills for Forensic Accounting

Adapted from Davis;

Ogilby, and Farrell (2010)

i) Identifying Red Flags - investigative mentality (event code) The use of interpretation of red flags arising from accounting information is hammered in the discourse. “Something smells like fish” […] these are some adaptations of some controls developed in banks, particularly to track some problems related to money laundering (Gomide, 2008, pp. 8). What can one consider as an example of red flags - unusual revenues, earnings or earnings management for instance?

This applies to companies negotiated in stock markets whose book values are manipulated so that investors are unable to follow the twists and turns of events.

According to EFG, “I have an example of a client in Rio, who nearly zeros his inventory as he pushes sales to the wholesaler at the close of quarterly reporting. A month later, he receives a bunch of returns, but the headquarters had recognized all the revenues. Three years late, this modus operandi was changed after hiding bad results for so long a time”.

Controlling problem manifests itself through a variety of easily identified symptoms – red flags that usually reflect poorly designed processes or questionable ethics (Bickley, 2004). These symptoms could be as in Table 4.

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Table 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Red Flags 1

Organization has multiple charts of accounts

2

Accounts procedures not documented

3

Large adjustments are made after preliminary results are known

4

Organizations reports on other business segments with a net loss

5

Accountability for each general ledger account is unclear

6

Reconciliations are not automated

7

Large transactions are given special terms

8

Commissionable sales and bonus pools exclude significant items

9

No adequate systems for major AIS (Accounting Information Systems)

10

Standards are not documented

11

Spreadsheets are a key part of important processes

12

Processing staff work takes a lot of overtime (especially when reporting dates)

13

Restructuring Expenses excluded as a percentage of the revenue drop in the quarter

14

Dormant ledger accounts exist

15

Customer are assigned multiple numbers

16

Internal accounts do not reconcile

17

Management reporting adjustments do not net to zero

18

Each small subsidiary has its own separate accounting processing group

19

The organization has a large number of special purpose entities

20

Evaluation of control effectiveness is left to internal audit

21

Performance metrics do not exist for transactional processes

22

Exceptions to policies are routines

23

The books are closed prior to quarter end

24

Ad hoc test and implementation plans are used for system upgrades

25

Below-satisfactory audit ratings are always reflected in performance appraisals

According to EFG, the signs of red flags are innumerable. They range from the following: a) Revenue and profitability unreal; b) High volume of financial transactions with very low assets; c) Hiring Consultants, Lawyers, Marketing Experts, Advertising Agency; Outsourcing; NGOs services; d) Excessive volume of receivables; e) Lack of inventory count; f) Limitation in usage of IT software or resources.

He added â&#x20AC;&#x153;The biggest fraud I have worked on here in Brazil was relatively simple: the director hired some legal advisors, they gave an opinion to the company about the collection of certain taxes. Revenue came in the course of justice and would win in the second or third instances and, later, the company marked up all their calculations. Only in that case until rulings, the company had paid $ 20 millions in

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136 Imoniana, J. O., Antunes, M. T. P., Formigoni, H.

consultancy fees to tax consultants”. He added, “Be at alert when you hear “I can only use this technology…….” or "I can only hire one company for maintenance because they are the ones who know that database." j) Traces of Red Flags (Event code) What is the sign shown to the management that it has ignored all along? In all circumstances, all the business trends are shown by the financial statements. They accept that the management receives overlapped information that the control environment permits, there is always the likelihood of having the hunches about the happenings.

This event code has the preoccupation with the frequencies of the cases that generate forensic accounting services and what the alerts presented to the management are. Are the management, regulatory organization and the research institutions prepared to give the support needed to track a more disastrous impact on business? Suppose we associate the impact of norms that are readily prepared by the government to safeguard the interest of the investors, what technologies are used to dribble the said regulators. k)

Case study of Enron (Event code)

To describe how the financial analysis is used to track anomaly in business transactions, the discourse used as an analogy, in the case of Enron, is demonstrated in figure 4. This notorious case showed the results of 1999 as compared with those of 2000. In 1999 the revenues were US$ 40 billion whereas in 2000 they were US$ 100 billion. According to Gomide (2008) just in a quick look, a question surfaces: how does a company grow 100% between an exercise and the other? What is the rationale? Has the price of energy sky rocketed, made a significant investment? Is it a point of interrogation of which we must be interested in? Cost of sales grew in the same proportion, from USD$ 39 billion to USD$ 98 billion?

At this juncture, one would like to analyze further; eyebrows are raised when one sees that cash and receivables have grown from 3 billion to 13 billion within the period.

In a breakdown we observed that it is as a result of price risk management activities related to the operation of derivatives. We therefore perceived that from one year to the other, Enron decided to change operations (from energy Generation and Distribution Company, to trade and negotiate receivables through derivates). Forensic accounting sees this as unusual to the business and questions whether the perspective of the business is bright and, for that, it may be uncertain.

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Costs 1999 100 34,761

Revenue Earnings 1999

2000

802

1,953

100

143.52

Gross Margin 1999

2000

0.0200

0.0194

100

97.00

1999

2000

40,112

100,789

100

251.27

1999

2000 100,789

100

251.27

1999

2000

39,310

98,836

100

251.43

1999

2000

7,225

30,381

100

320.50

Revenue 0.0299

100

124.58

Assets from Price Risk Managt.

1999 2000 2,205 12,018 100 545.03

Inventories, Deposits & Others 1999 2000 1,214 4,719

2000

0.0240

Cash & Receivables 1999 2000 3,836 13,644 100 355.68

Current Assets

ROA 1999

Operating Expenses 1999 2000 3,045 3,184 100 104.56 Depreciation, Tax & Impairment 1999 2000 1,504 1,135 100 75.46

Costs & Expenses

Revenue

40,112

2000 271.90 94,517

1999

100

2000

388.71

Investments and Other Assets Asset Rotation 1999

2000

1.2016

1.5387

100

128.05

40,112 100

Investment, Goodwill & Others 1999 2000 15,445 23,379

100,789 1999

2000

15,445

23,379

100

151.37

251.27

100

151.37

Natural Gas Transmission 1999 2000 6,948 6,916 100 99.54

Property, Plant & Equipment, Net Total Assets 1999

2000

65,503

10,681

11,743

96.23

100

9.94

1999

2000

33,381 100

Eletricity generation & Distrib.

1999 2000 3,552 4,766 100 134.18 Fiber-opt, Contruct-in-prog &other 1999 2000 3,412 3,777 100 110.69

Figure 4 – Du Pont Analysis of the financial situation of Enron for the period ended in 2000 EFG added, “Let’s see profitability by comparing the net income to the cost of goods sold, also from one period to another. There was a variation of 117%. It means I became much more efficient from 1999 to 2000, I was much more efficient in managing my net income minus my cost of goods sold”. l) Assessment and mitigation of risks The discussant mentioned that they based their control monitoring assessment in such areas that have greater propensity to presenting a lack of internal control procedural risks. Internal control risks are the risks whose material errors not effectively prevented or detected by internal controls are in a timely manner (Imoniana, 2001, p.83). However, it is worthwhile mentioning the inherent risks and their detection at this point in time. According to AUS-402 (2002), “inherent risk means the susceptibility of an account balance or class of transactions to misstatement that could be material, individually or when aggregated with misstatements in other balances or classes, assuming there were no related internal controls”. Detection Risk (Imminent Proofs of Misstatement) - What is the risk that the auditor would not be able to detect adequate proofs about misstatements and be lured to giving opinion about financial statement that is materially incorrect? (AUS-402, 2002)

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138 Imoniana, J. O., Antunes, M. T. P., Formigoni, H.

m) Performance enhancement and mitigation of risk (Process code) In this code category, we intended to know how the subject sees the environment in which forensic accounting activity is being performed.

According to Gomide (2008), it tells you how the subject defines their setting. [â&#x20AC;Ś] How do they define what they do?

When we talk about improving financial performance in curbing frauds, we are fundamentally talking about internal controls and compliance. Inherently, businesses are exposed to some risks (systematic) known to the management and it should use their skills to amour the business flow against risks of cash flow or market fluctuation, normally through hedging and other market tools to dilute such risks. On the other hand, the unsystematic risks are uncertain and are not easily forecasted. Exactly for this reason that some people use it as means for perpetrating frauds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When I mention that Brazil is yet to see an escalation of accounting frauds against investors, and that this will become more rampant in the period to come, it is not a gain saying. I know a couple of companies which performed IPOs and went to the Stock Market, but do not have an adequate control structure. Neither do they have a corporate governance practice but still with a deplorable financial structureâ&#x20AC;? (Gomide, 2008). n) Preparedness of internal audit (Perspective code) There is a very great concern towards prevention and/or detection of frauds by internal auditors. By expatiating on this code, the study tries to give some prognostics about what is likely going to happen to the profession and the business in a short period to come, concerning the services of forensic accounting.

Through a substantive analysis normally used by the auditors, this code approaches the discourse by emphasizing our standard operations that need retouches so that internal audits could be performed with the aim of tracking accounting malpractices. In these said operations, even though some people might question them, the concerns of corporate governance are a stimulating upbringing of internal auditors to match the trends of business frauds.

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o) Forensic Accounting Methodology (Strategy code) In order to perform a forensic accounting job, there are various approaches which could be adapted. This ranges from adaptation of auditing approaches to even criminal investigative approaches. For instance, one can follow the procedures laid out in the methodology summarized in table 5.

Table 5 - Methodology for executing forensic accounting engagement St

Detailed Procedures

1

Meet with client and clarify scope

2

Perform a conflict check and identify main actors

3

Perform an initial investigation to classify the apparent risk level of the environment

4

Develop an action plan, choose the approach and team

5

Gather the relevant evidence by locating documents, information and/or assets

6

Perform end of finding analysis and measure damages inflicted on the business

eps

In this methodology, the auditor is expected to have the first contact with the auditee, identifying who and who in the case, making his initial conclusion about the environment, and selecting the existing strategies to investigate the case. Additionally, he should gather the relevant data to substantiate his hypothesis and perform end of findings analysis by quantifying the damage made on the business.

Zysman (2009) outlined the following steps in executing Forensic Accounting engagement;  Meet with the client to obtain an understanding of the important facts, players and issues at hand.  Perform a conflict check as soon as the relevant parties are established.  Perform an initial investigation to allow subsequent planning to be based upon a more complete understanding of the issues.  Develop an action plan that takes into account the knowledge gained by meeting with the client and carrying out the initial investigation and which will set out the objectives to be achieved and the methodology to be utilized to accomplish them.  Obtain the relevant evidence: This may involve locating documents, economic information, assets, a person or company, another expert or proof of the occurrence of an event.  Perform the analysis: this may involve: (a) calculating economic damages;summarizing a large number of transactions; (b) performing a tracing of assets; (c) performing present value calculations utilizing appropriate discount rates; (d) performing a regression or sensitivity analysis; (e) Relevance of Forensic Accounting utilizing a computerized application such as spread sheet, data base or computer model; (f) and utilizing charts and graphics to explain the analysis.

 Prepare the report. Often a report will be prepared which may include sections on the nature of the assignment, scope of the investigation, approach utilized, limitation of scope and findings and/or opinions.

The discourse makes it clear that the Kroll type of methodology is tailor-made. It is the one that operates from the floor of the factory where all the information about the

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140 Imoniana, J. O., Antunes, M. T. P., Formigoni, H.

company permeates. According to the discussant, even though they use all the techniques (in our view - questionnaires, corroboratory inquiry, observation, documentary evidences, re-execution) used by the auditors in a graduated format, their methodology allows them to interview, the Cleaners, Gardeners, Maintenance Technicians, etc: posing questions such as â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is the company ethical? However, since the employee might not know what ethic is, he tries to explain what everyone does in details. There lies the analysis which could be done through our software based on qualitative data analysis. Kroll uses a variety of tools. These are such tools as SAS apart from the application of the Excel resources, which are very useful for data analysis.

In summary, according to EFG it is the same principle, only instead of using the financial analysis used to identify correlations and regressions red flags, we use statistical modelling. p) Average working hours for forensic accounting job (Strategy code) This strategy code opens our eyes toward the recommended approaches to handling different forensic accounting tasks, weighing the cost/benefit analysis of running certain procedures. With the vast IT resources available nowadays, the forensic accountant has from manual to computerized approaches to execute its tasks. It does rest on him to be prepared to give the best professional judgment when it is necessary; this, however, is based on his experience.

Generally, the working hours depend on the team and their experience and, most importantly, the review procedures are chosen by the auditor. There is no rule of thumb as to determining hours to be spent since it involves more detailed diligence.

On average, those in a forensic job, take between one month, one month and a half, with three professionals working full time. EFG said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;we budget for hours, but we try to define it in advance because no one wants to receive a bill for 500 hours when he was expecting 100 hours. We seek to define the scope and project for hours, but it is always an estimate, because you never know how a fraud will endâ&#x20AC;?. q) Bone of contention of fraud audit (Relationship and social structure code) The societal relationship is always something of great preoccupation. What is the impact of a business that has its continuity interrupted or near collapsed, that generates resources to say, sustain a municipal government? Should the budget of the municipal administration depend highly on these resources, the exercise of forensic accountings turns to be a social responsibility to bring about transparency and restore ethics.

Does one say that auditors do not normally discover frauds in their cause of their evaluation because their structured approach does not permit such a deviation?

Auditing is, traditionally, business inclined and risk based. Or, are auditors afraid of performing additional jobs which would not be readily accounted for? Normally, the independent auditor comes and stays for a very short period. It does not seem to be a ripe time for someone to gain his confidence and reveal to him some dangerous plans for frauds in the organization.

What about the internal auditor? Why is it that their control recommendations are not rightly implemented? There is a great concern about the effectiveness of the works of the internal auditing, the neighbours of the fraudsters. Questions about whether management has lost faith in the internal auditors are factors which trigger additional reflection.. Or that a fraud is revealed by discontentment of employees who have ideas JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1,Jan/Apr 2013 pp.119-144

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of the case, in some cases employees who are afraid of the faith of the organization, who bear the grudge of such malpractices, with the element of suspicion and revealing it or anonymously giving a sign to the auditor by reporting the fraud. Something that has helped the auditors recently has been suggestion boxes installed all over the organisation where information about frauds could be lodged. “Kroll utilizes the statistical software by performing the regression and correlation analysis to pinpoint unusual transactions”. By mapping and tracing financial errors that are socially unacceptable. Those which fall out of the realms of the normal authorization, particularly in the cluster analysis, are clearly shown as abnormal. “In such a situation, we observe excess confidence on employees, lack of adequate procedures and segregation of duties, where the same employee purchases and effects payments” (Gomide, 2008).

According to research carried out by Ernst & Young covering corruption or compliance - weighing the costs in 10th global fraud survey, the result is alarming. As it can be observed in table 6, the percentage of the success of an internal audit job shows “teeth for tat”. In analysis of one of the questions posed to the respondents, being executives from all works of life: “How successful are internal auditors in detecting bribery and corrupt practices”: Table 6 – Percentage saying internal audits are not very or not at all successful Central and Eastern Europe

44

Australia/New Zealand

32

Western Europe

25

North America

19

Far East

11

Middle East, India and Africa

11

Japan

8

Latin America

7

Adapted from Ernst & Young (2008) According to Gomide (2008) “by experience, a vast number of frauds in which I have worked were not detected by auditors and by an internal control review, because the internal control structure was not effective”. He added that a fraud suspect is revealed because that employee who takes short or no vacations, plays soccer with the majority of the big lords of the organization, breaks his leg and someone takes up his tasks in order to keep the operations moving, then the problem is discovered.

5. CONCLUSION As far as the our findings go, firstly, we characterize forensic accounting activities in eight perspectives, namely: (i) investigating all works of life say: psychology, philosophy, economics, finance, law and finally concentrating on accounting issues (conceptual aspects); investigation of frauds (mitigating internal control procedural risks), (iii) judicial disputes on organizational structures and succession (arbitrations with true and fair accounting figures on inherent risks), (iv) elaboration and submission of expert reports (giving expert opinion), (v) due diligence (giving bases for value definition).

Thus, in as much as forensic accounting emanates from investigative auditing, it is difficult to detach it from pure auditing. As we can observe in table 2, words or phrases JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013 pp.119-144

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142 Imoniana, J. O., Antunes, M. T. P., Formigoni, H.

building which show the most common words, which one is able to construct with the sources available in this study.

There is the fact that the forensic accounting practice is observed as a detachment of auditing. This enables it to be categorized as one of the professions that will gain space in time in terms of importance, because corruption is gaining ground in most of the developing countries, be it in the public sector or private businesses.

The main elements of the characteristics of the forensic accounting practice in Brazil match with the global practices as one reflects upon the discourse made to the municipal government of Rio de Janeiro expatiated upon in this study. It tends to give support to management and stakeholders at large to decide on doubtful fraudulent transactions.

Fragile internal controls in some organizations seem to carry the vote in terms of avenue that gives room to be perpetrated by fraudsters. Unless this is addressed, enterprises will continue to spend their scarce resources to maintain fragile strategies which could be foiled towards goal congruence.

Results show that, in practice, Kroll, and other accounting profession organizations are assisting in consolidating the new function of accounting to support the new era of accounts in the territories where they operate, such as Brazil. Even though enterprises like Kroll utilize the standard audit approach to gather evidence, the closeness to the lower echelon of the staff seems to be the most productive approach to fishing information relating to frauds in the organization.

Noteworthy that some frauds have a link with control culture developed by the management of some organizations, sometimes associable to probable fiscal malpractices by some management who are afraid of retaliation from close allies.

Normally, these weaknesses are known to some fraudsters; therefore, they create reluctance in the process of infringement of punitive measures on some employees caught in certain fraud acts.

Lastly, the fight for maintaining the internal audit activity has just begun. In the recent decades, during the boom of reengineering, it was classified as one of the departments (cost centres) that were wiped out in some organizations but it managed to survive. Nowadays, we have the issue of frauds that is becoming very rampant and the necessity to have an effective internal control to back corporate governance rules is gaining ground. The idea that frauds have been least detected by auditors is changing shape as auditors are rightly trained to detect frauds apart from emphasizing traditional safeguard of assets.

As a hint for further researches, one would suggest the comparative study of discourses presented by key actors of the forensic accounting profession in other countries for analysis. This will enable other researchers to sense the state of art in other countries where the practice is highly disseminated since nobody reveals how he or she performs the forensic investigation.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 10, No. 1, Jan/Apr., 2013 pp.145-160 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752013000100008

END-USER SATISFACTION WITH THE INTEGRATED SYSTEM OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION (SIAFI): A CASE STUDY AVALIANDO O NÍVEL DE SATISFAÇÃO DOS USUÁRIOS FINAIS DO SISTEMA INTEGRADO DE ADMINISTRAÇÃO FINANCEIRA DO GOVERNO FEDERAL (SIAFI): UM ESTUDO DE CASO. Janilson Antonio da Silva Suzart University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil ____________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT Evaluating the impact of technology investments is a complex task. I examine whether the end-user satisfaction is a valid measurement of technology performance in the public sector. I evaluated information system users in the Integrated System of the Federal Government Financial Administration (SIAFI). The Siafi system supports Brazilian federal government entities. Using a survey, I collected data from 77 users. I used the model and the instrument developed by Doll and Torkzadeh (1988). I used confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the data. The survey results validated the model used for technology employed in the public sector.

Keywords: Evaluation of ICT investments, SIAFI, End-Users satisfaction

RESUMO Avaliar o impacto de investimentos em tecnologia é uma tarefa complexa. Esta pesquisa analisa se a mensuração do nível de satisfação dos usuários é válida para compreender o desempenho de uma tecnologia utilizada no setor público. O objeto de estudo escolhido foi o Sistema Integrado de Administração Financeira do Governo Federal - SIAFI. O desenvolvimento da pesquisa foi realizado através de uma survey da qual participaram 77 usuários. Para isto, foram utilizados o modelo e o instrumento desenvolvidos por Doll e Torkzadeh (1988). A técnica estatística empregada foi a análise fatorial confirmatória. Os resultados da pesquisa validaram o modelo utilizado para uma tecnologia empregada no setor público.

Palavras-Chave: Avaliação de investimento em TI, SIAFI, Satisfação do usuário

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 08/03/2011 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 15/02/2013 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência Janilson Antonio da Silva Suzart, Doutorando em Controladoria e Contabilidade pela Universidade de São Paulo.

Mestre em Contabilidade pela Universidade Federal da Bahia. (71) 9137-6197 E-mail: suzart@suzart.cnt.br

Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2013. All rights reserved.

146 Suzart, J. A. da S.

1. INTRODUCTION In recent years, technology in processing and sharing of information has evolved, allowing the use of large volumes of information. Nevertheless, investment in an information system (IS) is still very expensive. The information needs of an organization strongly influence its decision to invest in an IS. Additionally, before implementing an IS, the organization must evaluate its necessity. After deciding to purchase or develop an IS, the organization must also prepare to evaluate the operational performance of the system. Finally, after installing the IS, the organization needs tools to measure its performance. The success of the IS corresponds to the ratio between the expected result and the result reached by the system.

Research conducted over the past decades shows that IS users have different perceptions, priorities, and cultural habits. These variables influence user perceptions about the success of these systems. Fewer studies evaluate what makes a system successful or how to evaluate this success. Bokhari (2005, p. 211) suggests that an IS can be considered successful if it satisfies its users’ needs and achieves the objectives and goals of the organization. However, measuring IS success is complex, because numerous factors affect its development and operation. The literature shows that this complexity leads to the development of measurement instruments that evaluate indirectly related variables, such as user satisfaction, system use, service quality, and information quality (Li, 1997; McHaney & Cronan, 1998; Doll & Torkzadeh, 1989; Ives, Olson, & Baroudi, 1983).

As noted above, user satisfaction is a measurement of IS success, but there is little research on the use of this variable to evaluate technologies in the public sector. In the Brazilian literature, two papers investigate this issue: Maçada and Borenstein (2000) and Oliveira Neto and Riccio (2003). Maçada and Borenstein (2000) conducted a case study to evaluate IS performance by measuring user satisfaction. They evaluated users in the Department of Finance of the State of Rio Grande do South (in Portuguese, Secretaria da Fazenda do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul), which is a public-sector organization. The authors adapted the instrument developed by Doll and Torkzadeh (1988) to measure IS satisfaction levels. The adapted questionnaire was administered to 30 officials, who were IS users supporting budget management. The authors emphasized that the instrument was satisfactory; however, they noted that measuring the characteristics of a public entity might require alternative methods and techniques.

Oliveira Neto and Riccio (2003) also aimed to develop an instrument to measure user satisfaction with an IS. They studied a sample of 143 graduate students, including users of management and financial systems, and identified four factors related to user satisfaction: feasibility, accuracy, availability, and information adequacy.

Considering this context, I propose the following question: is the end-user satisfaction level a valid measurement to understand the performance of a technology used in the public sector? To answer this question, I chose the Integrated System of the Federal Government Financial Administration (in Portuguese, Sistema Integrado de Administração Financeira do Governo Federal, or the Siafi) as the object of study. I seek to understand in detail how end-users satisfaction with IS performance affects organizational decisions to invest in these systems. Thus, the main objective of this research is to determine if end-user satisfaction is a valid measurement for evaluating performance of the Siafi. This research also has three secondary objectives: to determine the level of end-users satisfaction with the Siafi, according to the instrument developed by Doll and Torkzadeh (1988); to identify the main factors responsible for

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End-user satisfaction with the Integrated System of Federal Government Financial Administration 147 (SIAFI): a case study

the calculated index of user satisfaction; and to describe the instrument developed by Doll and Torkzadeh (1988).

This paper is organized as follows: Introduction, Theoretical Platform, Methodology, Analysis of Results, and Conclusion.

2. THEORETICAL PLATFORM 2.1 Users and end-users The digital world that pervades our daily lives today began in the 1960s and 1970s, mostly in Western countries. Digital information (i.e., stored information) is processed and shared by using information and communication technology (ICT). A notable development of ICT is the emergence of the World Wide Web, or Internet. New digital information formats and computer network systems have since been introduced.

Gradually, people have gained access to education on how to use this technology. They have developed varying degrees of skills and became users of digital information.

In the early years of IS, few people used digital information, mainly because of the expense of machinery and systems development. As prices decreased and computer networks improved, these technologies became available to more users. Thus, previous concepts of the term ‘user’ have been quite broad, encompassing anyone who makes or uses digital information. For example, Buntrock and Valicenti (1985, p. 203) note that the literature defines ‘user’ generally as a recipient of digital information and the term ‘end-user’ as a professional who has experience in a technical area and who uses digital information.

Farber and Shoham (2002, p. 92) find that the concepts of users and end-users has been discussed among professionals in information technology over the past three decades. They add that the concept of end-user has changed over time. They categorize the term according to the chronological stages of the digital information age: the 1970s, which represents the emergence of the IS and online information industry and a focus on the processing and distribution of information; the 1980s, which represent the expansion into menu-based systems; and the 1990s, which represent improvement in storage and distribution of information.

The first stage, which began in the 1970s, is characterized by the development of the digital IS and the first online systems. Ojala (1986, p. 197) points out that the first definition of end-user appeared during this time in a technical glossary of the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). Ojala (1986) defines end-user as “a person accessing online databases and performing search operations for the purpose of finding information to be used by that same person rather than another.” Arnold (1984, p. 71) defines end-users as those who use an IS, internet-based or not, to seek specific information.

The second stage, which began in the 1980s, is characterized by the widespread use of menu-based systems. Menu-based systems use text commands with few graphics (e.g., images, vectors, animations). Another feature of this stage, according to Farber and Shoham (2002, p. 93), is that many felt that information ‘consumption’ would be performed only by professionals. During this period, Bourne and Robinson (1980, p.

25) do not consider all users of digital information systems to be end-users. Rather, they define an end-user as someone who performs searches in an IS to fulfill a specific

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148 Suzart, J. A. da S.

informational need for others, such as researchers, teachers, and students. During this stage, this concept of end-user narrows further, so that it is limited to researchspecialized generalists. This narrow definition is strongly influenced by academic organizations, which developed databases of books and periodicals during the 1980s (Ojala, 1986; Bourne & Robinson, 1980).

The last stage, which began in the 1990s, is characterized by the rapid advancement of technology and the evolution of digital information storage and distribution media. During this stage, the internet is the main source of digitalinformation sharing. According to Farber and Shoham (2002, p. 93), the digitalinformation industry begins to change its concepts of systems and users during this stage. The more conservative perspectives of the previous two decades do not favor these companies in the new informational market. During this stage, Brakel (1989, p.

52) defines end-users as any professionals who use updated information to assist in their activities. Similarly, Farber and Shoham (2002, p. 94) describe these professionals (e.g., researchers, teachers) as IS users who become end-users. At this stage, the end-user is a professional who seeks specific digital information to improve their performance.

My research considers the current state of the evolutionary stage of information technology and communication. To that end, I adopted the concept of end-user from the third stage, which incorporates features of the earlier stages. Figure 1 shows an analytical summary of these stages and the evolution of the concept of end-user.

Stage

Definition of end-user

Key features of the stage

1970s

Any user who uses an IS to search for Users search for information on information for others. online systems.

1980s

Any user who uses an IS to seek specific Users need specific information information for personal use or for othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; extracted from an IS. use.

1990s

Any professional who uses an IS to seek Professionals specific information for use in his or her information. activities.

require

specific

Figure 1. Evolution of the concept of end-user.

2.2 Measuring the success of an information system.

As noted in the previous section, the technologies employed in the processing and sharing of information have evolved significantly in recent years, allowing the use of large volumes of information. However, investing in an IS continues to be expensive.

The informational needs of an organization strongly influence its decision to invest in an IS. According to Ives, Olson, and Baroudi (1983, p. 785), when an organization chooses to implement an IS, it needs mechanisms to evaluate the necessity of the system. After deciding on the purchase or development of a system, the organization must prepare to evaluate the operational performance of the system. Finally, after implementation, the organization also needs mechanisms to evaluate system performance. The success of this IS can be measured as the ratio between the expected result and the actual result. According to Bhimani (2003, p. 523), research conducted in the last decade shows that IS users have perceptions, priorities, and different cultural JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No.1, Jan/Apr 2013, pp. 145- 160

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End-user satisfaction with the Integrated System of Federal Government Financial Administration 149 (SIAFI): a case study

habits. These variables influence users’ perceptions about the success of information systems. This author adds another variable that influences users’ perceptions of system success: the level of users’ involvement in system development.

Gelderman (1998, p. 11) points out that defining IS success factors has been the main goal of research in ICT since the 1980s. A measure of this success has been converted into an object in this controversial area of study. Bokhari (2005, p. 211) posits that an IS can be considered successful if it satisfies users’ needs and achieves the objectives and goals of the organization. However, measuring the success of a system is complex, because numerous factors affect system development and operation.

McHaney and Cronan (1998, p. 526) point out that, although many studies identify variables related to the success of a system, none identify precise tools to measure this success. Furthermore, Ilias, Suki, Yasoa, and Razak (2008, p. 3) state that, because of the difficulty of directly measuring qualitative aspects of an IS, researchers have opted for indirect measurement instruments. These indirect measurement instruments evaluate variables related to system users, including user satisfaction, system use, service quality, and information quality (Li, 1997; McHaney & Cronan, 1998, Doll & Torkzadeh, 1989; Ives, Olson, & Baroudi, 1983). Thus, measurement of user satisfaction is a tool that evaluates the level of success of an IS. According to Bailey and Pearson (1983): While seeking a model of user satisfaction, it was natural to turn to efforts of psychologists who study satisfaction in its larger sense. […] The literature generally agreed that satisfaction in a given situation is the sum of one’s feelings or attitudes toward a variety of factors affecting that situation.

Ives, Olson, and Baroudi (1983, p. 785) state that if a system provides the necessary information, its users will be satisfied. Otherwise, these users will be dissatisfied and will seek other means to obtain information. Thus, user satisfaction is a measure that reflects the extent to which users believe that the information provided by the system meets their needs. Previous approaches show that users’ satisfaction with an IS represents a percentage, or a subjective measure, of the success of this system. Thus, satisfaction is an indirect measurement that indicates if the system is successful.

Bailey and Pearson (1983, p. 530) suggest that user satisfaction level is also a measure of IS productivity. Since IS productivity involves efficient and effective provision of information, user satisfaction can be an indicator of system performance. If users perceive a better provision of information, then the system is considered successful. Likewise, the more the information system is used, the more users believe that the system meets their demands.

2.3 The Doll and Torkzadeh model In the 1980s, the growth of computing focused on end-users, according to Benson (as cited in Doll & Torkzadeh, 1988, p. 259) and Lefkovits (as cited in Doll & Torkzadeh, 1988, p . 259). In the traditional IS model (see Figure 2), users make information requests to the ICT team and receive information indirectly. This method requires the intermediation of ICT professionals.

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150 Suzart, J. A. da S.

Figure 2. Traditional computing environment.

Source: Adapted from Doll and Torkzadeh (1988, p. 261).

In the end-user computing model (see Figure 3), users interact directly with IS to obtain information. The IS provides certain information that can be selected, in whole or in part, by system users.

Figure 3. End-users computing environment.

Source: Adapted from Doll and Torkzadeh (1988, p. 261).

According to Davis and Olson (as cited in Doll & Torkzadeh, 1988, p. 261), two roles help differentiate between users and end-users. The first role is the decisionmaker, who uses the information gathered by the system. This is the traditional model of the end-user. The second role is the IS user, who enters information or prepares reports without directly using information. In this model, information is obtained through an intermediary. In the end-user computing model, the user assumes both roles.

User satisfaction is critical to the success of an IS (Bailey & Pearson, 1983; Ives, Olson, & Baroudi, 1983). However, according to Doll and Torkzadeh (1988, p. 260),

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End-user satisfaction with the Integrated System of Federal Government Financial Administration 151 (SIAFI): a case study

existing measurements of user satisfaction, which are based on the traditional computing model, are unsuitable for measuring end-user satisfaction. Therefore, their study measures end-user satisfaction by using an instrument that meets the following criteria: a. It measures satisfaction with regard to the information provided by a specific IS. b. It includes items to evaluate the ease of use of an IS. c. It implements a Likert scale, instead of a semantic differential scale. d. It is short, easy to use, and suitable for both academic and practical research. e. It is reliable and valid, and it can be used in several systems. f. It explores the relationship between the satisfaction of end-users and other independent variables.

Doll and Torkzadeh first review the literature on user satisfaction to obtain a list of items for measuring end-user perceptions. Then they define relationships by using 40 items: 31 items are obtained from the literature review, seven items are related to ease of use, and two items are related to overall satisfaction (Doll and Torkzadeh, 1988, p.

263). Each item is categorized by a Likert scale with five items: almost never, some of the time, about half of the time, most of the time, and almost always. The questionnaire also contains open questions designed to describe the IS, including the most and least satisfying aspects. Doll and Torkzadeh then conduct a pilot study of the questionnaire in five institutions, with a sample of 96 end-users. To ensure the measurement validity of of each item, they evaluate correlations between total and individual scores. After analysis, the number of items is reduced to 18, with reliability (Cronbachâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s alpha) of 0.94 and a correlation of 0.81 (Doll & Torkzadeh, 1988, p. 263â&#x20AC;&#x201C;264).

Doll and Torkzadeh then administer the questionnaire at 44 companies, resulting in a sample of 618 respondents. The collected data are subjected to exploratory factor analysis, using the principal components and varimax rotation extraction methods.

Using a multivariate statistical technique, they obtain five factors (see Figure 4) to explain 78% of variation: content, accuracy, format, ease of use, and timeliness.

Consequently, the instrument is reduced to 12 items, with reliability of 0.92 and a validity of 0.76.

Figure 4. The end-user satisfaction model of an IS. Source: Adapted from Doll and Torkzadeh (1988, p. 268).

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152 Suzart, J. A. da S.

Doll and Torkzadeh’s evaluates the following context items:  C1: Does the system provide the precise information you need?  C2: Does the information content meet your needs?  C3: Does the system provide reports that seem to be about exactly what you need?  C4: Does the system provide sufficient information?

It evaluates the following accuracy items:  A1: Is the system accurate?  A2: Are you satisfied with the accuracy of the system?

It evaluates the following format items:  F1: Do you think the output is presented in a useful format?  F2: Is the information clear?

It evaluates the following ease-of-use items:  E1: Is the system user friendly?  E2: Is the system easy to use?

Finally, it evaluates the following timeliness items:  T1: Do you get the information you need in time?  T2: Does the system provide up-to-date information?

Doll and Torkzadeh (1988, p. 272) conclude that this 12-item instrument has adequate reliability and validity, and it can be applied to the evaluation of various systems. They also conclude that it is easy to use, because it combines distinct factors.

They also point out that, although end-user satisfaction is a convenient measure to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of an IS, efforts are needed to develop measurement tools that evaluate the extent and degree of end-users’ skills in an organization.

This instrument has received some criticism. For example, Etezadi-Amoli and Farhoomand (1991, p. 1–4) offer several criticisms. First, they claim that some of the items are not attitudinal measures (i.e., they do not measure the amount of user affection or disaffection in relation to an IS). Second, the 12 variables (items) of the instrument should have different weights, according to the scale of responses. Third, some variables do not correspond to a frequency scale that measures satisfaction. Finally, satisfaction levels in this instrument are related to a frequency, which is not always the most appropriate measurement. Roy and Bouchard (1999, p. 51) note that the instrument does not address more specific IS issues, such as support systems for executives or group systems.

Doll and Torkzadeh (1991) respond to these criticisms by noting that the instrument is intended to evaluate the level of end-user satisfaction as a dependent variable of user perception on the successful development and implementation of an IS. The instrument is not intended to predict the psychological behavior of end-users, but rather to contribute to research in the field of management information systems. The

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Likert scale is suitable to measure end-user perceptions, and it makes the questionnaire easier to administer. Because of the high correlations among variables, the effects of weighting variables are barely noticeable and do not affect the proposed model. As for reducing the number of variables, the authors explain that, besides being natural in the beginning of any search, the withdrawal of variables shows low correlation and is necessary to reduce interference in the instrument. Despite these criticisms, the Doll and Torkzadeh model has been widely used and validated, as exemplified in Figure 5.

Author(s)

Sample Characteristics

Gelderman (1998)

180 technology managers

Chen, Soliman, Mao and Frolick (2000)

42 database users

Somers, Nelson and Karimi (2003)

407 IS management users

Pikkarainen, Pikkarainen, Karjaluoto and Pahnila (2006)

268 internet banking IS users

Ilias, Razak and Yasoa (2009)

90 accounting IS users

Mohamed, Hussin and Hussein (2009)

130 government sites users

Seyal and Rahim (2011)

360 internet banking IS users

Aggelidis and Chatzoglou (2012)

283 hospital IS users

Figure 5. Research using the Doll and Torkzadeh model, with and without adjustments.

For exemple, Aggelidis and Chatzoglou (2012) expanded the Doll and Torkzadeh (1988) model by adding the following attributes: system speed, interface, training, documentation, support insourcing, and support outsourcing.

3. METHODOLOGY In this research, I used a survey technique. According to Cooper and Schindler (2003, p. 248), the survey is a technique for primary data collection that aims to identify attitudes, motivations, intentions, and expectations. I sought to determine the level of satisfaction of the Siafi end-users. For this, I applied a self-administered questionnaire composed of two parts. The first part contained 11 closed questions intended to characterize users’ responses. The second part contained 12 closed questions based on the model of Doll and Torkzadeh (1988) and was intended to measure the level of satisfaction. Each question allowed responses that were organized on a qualitative and quantitative mixed scale with five options: 1 – no, 2 – little, 3 – indifferent, 4 – moderately, and 5 – completely.

This questionnaire was administered over the internet during the months of May and June 2009. Siafi end-users (i.e., federal agents seeking information to use in their activities) were invited to participate. Invitations were delivered to the e-mail addresses of the users listed in the database system. The data collected were organized and statistically analyzed. I used confirmatory factor analysis with principal components and the varimax rotation extraction methods. Factor analysis, according Bezerra (2007, p.

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154 Suzart, J. A. da S.

74), is a multivariate statistical technique that identifies variables (factors) within a group that are not directly observable. The primary goals of this technique are to reduce and summarize data. The secondary goal is to analyze the relationships among the observed variables. I used confirmatory factor analysis, because the five factors of user satisfaction are already known, according to the model proposed by Doll and Torkzadeh (1988). I used the extraction method of principal components to generate observable factors that were not correlated with each other. I used the varimax rotation extraction method to minimize the number of variables in each factor.

The sample consisted of 77 Siafi end-users, mostly male (58.4%) and between 31 and 50 years of age (63.6%). The sample was distributed geographically as follows: 26.0% in the Midwest Region (in Portuguese, Região Centro-Oeste); 10.4% in the North Region (in Portuguese, Região Norte); 18.2% in the Northeast Region (in Portuguese, Região Nordeste); 15.6% in the South Region (in Portuguese, Região Sul); and 29.8% in the Southeast Region (in Portuguese, Região Sudeste). Most attained a higher education level (75.3%), and 53.2% were accounting graduates. Among the accountants, 56.1% completed lato sensu postgraduate courses (see Table 1). Most users were public servants (77.9%), and most worked in Accounting Management (50.6%), Financial Management (31.2%), and Authorizing Expenditures (5.2%). Only 1.3% did not work in the budgetary, financial, or accounting areas.

Table 1 Sample – Classification according to educational level.

Education level Position

High School

Lato sensu postgraduate

Graduate

Stricto sensu postgraduate

Total

High School – Accounting

5

-

2

-

7

High School – Others

5

6

2

-

13

Graduate – Administration

-

3

-

-

3

Graduate – Accounting

-

16

23

2

41

Graduate – Economy

-

4

-

-

4

Graduate – Others

-

4

5

-

9

10

33

32

2

77

Total Source: Research data, 2009.

4. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS The first analysis identifies the number of factors that should be retained.

According Mingoti (2007, p. 105) there are some criteria to determine this quantity. The most used criteria are: a. Criterion 1 (analysis of the proportion of the total variance): The number of factors to be retained is determined according to the percentage of variance in the original data. b. Criterion 2 (comparison of eigenvalues): The eigenvalue is the variance of a factor. Factors are retained only if they have an eigenvalue equal to or greater than one.

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c. Criterion 3 (graphical analysis of the scree-plot): The eigenvalues are ordered decreasingly and arranged graphically in relation to the number of factors to be retained. The number of factors to be retained is represented by a point of abrupt change in the graph.

I used Criterion 3 to retain five factors, the same amount as described in the original model (Doll & Torkzadeh, 1988). Thus, the model was able to explain 82.4% of the variance in the initial data (i.e., the five factors obtained explained 82.4% of the changes in the distribution of the 12 original variables.)

Figure 6 shows the scree-plot graph. The slopes of the curve indicate that the points (5, 0.587) and (9; 0.277) contain sudden changes. The most abrupt change occurs at the first point on the graph, with a change in inclination from 11.6° to 17.4°. Thus, as Criterion 3 specifies, this point indicates the number of factors to be retained. I interpreted sudden change as the change in trend function, which originally had a decreasing tendency.

Figure 6. Screen-plot graph.

The commonality, according to Cooper and Schindler (2003, p. 467), is the variance estimate for each variable that is explained by the factors. All values were above 70%, which indicated good capacity for an explanatory model. I evaluated the adequacy of the model by using Barlett’s sphericity test and Kaiser-Meyer-Oklin (KMO). Table 2 shows the values of commonalities.

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156 Suzart, J. A. da S.

Table 2: Commonalities.

Commonalities Question

Before extraction

After extraction

1

1.000

0.819

2

1.000

0.832

3

1.000

0.701

4

1.000

0.749

5

1.000

0.873

6

1.000

0.873

7

1.000

0.855

8

1.000

0.701

9

1.000

0.763

10

1.000

0.808

11

1.000

0.941

12

1.000

0.970

Source: Research data, 2009.

Table 3: Tests on the suitability of the model.

Indicator

Value

KMO

0.836

Barlett’s sphericity

0.000

Source: Research data, 2009.

The value obtained for the Kaiser-Meyer-Oklin indicator was above 0.8, which, according to the classification presented by Maroco (2007, p. 368), meant that the factor model presented a good fit. In turn, the Bartlett sphericity test showed a probability of less than 0.001, which, according Mingoti (2007, p. 138th), showed that the variables were correlated, thus validating the factor analysis.

Table 4 shows the values of the test model consistency using Cronbach’s alpha.

This statistical indicator assesses the internal consistency of the model (i.e., whether the issues are homogeneous and whether they allow the identification of factors implied.)

The Cronbach’s alpha value for the complete instrument was 0.89, a value considered suitable, since it was above 0.7 (Hair, Tatham, Anderson, & Black, 2005, p. 112).

Except for the “timeliness” factor, all other factors had alpha values above 0.7 and very close to the values found by Doll and Torkzadeh (1988, p. 266–267).

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End-user satisfaction with the Integrated System of Federal Government Financial Administration 157 (SIAFI): a case study

Table 4: Tests on model consistency.

Cronbach’s Alpha Factor

This Research

Doll; Torkzadeh

Context

0.87

0.89

Accuracy

0.87

0.91

Format

0.76

0.78

Ease of use

0.80

0.85

Timeliness

0.53

0.82

End-user satisfaction

0.89

-

Source: Research data, 2009.

After the formation of the equations factor, the estimators of the factors were calculated. Table 5 provides a statistical summary.

Table 5: Estimation of factors.

Theoretical values

Calculated values Maximum

Average

Standard deviation

0.544

3.638

2.368

0.733

2.214

-0.427

3.747

1.878

0.108

5.629

2.271

0.198

3.819

2.826

0.797

-3.591

6.477

1.443

-1.331

2.776

1.459

0.962

Timeliness

-2.071

6.109

2.019

1.063

3.583

2.531

0.681

End-user satisfaction

-2.260

6.347

2.044

1.436

2.725

2.212

0.382

Factor

Minimum

Maximum

Average

Context

-2.051

6.593

2.271

Accuracy

-2.498

6.926

Format

-1.087

Ease of use

Minimum

Source: Research data, 2009.

The ‘content’ factor, which relates to the information that can be extracted from the system, indicated that users were indifferent (i.e., the factor caused neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction.) The ‘accuracy’ factor, which relates to the accuracy of information produced by the system, indicated that respondents had some dissatisfaction. The ‘format’ factor, which relates to the provision of information provided or accessed, indicated that users had some satisfaction. The ‘ease of use’ factor, which relates to aspects of system operation, indicated some dissatisfaction from users. The ‘timeliness’ factor, which relates to availability and updating of system information, indicated that respondents were indifferent. Overall, the average level of satisfaction was statistically much higher than three and less than four, which means that Siafi users were only slightly satisfied with the Siafi IS.

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5. CONCLUSIONS Considering the role of the Siafi as a tool for recording and controlling budgetary, financial, and accounting activities of the Brazilian federal government, I sought to examine whether user satisfaction is a valid measurement of IS performance in the public sector. I analyzed responses from Siafi end-users, who were professionals working in the budgetary, financial, and accounting areas and who sought specific information in this IS for use in the performance of their organizational activities.

Satisfaction levels were measured using the model and instrument proposed by Doll and Torkzadeh (1988). This model consisted of a questionnaire with 12 items. It showed that the level of user satisfaction was a second order factor composed of five primary factors: content, accuracy, format, ease of use, and timeliness.

The survey results validated the model. I used factor analysis with multivariate statistical technique to obtain a model with an explanatory power of 82.4%. Moreover, the model achieved good levels of fitness and consistency. According to these results, Siafi end-users showed little satisfaction with this IS. Users showed some satisfaction only for the ‘format’ factor, dissatisfaction for the ‘precision’ and ‘ease of use’ factors, and indifference to the other factors. Thus, the measurement of user satisfaction with public-sector information systems was validated. This measurement may be considered for use as a tool for evaluating ICT performance.

There were some limitations in this research. For example, sample size was limited. Although the results of auxiliary tests validated the sample size in this study, an increase in the number of respondents may reduce margins of errors and foster the discovery of new relationships between variables. Also, the use of a single tool for users of ICT does not allow research findings to be generalized. Thus, the findings and conclusions reached were, in principle, valid only for the Siafi. Future research should include increased sample sizes and the use of other tools to assess the level of user satisfaction.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 10, No. 1, Jan/Apr., 2013 pp.161-176 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752013000100009

CONCEPTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF A SYSTEM USED TO ORGANIZE AND FACILITATE ACCESS TO ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION Pedro Luiz Côrtes Nove de Julho University and ECA/University of São Paulo, SP, Brazil ____________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT

In São Paulo State´s ) coastal area, Brazil, for several years, a chemical company discharged, without any sort of environmental control, a blend of industrial waste composed of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Lawsuits forced the company to identify and limit such deposits in order to perform the environmental recovery. A recovery project was developed demanding preparation and handling of a large amount of documents, satellite images, aerial photographs, maps and videos with the increase of the information and knowledge management issues. This condition became even more critical as the projects started to become cross-disciplinary, involving a growing number of experts, many of them established in different cities. These circumstances led to develop an Environmental Information System (BASGEO) enabling the organization and facilitation of access to such documents while increasing information safety.

This work shows the development of this system and the difficulties related to the management and handling of environmental documents. The research method used was the direct observation of the system development and the semi-structured interview conducted with executives and administrative employees of the company. The results show several gains provided by the BASGEO, improving and accelerating access to information, significantly reducing the need for displacements to transport documents, thus reflecting increased safety.

Keywords: environmental information system, document management, environmental information

1

INTRODUCTION

Environmental projects are increasingly involving cross-disciplinary teams with experts generating several sorts of documents that need to be properly managed and shared. With the increase in the number and diversity of such documents, information and knowledge management issues escalate. This fact may impair projects and operations management, detrimental to the final results. This work describes the BASGEO, an Environmental Information System (EIS) used for storage and _____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 19/08/2011 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 16/02/2013 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência: Pedro Luiz Côrtes, Livre-Docente em Ciência da Informação pela Escola de Comunicações e Artes da USP (2010), Pós-Doutorado em Ciência da Informação pela ECA-USP (2007), Doutorado em Ciências da Comunicação pela ECA-USP (2004), Mestre em Administração pela Fundação Escola de Comércio Álvares Penteado (2001), graduação em Geologia pela Universidade de São Paulo (1986). É Professor-Associado (Livre-Docente) da Universidade de São Paulo (Escola de Comunicações e Artes), Professor Pesquisador do Programa de Mestrado em Gestão Ambiental e Sustentabilidade da Universidade Nove de Julho (Uninove) e Assessor Técnico de Gabinete da Superintendência de Gestão Ambiental da USP. E-mail: plcortes@usp.br Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2013. All rights reserved.

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management of information and its application for the identification and recovery of areas contaminated by organochlorides in part of São Paulo State´s coastal area, Brazil, covering the region between the cities of Bertioga and Itanhaém (a linear distance of approximately 100 km).

This work initially presents some considerations about the use of environmental information systems. In the sequence, some cases resulting from the improper production, use and disposal of organochloride substances are presented. Initial assumptions will allow for better understanding of the issues generated by the disposal of organochlorides in São Paulo´s coastal area, generating hindrances to the information management, which have been overcome by the use of the BASGEO. 1.1

Environmental Information Systems

The cross-disciplinary character of environmental matters and information is evidenced by the works of (Anguita, Alonso, & Martín, 2008; Lusignan & Abilock, 2008; Cole, 2007; Uiterkamp & Vlek, 2007; Voigt, Brüggemann, & Pudenz, 2006). Use of EIS allows for the better management of multiple environmental information, supporting public and private organization managers (Tachizawa & Pozo, 2010; Whitford, 2009; Cserny, Kovacs, Domokos, & Redey, 2009; Vijay, et al., 2009; Yang, et al., 2009; Wang, Zhou, Yang, & Zhao, 2008; Wang & Zhu, 2008). Within that scope, the use of EIS could be considered, both for public policy makers and the general population, in order to avoid or mitigate environmental issues (Cserny, Kovacs, Domokos, & Redey, 2009), including the public disclosure of information related to the environment (Himschoot, Férnandez, Arciet, Goldsmith, & Fabricant, 2004). These authors talk about an EIS prepared for the FREPLATA project, for environmental protection of Rio da Prata (between Argentina and Uruguay) and its beachfront, which refers to contamination control and recovery of habitats. In order to evidence activities performed by the FREPLATA project, a portal has been prepared on the Web with information aimed at different audiences, including survey of databases, documents and cartographic bases. Other studies may also be used as examples to show the use of EIS, as an EIS which helps policy makers (Brancelj, et al., 2012; Kreuz & Sauer, 2012), to the improvement of agricultural and environmental official statistics (Ambrosio, et al., 2009), to the environmental monitoring of rivers and lakes (Krouse, Jennings, & Gasparini, 2009; Patra & Pradhan, 2005; Hughes, et al., 2004), for managing a contaminated area (Carr, Zhang, Moles, & Harder, 2008) or classification of soils (Wang, Zhou, Yang, & Zhao, 2008).

Proper information management is a necessity also found in contaminated urban areas, mainly for the diversity of the situations presented. The first of them is the variety of contamination sources, such as industrial waste disposal (Machemer, Hosick, & Ingamells, 2007), improper disposal of electronic waste (Ha, et al., 2009), poorly managed recycling projects (Gutberlet & Baeder, 2008), household waste processing (Bahaa-Eldin, Yusoff, Rahim, Zuhairi, & Ghani, 2008), improper incineration (Muenhor, et al., 2009) or improper disposal of medical waste or waste from analysis and research laboratories (Vieira, 2009; Huang & Lin, 2008; Blenkharn, 2006; Silva, Hoppe, Ravanello, & Mello, 2005).

In addition to the problems related to proper identification of pollution sources (Araujo & Gunther, 2009; Almeida, Centeno, Bisinoti, & Jardim, 2007), there is a difficulty related to the correct delineation of contaminated areas and legal issues arising from them (Alhumoud & Al-Kandari, 2008; Jennings, 2008). These legal matters

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include the assessment of losses suffered by the owners of areas surrounding the contamination sources (Phillips, Hung, & Bosela, 2007). Recovery of the contaminated areas also presents distinct approaches, as evidenced by the works on industrial waste management practices focused on resources sustainability (Englande & Jin, 2006), removal of materials in contaminated areas (El-Batouti, 2005), analysis of sustainable alternatives to waste incineration or discharge into landfills (Pitt, 2005), selection of areas for sanitary landfills (El-Hoz, 2008), just to mention some examples.

The diversity of occurrences, involving a large amount of information, stresses the need to use EIS, including the assessment of environmental information availability by the Enterprise Resource Planning (Lambert, Jansen, & Splinter, 2000). These authors find that ERPs are not proper for handling environmental information, requiring the use of more specific solutions (Rosa, et al., 2002; Vasil'ev, Akoev, Sal'nikov, & Smirnov, 2002), which may allow more effective benefits. According Rosa et al. (2002) SDBm Plus was prepared to support sustainable agricultural processes. ECOINFORM, analyzed by Vasil'ev, Akoev, Sal'nikov, & Smirnov (2002), aims to solve some issues faced by Russian environmental researchers due to the remote location of some research centers which limits the access to updated bibliography and information. ECOINFORM has reduced this problem by providing a large bibliographic repository supported by online systems. In its turn, TERI (Deb & Kar, 2005) also works as an electronic repository, providing several publications on CD-ROM on the Internet, enabling information and knowledge diffusion.

1.2

Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Environmental Matter

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds industrially synthesized and resistant to environmental degradation which may accumulate in fat tissues (Marti, et al., 2010; Esposito, et al., 2009). Being also semi-volatile, they may be transported over long distances by the atmosphere before being deposited. Their effects on health are associated with serious problems, including the development of cancer.

POPs include insecticides, pesticides and fungicides, many of which have been banned in several countries. However, this banning does not close the issue, as their persistence in nature extends their harmful effects, contaminating soils and waters, causing serious harm to human health and wild life.

The literature has several cases of accidents and incidents involving production, handling or improper disposal of POPs. In Turkey, in the decade of 1950, wheat grains treated with hexachlorobenzene (HCB) fungicide, to be used as seeds, were used as food, contaminating thousands of people (Cripps, Peters, Gocmen, & Dogramici, 2006).

In 1976, an explosion of a tri-chlorophenol reactor released dioxins reaching a broad area and affecting thousands of people in Seveso, Italy (Consonni, et al., 2012; Engelhaupt, 2008).

In the United States, in the Love Canal (Niagara Falls) an excavation originally aimed at electrical energy generation was abandoned and started to be used as industrial waste deposit. Upon urbanization of the area, between the decades of 1950 and 1970, organochloride substances generated by that improper disposal were found in the playground of a school and on the gates and yards of the houses. Reports described cases of damage to people´s health as well as the birth of children with deformities (Phillips, Hung, & Bosela, 2007).

In Duque de Caxias, Brazil, an area was contaminated by disposal, on the soil, of approximately 350 tons of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), among other

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organochlorides. As a result, HCH, DDT, trichlorobenzenes, trichlorophenols and dioxins concentrations exceeded the limits deemed to be acceptable on the soil, with high risks for the local population (Asmus, et al., 2008).

2

CASE STUDY

In order to best describe the BASGEO conception and development, this case study was divided into three parts. At first, an insight into the methodology was done, explaining how this study was conducted. In the second part, the environmental context that led to this system conception is presented, analyzing POPs improper disposal background in São Paulo State´s coastal area. This analysis allows for the understanding of the needs that required the preparation of this Environmental Information System (EIS) and the guidelines adopted in the BASGEO project.

2.1

Methodology

The paper uses a case study methodology to analyze the development of an Environmental Information System (EIS) by Rhodia. The research method used was the direct observation of the system development and the semi-structured interview conducted with executives and administrative employees of the company. The observation and the interview were complemented by information obtained from primary sources (internal documents and reports). The analysis of this information was conducted with the support of the conceptual framework that has emerged from the literature review. This methodological framework was supported by a specialised bibliography (Woodside, 2010; Yin, 2008; Gerring, 2006; Hancock & Algozzine, 2006; George & Bennett, 2005).

2.2

Disposal of Persistent Organic Pollutants in São Paulo´s Coastal Area

During part of the 1960 and 1970 decades, the areas located in the cities of Santos, São Vicente, Cubatão, Praia Grande and Itanhaém,São Paulo State´s Coast, received organochloride substances, without any sort of control or monitoring, contaminating soil and ground water, impairing the health of the workers and of the population from the surrounding areas (Almeida, Centeno, Bisinoti, & Jardim, 2007).

This improper disposal of organochlorides was done by Clorogil in several areas from São Paulo´s coast and it started around the 60’s, continuing until mid 70’s.

Clorogil was established in 1965 by Progil - Socyeté Anonyme and by Carbocloro S.A., but its control was transferred to Rhodia Indústrias Químicas e Têxteis in 1976 (Magalhães, 2006; Couto, 2003), which inherited a large environmental liability from the areas contaminated by industrial waste.

During decade of 1980, Rhodia and the Environmental Company of São Paulo State (Cetesb) were reported to the São Paulo State´s Public Prosecutor´s Office due to improper disposal of organochloride industrial waste. In addition, labor suits were initiated against Rhodia due to the contamination of Clorogil´s workers. During that same period, the issue was reverberating in the press and the company suffered with the increased pressure of the organized civil society.

All the events required the start-up of a process to identify and limit the areas contaminated by persistent organic pollutants (POPs) on São Paulo State´s coast for further environmental recovery. Three major projects were conceived by Rhodia,

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aiming to identify, quantify and limit the contaminated areas. At first, Pilões and Perequê regions, located in the city of Cubatão were investigated. Later, a comprehensive study named “Projeto Baixada Santista” (Santos Lowlands Project) was developed, aimed to identify and limit other areas contaminated by POPs, investigating approximately 2.600 square kilometers along São Paulo State´s mid-south coast.

In Pilões region there is a clandestine old residential and industrial waste dumping site, informally known as “Lixão dos Pilões” (Pilões Dumping Site). That dumping site is located near the initial section of the upward lane of Imigrantes Highway (connecting São Paulo State´s coast to the capital city). In that site, waste disposal started during the 60’s and continued until 1979 (Magalhães, 2006; Couto, 2003). Simultaneously, the area was incipiently occupied, and such an occupation was intensified after the building of the Imigrantes Highway during the decade of 1970.

After conclusion of the upward lane civil works, lodgings used by the workers were abandoned and started to be used as a residence by new families.

Even after deactivation of this clandestine dumping site, the area continued to be occupied, giving rise to research concerning the effects of contamination by organochlorides in that population (Santos Filho, et al., 2003). The study covered 238 people living in the area occupied by such dumping site and surroundings, analyzing the concentration of organochlorides (hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorocyclohexane, DDT, Aldrin, Dieldrin, Endrin, and others). The control population was composed of 258 people living in the City of Cubatão.

A study performed by Santos Filho et al. (2003) shows that, among the residents of Lixão dos Pilões, the average HCB concentration in the blood was 4.66 µg/L, 155 times higher than the average of the control population (0.03 µg/L). For DDT, the average content among the residents from Pilões was 3.71 µg/L, twice higher than the average found in the control population (1.85 µg/L). A similar condition was found for hexachlorocyclohexane, with the Pilões population presenting an average concentration six times higher than the control population (0.84 µg/L against 0.13 µg/L). In a previous research, Santos Filho et al. (1993) studied organochloride blood concentrations in 242 children living in six districts located by the margin of Cubatão City’s main rivers.

From that total, 73 children (30%) presented results compatible with high exposure to organochlorides.

Due to the presence of POPs in the Lixão dos Pilões, lawsuits initiated by improper disposal of industrial waste had Rhodia as one of the major sued companies.

But, due to the presence of waste from other industries, the company looked for support from the São Paulo State Industries Confederation (Ciesp), aiming to gather efforts in order to recover such a dumping site.

Parque do Perequê was another area that received organochloride industrial waste in the City of Cubatão (Magalhães, 2006), located at the right margin of a river bearing the same name, which flows down to the Serra do Mar (Mountain Range of the Sea) heading for the coast. In November, 1989, during earthbank works to enlarge that park, organochloride products were found. The area was closed and the São Paulo State´s Prosecutor´s Officeinstituted an Injunction against Rhodia, liable for improper disposal. In April, 1990, the company removed the contaminated waste and soil of this dumping site which was surrounded by fencing and started to be monitored.

With the purpose of checking whether there were still organochloride compounds in the area of Parque do Perequê, an environmental expert inspection was

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performed. The inspection showed that the remaining contaminated spots were concentrated at the river’s right margin, between the Serra do Mar hogback and Eletropaulo’s (electricity distribution company) transformation and transmission station.

It was found that this area should have been deeply investigated by soil, surface water and underground water samples and analysis.

In September, 1993, Rhodia prepared the “Plan for the Qualification, Quantification, Dimensioning and Origin Definition of Chemical Products” discharged in the areas suspected of being contaminated. In 1994, an environmental impact assessment and recovery was presented to the Cetesb covering 11 areas in Baixada Santista contaminated by organochlorides. During the second half of 1996, Rhodia presented to the 3rd Circuit Court of Cubatão City a proposal for a complementary hydro geological and geochemical investigation and one environmental recovery plan for Parque do Perequê.

In the two previous cases (Lixão dos Pilões and Parque do Perequê), areas limitation was facilitated by indications that pointing to the existence of organochlorides, making actions for recovery of the contaminated sites more objective.

However, there were reports that organochlorides disposals had been done in other areas along São Paulo State´s south coast further to those already identified. That led to conception of a methodology enabling identification of potentially contaminated regions, choosing areas that would be investigated by field teams.

An analysis of a historical sequence of aerial photographs was performed, detecting areas that could have served as clandestine dumping sites of chemical waste.

According to the scope of this methodology, potentially favorable sites to such a disposal should have the following conditions: i) easy access to trucks and heavy vehicles; ii) distant from urban centers, avoiding rising of concern about such activities; iii) not presenting large vegetation, thus facilitating truck traffic and waste disposal.

Upon finding areas with those characteristics in a certain set of aerial photographs, the evolution in later years was checked, looking for signs of earth works or material disposal. In affirmative cases, a field team was sent to the area in order to collect soil samples by manual auger, following a geochemical sampling mesh, for further chemical analysis searching for the presence of organochlorides.

To provide an example of this methodology, it is important to notice that, in some instances, discharge of toxic material was done in a previously decommissioned sand harbor, in areas previously used for extraction of sand for the civil construction. In these cases, based on the aerial photographs taken in different years, it was possible to see the area evolution. After a period of sand extraction, forming a trench, the activity interruption can be observed. Some years later, the same trench could be filled with some type of material, leading to suspect that industrial waste was being improperly disposed of. Upon such suspiciousness, a field team was sent to the dumping site, soil samples were taken and analyzed in the laboratory. The work started to be developed in 1993, by Rhodia, along São Paulo State´s south coast and named as “Projeto Baixada Santista”. In total, 2,600 square kilometers ² were analyzed, starting in the city of Bertioga, at the central part of São Paulo´s State coast, up to Peruíbe, southward.

2.3

THE BASGEO

Together, the three projects covered geographically large areas, with crossdisciplinary teams, performing several field works, chemical analyses, expert analysis and reports, requiring the preparation of a large number of documents, photographs,

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maps and chemical analysis results. The areas also had legal documents, satellite images, news given by the press, drawings and several videos associated with them.

During the Projeto Baixada Santista, problems related to access to documents and information flow were identified, resulting from the large number of experts involved and located in different cities from São Paulo State (Cubatão, Santos, São Vicente, São Paulo and Paulínia). As distances between the cities could exceed 150 km, that generated frequent displacements only to deliver documents. For example, when a report or document requested by the regional management in Cubatão was in São Paulo, it was necessary to send an employee specifically to analyze that material, spending time and generating extra costs. During that process, documents could also be lost, delaying project progress or compromising the required secrecy.

Safety matters hindered documents from being sent by electronic media or made available by online systems. A lot of information was confidential, as it involved results of analyzes of areas suspected of being contaminated, including expert reports and documents required to the defense of the company in miscellaneous lawsuits.

Furthermore, team fields did not have remote access to the Internet, which would make it hard to use any online system. It is interesting to notice that, although geographic distances were shorter than the ones faced by Russian environmental researchers (Vasil'ev, Akoev, Sal'nikov, & Smirnov, 2002), some conditions were similar, generating difficulties to interchange information.

Looking for a solution to this issue, it was proposed to create the BASGEO, an Environmental Information System, with capacity to digitally and safely store a large amount of environmental documents, facilitating the recovery of information regarding the recorded areas. This solution would find similarity, from the conceptual perspective, with the TERI (Deb & Kar, 2005) and other information and documents repositories.

During the BASGEO conception, it was decided to use prototyping, which consisted of fast production and fewer costs, of an experimental system submitted for end user assessment (Warfel, 2009). As the prototype is a functional version of an information system, or part of it, users may use it to better understand its functioning and necessary requirements. That will allow refining of the prototype, upon testing of more enhanced versions which the users assess. Although the project conception was well performed, some members of the team that would use the BASGEO still had some questions about the system’s practical operation, which could be easily solved upon prototype preparation. That would speed up the presentation of the system’s main resources, allowing discussing the implementation of some solutions and ease of use.

Some assumptions were considered upon the BASGEO conception: i) easy to install, without the need of extra software and licenses; ii) use of safety systems that would hinder unauthorized people from using their information; iii) simple to use, allowing fast access to information; iv) database and information portability, assuring independence towards the software used for management.

At first, the possibility of the system to use a fully proprietary graphic interface was considered, and even a prototype for testing was prepared. That solution was believed to facilitate the system use by directing the users to specific functions.

However, initial assessments showed that proprietary interface use would not facilitate it as users would need longer learning time. That fact led to an interface presenting elements which were more familiar to Windows users, which were deemed to be more adequate and refined upon the creation of new prototypes. For that, the Object Pascal

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language was chosen, at the Delphi commercial version, supplied by Borland, for its performance, easy programming, resources and documentation availability.

In parallel to the prototypes tests, several documents started to be recorded.

During the project conception, it was defined that the research should be performed in the entire content of each document and not only by key words or metadata. That would extend research possibilities of documents with specific contents or details, which were considered as essential by the technical team using the BASGEO. In addition, it was deemed mandatory that people had to have access to one digital copy of the documents, as that would allow checking of the signatures, protocol stamps (especially important for legal documents) and hand-written notes, drafts, and other details. To meet those two requirements, an option was made to have documents scanned in the GIF format (Graphics Interchange Format), as it includes an embedded data compression algorithm LZW (Lempel-Ziv-Welch), reducing files to a final size. In addition, the GIF format is compatible with several platforms and source codes for images recording and reading is found in different languages. Another advantage provided by the GIF format is that it is a standard accepted by Web browsers. In the future, should there be the option of sending the system to the Web, documents will already be in a proper standard.

After scanning, content of every text was converted through OCR (Optical Character Recognition) into file texts compatible with ASCII standard (American Standard Code for Information Interchange). Choice of ASCII format was made due to the fact that it was a largely used ANSI standard (American National Standards Institute), assuring files portability. In order to assure such compatibility, accents used in the Portuguese language were suppressed, avoiding use of the ASCII table extended part, which would impair future use of other systems or platforms. Concerning security, once database and information were consolidated, the entire content (images and texts) was encrypted using symmetric a key algorithm. Efforts were made aiming to avoid access to the file content by unauthorized people. The same algorithm was implemented into the search and reading program code, used by the users to access the documents.

Specific databases were assembled with documents from the Lixão dos Pilões and Parque do Perequê areas, recorded on CD-R and distributed to the users. Project conception included the distribution of new copies on CD-R format upon each update of a database. Figure 1 summarizes these procedures.

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Figure 1 - Synthesis of recording process of documents at the BASGEO Access to the search program is only made by previously registered users with access controlled by password. Basic search can be done by the following criteria: i) word or phrase; ii) document date; iii) document type. In case of a search by word or phrase, which is the most frequent, the user indicates the desired terms and the system sweeps all the registered text files. As previously mentioned, each text file was generated by OCR from a digitalized copy (in GIF format) of the original document.

Therefore, upon finding the word or phrase in a text file, the system automatically identifies the corresponding scanned file. A list with the files having the word or phrase is presented to the user. He/she can only check the file with a text transcription (highlighting the section with the specified word or phrase) or analyze one copy of the original document (which can also be printed). There is also the possibility of refining the process and searching new words or phrases only among the documents found in the previous search. Figure 2 summarizes this process which is quickly performed by checking 800 documents at about two seconds.

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Figure 2 - Searching for documents at the BASGEO Another search possibility, as previously mentioned, allows checking only documents of one specific type (technical reports, bulletins with chemical analyses, legal documents, news published in newspapers or magazines, among other categories).

There is also the possibility of analyzing documents with original copies generated on a specific date.

A solution of this kind presents characteristics of Tactical Level Systems, as such systems are aimed at the development and implementation of strategic decisions mande by the organization’s top hierarchical levels (Côrtes, 2008). It also presents features related to the Strategic Level Systems, which serve more comprehensive and long term decisions, with stronger impact on the company. It can also be found that the BASGEO is a Knowledge Work System (Laudon & Laudon, 2011) or Knowledge Management System (O'Brien & Marakas, 2010), as it contributes to the increase in the information flow across work team members and acts as a catalyst in knowledge creation and diffusion, accelerating conception of the actions. Members from the several teams are granted easy access to express knowledge, which is the one coded and accepted transmission by formal language (Nonaka, A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation, 1994). Such knowledge will be further used in new documents preparation, which are incorporated into the database and information, enhancing what (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995) call the spiral of knowledge.

2.4

Incorporation of Multimedia Files

After some time of use, a need was evidenced to incorporate multimedia resources such as videos and sounds and images (pictures) added to the document base copies of articles broadcasted by television news and technical videos produced by the industry itself. Analysis of that material assumed a strategic character, as the news broadcasted in television news could impact on Rhodia’s image.

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To enable the search being performed by phrases of specific words, the same criterion was used for the printed documents such as the transcription of the dialogs from the videos for text files. For each static image (pictures, for instance) one descriptive text was recorded, informing what that was about, place and time when it had been prepared.

In practical terms, few changes were required to incorporate such resources into the graphic interface. Search continued to be performed with the same functions (by word or phrase, document date or document type), with the presented list indicating the type of file available (digital document, video, sound or static image). The interface received inclusion of resources for the presentation of new multimedia resources.

3

CONCLUSIONS

Improper industrial waste disposal may cause severe environmental issues which are oftenhard to solve. Projects for the identification, characterization and limitation of the contaminated areas are rare and the efforts to recover them require experts from several areas. This diversity of professionals, added by the efforts dedicated to solve issues, generates a large amount of documents such as bulletins of chemical analysis, studies, reports, expert opinions, photographs, videos, and maps among others. While the involved professionals generate a large diversity of documents, they need to have access to the information generated by their peers. That ends up creating an information access management issue, a condition that might assume more critical outlines if they are associated legal matters.

Improper disposal of organochloride industrial waste in São Paulo State´s coast brought this type of situation, with the participation of professionals from several areas, demanding access to an increasing amount of documents and information. Associated legal matters and the large extension of the investigated areas increase the issue. The BASGEO is an example of how an Environmental Information System (EIS) can be used to support projects of identification and recovery of degraded areas and management of environmental liabilities. Besides organizing and facilitating access to environmental documents and information, it facilitated the integration of crossdisciplinary teams even when distributed across geographically distant sites.

According to the users, several gains were provided by the BASGEO, improving and accelerating access to information, significantly reducing the need for displacements to transport documents, thus reflecting increased safety and meeting of their personal needs (Bondarenko, Janssen, & Driessen, 2010). This granted more promptness to the environmental management of the contaminated areas, reducing response time to certain legal demands by facilitating the recovery of information concerning specific analyses or performed expert assessments (Grahlmann, Helms, Hilhorst, Brinkkemper, & van Amerongen, 2012). Another positive impact of the use of such a system was reduced rework (mainly of sampling and laboratory analysis), facilitating day to day operations.

Teams related to environmental projects have been increasing, adding more researchers, technicians, consultants and experts. To meet that goal, it is necessary to facilitate information flow, demanding specific information systems solutions, similarly to what was used in the reported projects. In that sense, the BASGEO has facilitated the integration of new people to the work teams, as organized access to documents and information has helped the sharing of express knowledge, which is the one coded and accepted transmission by formal language (Nonaka, 1994). That system, when

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organizing and sharing already existing knowledge, increases the knowledge spiral (Jakubik, 2011; Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995), contributing to the best environmental management of the organizations. The BASGEO is a system that goes beyond simply providing a solution (Rodrigues, Maccari, & Simões, 2009), innovating the way the management of environmental information is processed. It is important to consider that the solution adopted was technically simple, but with a major impact on the management of documents. The BASGEO allows the decentralization and distribution of workflow functions (Pešović, Vidaković, Ivanović, Budimac, & Vidaković, 2011) despite the need for a better classification of documents (Rocha, et al., 2013; Yang, Lin, & Wei, 2010; Karanikolas & Skourlas, 2010).

4 LIMITATIONS This research has some limitations, which are the search of new opportunities. It would be interesting to compare the BASGEO with other management systems of information and documents, checking the improvements that could be implemented.

Also, online solutions could be assessed, which facilitate the management of the same document base.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 10, No. 1, Jan/Apr., 2013 pp. 177-197 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752013000100010

O IMPACTO DA ABORDAGEM DE VENDAS NA ACEITAÇÃO DE PRODUTOS COM INOVAÇÕES TECNOLÓGICAS THE IMPACT OF THE SALES APPROACH IN THE ACCEPTANCE ON TECHNOLOGICALLY INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS Márcia Zampieri Grohmann Luciana Flores Battistella Aline Velter Federal University of Santa Maria, RS/Brazil ____________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT With the intention to verify the influence of sales approaches in the process of acceptance and use of products with technological innovations, a survey using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was made.

Through structural equation modeling, it was identified the relationships among the three sales approaches (competition focus, product focus and customer focus) and the constructs of the model (perceived usefulness, perceived ease, attitude to use, intention to use, current use and normative pressure). The results confirmed six of the twelve hypotheses: a strategy focused on competition interferes with the relationship between utility and attitude of use (H1b) and the relationship between normative pressure and purchase intention (H6); strategy with focus on product interferes with relations between utility usage and attitude (H2a), facility and purchase intent (H3B), fun attitude and usage (H5a) and attitude and purchase intention (H7). It is concluded, therefore, that the relationship between acceptance and sales strategies, and purchase new products is moderate and that the most efficient strategy in this case is focused on the product.

Keywords: Technological innovation, sales approach, adoption of innovation; Purchase intent; Structural Equation Modeling.

RESUMO Com o objetivo de verificar a influência das abordagens de venda no processo de aceitação e uso de produtos com inovações tecnológicas, foi realizada uma pesquisa que uniu o Modelo de Aceitação Tecnológica (TAM) com a Teoria da Ação Racional (TRA).

Através de equações estruturais foram identificadas as relações entre as três abordagens de vendas (foco na competição, foco no produto e foco no cliente) e os construtos do modelo (utilidade percebida, facilidade percebida, atitude de uso, intenção de uso, uso _____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 24/07/2010 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 10/07/2012 Márcia Zampieri Grohmann, Doutora em Engenharia de Produção e Sistemas, Professora Associada do Departamento de Ciências Administrativas da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Endereço: Avenida Roraima, 1000 – prédio 74C, sala 4313. CEP 97105-900, Camobi, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil.marciazg@ufsm.br Luciana Flores Battistella, Doutora em Engenharia de Produção e Sistemas, Professora Adjunta do Departamento de Ciências Administrativas da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Endereço: Avenida Roraima, 1000 – prédio 74C, sala 4311. CEP 97105-900, Camobi, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil.lutti@ufsm.br Aline Velter, Mestre em Administração pela Universidade Federal de Santa Maria Endereço: Avenida Roraima, 1000 – prédio 74C, sala 4313. CEP 97105-900, Camobi, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. aline.velter@gmail.com Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2013 All rights reserved.

178 Grohmann, M.Z. ; Battistella, L. F.; Velter,A.

atual e pressão normativa). Os resultados confirmaram seis das doze hipóteses formuladas: a estratégia com foco na competição interfere na relação entre utilidade e atitude de uso (H1b) e na relação entre pressão normativa e intenção de compra (H6); a estratégia com foco no produto interfere nas relações entre utilidade e atitude de uso (H2a), facilidade e intenção de compra (H3b), diversão e atitude de uso (H5a) e atitude e intenção de compra (H7). Conclui-se, assim, que as relações entre estratégias de vendas e aceitação e compra de novos produtos são moderadas e que a estratégia mais eficiente, neste caso, é a com foco no produto.

Palavras-chave: Inovação tecnológica; Abordagem de vendas; Adoção da inovação; Intenção de compra; Modelagem de Equações Estruturais.

1. INTRODUÇÃO O processo de adoção de produto com novas tecnologias é extremamente complexo, pois envolve a aceitação da inovação e, segundo Campbell (1999), os consumidores veem-se diante de produtos com diversos atributos, de difícil entendimento e escolha e, por vezes, com tecnologias desconhecidas e questionadas.

Rogers (1995) corrobora afirmando que tais produtos possuem ciclo de vida curto, exigem processos de aprendizagem por parte dos consumidores e, portanto, sua aquisição é mais arriscada.

Todo lançamento de uma inovação tecnológica coloca o consumidor frente ao novo, a um processo de aprendizagem que envolve a exposição a uma série de informações que, por vezes, é de difícil assimilação (Lee, Lee & Schumann, 2002; Wilkie & Dickson, 1985).

Neste contexto, a postura do vendedor ao fornecer informações sobre novos produtos passa a ser um diferencial para a adoção de novas tecnologias (Davis, 1989; Rogers, 1995; Atuahene-Gima, 1997; Cooper, 2000; Decker & Gnibba-Yukawa, 2010; Bohlmann, et al. 2009; Autahene-Gima & Michael, 1998).

Estudos como os de Cooper (2000) e Hultin e Atuahene-Gima (2000) comprovaram que o sucesso nas vendas de produtos com inovações tecnológicas depende de uma força de vendas vigorosa e que forneça suporte técnico aos consumidores.

Dessa forma, como argumentam Del Vecchio, et al. (2003), compreender as atitudes dos consumidores frente às abordagens de vendas utilizadas é de fundamental importância para o sucesso organizacional e para a seleção de estratégia de marketing eficiente.

A abordagem de vendas é foco de diferentes tipos de estudo. Alguns envolvem o comportamento dos vendedores (Román & Iacobucci, 2010; Avlonitis & Panagopoulos, 2006; Eckert, 2006; Gable & Topol, 1998; Harris, Mowen & Brown, 2005; Spiro & Weitz, 1990; Darley, Luethge & Thatte, 2008). Outros, os métodos ou mecanismos de vendas mais eficientes (Malshe & Sohi, 2009; Artis & Harris, 2007; Franke & Park, 2006; Gregan-Paxton & John, 1997; Hulting & Autuane-Gima, 2002; Mcfarland, Challagalla & Shervani, 2006).

Porém, Elliott e Fu (2008) argumentam que a maior parte dos estudos sobre abordagem de vendas ainda continua tendo como foco o consumidor corporativo (B2B) e que poucos esforços são realizados no contexto dos consumidores finais (B2C).

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O mercado consumidor desafia os vendedores a como perceber um novo produto e desenvolver formas eficazes de posicionamento e valores associados com a comunicação do novo produto. Portanto, esses estudos são essenciais para a compreensão da eficácia e a adequação das diferentes abordagens de táticas de venda (Elliot & Fu, 2008).

Frente ao exposto, o objetivo deste estudo é identificar a influência das estratégias de vendas na aquisição de produtos com inovações tecnológicas. Dessa forma, buscouse identificar as relações de três diferentes abordagens (foco na competição, foco no produto e foco no cliente) com o processo de aceitação e intenção de compra de novos produtos.

O artigo é uma reaplicação da pesquisa desenvolvida por Elliot e Fu (2008), com universitários americanos. Assim, pautando-se nos trabalhos de Ziamou e Ratneshwar (2003) e Elliot e Fu (2008), utiliza-se um modelo de pesquisa que combina a versão estendida do Modelo de Aceitação Tecnológica – TAM (Davis, 1989), que incorporou o constructo intenção de uso aos constructos originais de utilidade percebida, facilidade percebida e atitude de uso, e a Teoria da Ação Racional - TRA (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) para identificar a influência das estratégias de vendas na aquisição de produtos com inovações tecnológicas.

Quanto às táticas de vendas, as mesmas foram adaptadas da taxonomia de vendas técnicas utilizadas na relação vendedor-consumidor no mercado (B2C) (Del Vecchio et al., 2003).

2. REFERENCIAL TEÓRICO O referencial teórico deste estudo divide-se em três partes. Na primeira, são apresentados os dois modelos utilizados para a mensuração da aceitação de inovações tecnológicas (TAM e TRA); em um segundo momento, apresentam-se aspectos relacionados com as abordagens de vendas, tendo como foco a taxonomia de Del Vecchio, et al. (2003); e, por fim, são apresentadas as hipóteses da pesquisa e os estudos que deram suporte as mesmas.

2.1 Modelos de aceitação de inovações tecnológicas (TAM e TRA) Os modelos mais utilizados para prever as intenções e o comportamento do usuário, segundo Fekadu e Kraft (2001), advêm da literatura de psicologia social e, dentre as teorias propostas uma das que mais se salienta é a Teoria da Ação Racional TRA. O foco desta teoria, desenvolvida por Fisbeinh e Ajzen (1975), é compreender a relação entre as intenções dos consumidores e sua efetiva ação, ou seja, como tais intenções transformam-se (ou não) em comportamentos. Para tanto, a teoria propõe a análise e mensuração de atitudes comportamentais, pressão normativa, intenção de uso e uso atual, e busca compreender a relação entre estes construtos.

Alguns construtos da TRA (atitude, intenção de uso e uso atual) assemelham-se aos da TAM. Porém, o grande diferencial do primeiro modelo é a utilização do construto pressão normativa.

Vários estudos (Bagozzi, et al., 2001; Perugini & Bagozzi, 2001; Fekadu & Kraft, 2001) já comprovaram a influência das pressões normativas sob a intenção de compra e que tal relação é ainda mais forte quando se refere a aspectos ligados à aceitação e uso de produtos ou serviços com inovações (Shurmer, 1993; Westland, 1992; Redmond, 1991; Shankar & Bayus, 2004).

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Porém, o modelo central do presente estudo é o Modelo de Aceitação da Tecnologia – TAM, proposto por Davis (1989). Seu objetivo inicial era o de apresentar um instrumento para prever a probabilidade de uma nova tecnologia ser adotada dentro de um grupo ou uma organização.

O modelo TAM pauta-se em duas crenças principais que são decisivas na intenção comportamental do indivíduo para usar um sistema: a percepção de utilidade e a percepção de facilidade de uso (Legris, et al., 2003). O modelo fundamenta-se na hipótese de que a aceitação e utilização de tecnologias podem ser explicadas em termos de crenças internas, atitudes e intenções dos usuários. Assim, de acordo com a TAM, a percepção individual sobre a nova tecnologia pode (e deve) ser utilizada para prever sua aceitação. Nesse sentido, Davis (1989) afirmou que “o comportamento do usuário para as intenções de uso de um sistema são determinadas por dois fatores: utilidade percebida (PU) e facilidade de uso percebida (PEOU)”.

Em um segundo momento, o modelo TAM foi ampliado, pois se identificou que tanto a utilidade percebida quanto a facilidade de uso afetam diretamente a intenção e, desta forma, um novo construto foi incluído no modelo TAM. Assim, atualmente, o modelo apresenta os constructos de percepção de facilidade, percepção de utilidade, atitude frente ao uso, intenção de uso, e uso atual (Venkatesch & Davis, 1996; 2000).

Diversas pesquisas têm utilizado o TAM, testando e comprovando empiricamente a validade do modelo em diferentes contextos (Venkatesh, et al., 2003), inclusive com o foco na adoção de novos produtos, como os estudos de: Wang, Lo e Fang (2008), Nysveen, Pedersen e Thorbjornsen (2005), Ziamou e Ratneshwar (2003) e Elliot e Fu (2008).

Conforme foi destacado, na introdução, este artigo visa reaplicar o estudo de Elliot e Fu (2008), para identificar semelhanças e diferenças entre universitários americanos e brasileiros. Assim, o modelo utilizado neste estudo, apresentado na Figura 1, utiliza os construtos utilidade percebida, facilidade percebida, atitude frente ao uso e intenção de uso do modelo TAM, intenção de uso/compra, uso atual e pressão normativa do modelo TRA, complementado por expressividade percebida e diversão percebida. Salienta-se que mais informações do modelo, bem como a definição de seus construtos, são apresentadas na metodologia deste trabalho.

A grande inovação deste modelo conceitual é a inclusão do constructo pressão normativa, realizado, originalmente, na pesquisa de Kwon e Chidambaram (2000) e reaplicados por Nyswee, Pedersen e Thorbjorsen (2005) e Elliot e Fu (2008), com resultados altamente satisfatórios em termos de ajuste de modelo global e relações significativas entre o constructo antecedente pressão normativa e os constructos consequentes do TAM (atitude de uso e intenção de compra).

A pesquisa de Elliot e Fu (2008), além de validar o modelo, apresentou a inclusão da estratégia de vendas como fator moderador. Esta pesquisa foi realizada em 2007, com estudantes da Universidade Midwestern. A amostra foi formada por 312 pessoas, com faixa etária média de 22 anos e com 55% dos respondentes masculinos. Junto ao questionário, foi apresentada uma foto de um produto, tipo MP4, com a descrição de suas características e três enunciados diferentes, cada um representando uma das seguintes abordagens de vendas: com foco no produto, com foco na concorrência e com foco no cliente. Os resultados desta pesquisa serão apresentados posteriormente.

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Figura 1 – Modelo Teórico Utilizado Fonte: Adaptado de Elliot e Fu (2008).

Na sequência, são apresentadas informações sobre as estratégias de vendas, fator moderador da pesquisa, definindo-se as estratégias de vendas com foco na mensagem repassada pelos vendedores (foco no produto, foco no cliente e foco no concorrente) e, detalhando-se o modelo de Del Vecchio et al. (2003) utilizado na parte empírica deste estudo.

2.2 Abordagens de vendas Ao contrário do que acontece com as abordagens de vendas com foco no consumidor corporativo (B2B), as abordagens de venda com foco no consumidor final (B2C) não possuem nomenclatura e nem aceitação universal (Stock & Hoyer, 2005).

Del Vecchio, et al. (2003) desenvolveram uma classificação de abordagem de venda B2C que vem recebendo aceitação de vários autores (Ziamou & Ratneshwar, 2003; Elliot & Fu, 2008) e que foi utilizada neste estudo. Para os autores, o aspecto central da abordagem ao cliente é a adaptabilidade à mensagem e, partindo desse pressuposto, há três táticas específicas de vendas: abordagem com foco na competição, abordagem com foco no produto e abordagem com foco no cliente.

A abordagem de vendas com foco no produto possui comunicação de mão única, ou seja, todo o processo é baseado na fala do vendedor. O foco central de estratégia é o de apresentar ao cliente os atributos do produto e informar como o mesmo funciona e deve ser manuseado e, dessa forma, as falas do vendedor são para informar os detalhes técnicos, bem como as funções que o produto desempenha. Ao informar ao cliente aspectos de qualidade, performance, garantia, preço e detalhes de fabricação, o vendedor tenta criar novas necessidades nos consumidores, buscando assim efetivar a venda do produto. (Del Vecchio, et al., 2003).

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Já na abordagem de vendas com foco na competição, o vendedor parte do pressuposto de que o cliente irá optar por um produto, comparando-o com outros similares e, desta forma, o foco do processo de comunicação utilizado pelo vendedor é o de já apresentar estas comparações ao cliente. Dessa forma, a principal tática utilizada pelo vendedor é a de recomendar uma séria de soluções que já obtiveram sucesso em situações similares, assim a postura do vendedor busca influenciar o comprador (Del Vecchio, et al., 2003).

Por fim, a abordagem de vendas com o foco no cliente identifica que o cliente é único e, portanto, seus problemas e soluções também devem ser únicos. Ou seja, não são feitas comparações com situações similares (como na estratégia anterior). O foco da comunicação altera-se das falas do vendedor para os questionamentos ou respostas do cliente (Del Vecchio, et al., 2003).

Figura 2 – Abordagem de Vendas B2C Fonte: Elaborado pelos autores.

Se as táticas de vendas específicas podem ser mostradas para ter um efeito diferencial sobre os elementos da TAM e TRA e para reforçar o relacionamento entre as dimensões mais importantes, o estudo pode fornecer aos comerciantes uma introspecção de táticas adequadas para produtos inovadores.

2.3 Aceitação de Inovações Tecnológicas e Abordagens de Vendas - Hipóteses do Estudo O artigo de Eliot e Fu (2008) serviu como guia para a formulação das hipóteses que foram testadas no presente estudo. Observa-se que tais hipóteses relacionam dois dos constructos do modelo teórico (um antecedente e um consequente), acrescentandose a abordagem de vendas, como fator moderador.

A estratégia de vendas com foco na competição permite ao consumidor comparar atributos de diferentes marcas, pois esta é a abordagem utilizada pelo vendedor (Del Vecchio et al., 2003). Ao mesmo tempo, segundo Venkatesh, et al.

(2004), a utilidade percebida influencia fortemente na atitude para uso quando se trata de produtos tecnológicos e, quando esta utilização é aprovada, ela pode transformar-se em intenção de compra. Esta ligação entre atitude de uso e intenção de compra é utilizado nas cinco primeiras hipóteses deste estudo. Dessa forma, Elliot e Fu (2008) desenvolveram as seguintes hipóteses: H1- A utilização de uma abordagem de vendas focada na competição irá impactar positivamente a relação entre: H1a - utilidade percebida e atitude para uso e H1b – utilidade percebida e intenção de compra.

Veryzer (1998) argumenta que a falta de entendimento sobre a funcionalidade de um produto interfere na compreensão de sua utilidade. Como a estratégia com foco no produto tem por objetivo esclarecer ao consumidor sobre os atributos e funcionalidades do produto, Elliot e Fu (2008) estabelecem que: H2- A utilização de uma abordagem de vendas focada no produto irá impactar positivamente a relação entre: H2a - utilidade percebida e atitude para uso e H2b – utilidade percebida e intenção de compra.

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Seguindo o raciocínio anterior, quando o cliente compreender melhor o funcionamento do produto, o que é enfocado na abordagem com foco no produto, ele considera tal produto mais fácil de manusear e, portanto: H3- A utilização de uma abordagem de vendas focada no produto irá impactar positivamente a relação entre: H3a – facilidade percebida e atitude para uso e H3b – facilidade percebida e intenção de compra.

Na abordagem de vendas com foco no cliente, a interação é um aspecto chave. E, dessa forma, conforme Decy e Ryan (1985), a aceitação da inovação é beneficiada, pois o vendedor irá ressaltar aspectos que tenham ligação com o cliente (motivos internos) e pode encobrir aspectos que não possuem tanta relação. Elliot e Fu (2008) complementam afirmando que a expressividade e a autorealização são enaltecidas e facilitam a aceitação da inovação. Dessa forma, a quarta hipótese é: H4- A utilização de uma abordagem de vendas focada no cliente irá impactar positivamente a relação entre: H4a – expressividade percebida e atitude para uso; H4b – expressividade percebida e intenção de compra.

Motivos intrínsecos e extrínsecos afetam a adoção de novas tecnologias (Davis, et al, 1989), e, conforme Venkatesh, et al. (2000), um dos motivos intrínsecos mais significativos é a diversão percebida. Dessa forma, Elliot e Fu (2008) argumentam que através da experimentação do produto, utilizada na abordagem com foco no produto, a diversão é incentivada e, assim, construíram a seguinte hipótese: H5- A utilização de uma abordagem de vendas focada no produto irá impactar positivamente a relação entre: H5a - diversão percebida e atitude para uso e H5b – diversão percebida e intenção de compra.

A estratégia com foco na competição por vezes realiza comparações com outros produtos concorrentes em situações de utilização de determinado produto. E, dessa forma, quando o vendedor ressalta a utilização com sucesso destes produtos, acaba exercendo uma pressão normativa (Reinartz, 1999), assim: H6- A utilização de uma abordagem de vendas focada na competição irá impactar positivamente a relação entre pressão normativa e intenção de compra.

Por fim, como já mencionado, quando a atitude de uso é aprovada, ou seja, quando o usuário tem uma experiência prazerosa, ela geralmente transforma-se em intenção de compra (Venkatesh, et al., 2004). Portanto, a última hipótese deste estudo é: H7- A utilização de uma abordagem de vendas focada no produto irá impactar positivamente a relação entre atitude de uso e intenção de compra.

3. MÉTODO Buscando responder ao objetivo geral deste estudo, identificar a influência das estratégias de vendas na aceitação e intenção de compra de produtos tecnológicos, o método utilizado na pesquisa foi o quantitativo e descritivo (aplicação do modelo TAM e TRA).

Os participantes do estudo foram universitários de uma instituição de Ensino Superior federal, estudantes dos cursos diurno e noturno de Administração de Empresas, e a amostra inicial foi composta de 400 entrevistados, porém alguns questionários precisaram ser excluídos (não estavam devidamente preenchidos) e o número final de entrevistados ficou em 347 pessoas.

A amostra foi escolhida por conveniência, sendo que o critério norteador foi o fato de que este é o público preferencial do produto proposto (um media player - Mp4).

Quanto ao instrumento de coleta de dados utilizado, o mesmo era composto do modelo

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expandido TAM e do TRA. Dessa forma, o instrumento contava com os seguintes construtos antecedentes: facilidade percebida, utilidade percebida, expressão percebida, diversão percebida e pressão normativa; e com dois constructos consequentes: intenção de compra e atitude de uso, cujas definições estão na Figura 3.

Assim, o questionário foi formado de seis construtos que utilizavam uma escala Likert de 5 pontos, no qual o entrevistado deveria se posicionar entre 1= discordo totalmente até 5 = concordo totalmente.

Esses construtos estavam formados por 19 variáveis assim divididas: três variáveis para expressão percebida, cinco para diversão percebida, quatro para utilidade percebida, quatro para facilidade percebida e três para pressão normativa. Os dois construtos restantes dividiam-se da seguinte forma: cinco variáveis para mensurar atitude frente ao uso e três para intenção de compra, nas quais o entrevistado posicionava-se utilizando uma escala de 7 pontos. Além destas questões, o questionário também apresentava algumas perguntas de caráter sóciodemográfico, para a caracterização da amostra.

Figura 3 - Construtos do Modelo Fonte: Elaborado pelos autores.

A coleta de dados ocorreu no mês de dezembro de 2009 e entre os meses de março e abril de 2010. Ao todo, a amostra foi formada por alunos de seis cursos diferentes de graduação que estavam distribuídos entre o primeiro ao décimo semestre destes cursos. O instrumento foi aplicado no intervalo das aulas, após obtenção do consentimento do coordenador do curso e do professor da disciplina.

O instrumento de coleta foi elaborado em três versões e seguindo a orientação de Elliott e Fu (2008), nos três havia uma única descrição de um produto MP4, seguido de apenas uma das estratégias de venda desenvolvidas em Del Vecchio et al. (2003).

Na primeira estratégia de venda, o foco foi no produto e seus atributos. O vendedor hipotético exaltava as características do produto. Na segunda estratégia de vendas para o mesmo produto, os respondentes eram apresentados a um vendedor que promovia a estratégia com foco na competitividade do produto e, finalmente, um terceiro grupo de estudantes foi exposto a uma abordagem de venda com foco nas necessidades do consumidor.

O procedimento principal desse estudo foi o de comparar amostras das três diferentes estratégias de marketing propostas, conforme o modelo apresentado na Figura

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4. Para tanto, buscou-se investigar a equivalência da estrutura fatorial das três amostras.

Porém, antes foram adotados os procedimentos básicos para o trabalho com equações estruturais, ou seja, foi realizada uma análise preliminar dos dados, através de estatísticas descritivas, análise fatorial exploratória (AFE) e avaliação da confiabilidade e validade das escalas (Hair et al., 2005).

Logo após a AFE, antes do ajuste do modelo global, buscou-se verificar a existência de casos extremos com a utilização do diagrama em caixa e como nenhum dos valores discrepantes situaram-se a 1,5 ou mais desvios quartílicos - distância de mahalanobis - do quartil superior ou inferior (Lopes, 2005), comprovou-se a ausência de casos extremos.

Os gráficos Q-Q e P-P demonstraram que boa parte dos dados apresentavam distribuição normal, o que segundo Hair et al. (2005) é o pressuposto mais importante da AFC. A unidimensionalidade do modelo foi analisada através dos valores dos resíduos padronizados e como todos os valores são inferiores a 2,58 (p<0,05), a mesma foi comprovada.

A validade convergente foi testada e comprovada, pois as cargas fatoriais padronizadas forma significativas ao nível de 0,01 (t-value ≥ 2,33).

Para identificação da validade discriminante, foi utilizado o procedimento de comparação entre a variância extraída da dimensão e suas variâncias compartilhadas e os resultados demonstraram que todas as variâncias extraídas foram maiores que as variâncias compartilhadas, demonstrando assim que a validade discriminante é positiva.

Figura 4 – Modelo da Pesquisa Fonte: Elaborado pelos autores.

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Na análise fatorial confirmatória (AFC), o ajuste do modelo foi identificado através dos seguintes índices: estatística qui-quadrado (χ²), qui-quadrado/graus de liberdade (χ²/gl), root mean square error of aproximation (RMSEA), normed fit index (NFI) e non normed fit index (NNFI), goodness off it índex (GFI) e comparative fit indez (CFI). Sendo que os padrões de referência são de < 0,10 para o RMSEA e para > 0,90 para os demais itens.

Para o teste de relações, as amostras foram divididas em três grupos (um para cada estratégia) representados por: 115 pessoas na estratégia foco no produto, 112 na estratégia foco na competição e 120 na estratégia foco no cliente. Apesar das amostras terem sido reduzidas, esses valores são similares ao do estudo de Elliott e Fu (2008) e, segundo Hair et al. (2005), os modelos com, no mínimo, três itens de mensuração por construto e com comunalidades acima de 0,60 podem ser realizados com amostras pequenas de 100 a 150 questionários. Como o modelo proposto, conforme a Figura 4, se enquadra nessas características, julgou-se o tamanho da amostra adequado para realização das equações estruturais.

4. RESULTADOS Seguindo os procedimentos, foi realizada a AFE com rotação varimax e com extração de fatores fixos (sete fatores). A estrutura resultante, conforme a Tabela 1, comprovou o agrupamento dos itens em seus respectivos construtos e os valores obtidos para o Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) e o testes de esfericidade de Bartlett comprovaram a adequação da aplicação fatorial. Os valores foram de 0,860 para o primeiro índice e de 3441,764, com significância de 0,000, para o segundo. Outro dado que corrobora com a adequação da AFE é da variância total extraída, pois os sete fatores foram capazes de explicar 69,55% do total da variância.

Através do critério de exclusão de variáveis com comunalidades inferiores a 0,50, quatro variáveis foram excluídas do modelo: U4 - o MP4 seria uma boa maneira de guardar fotos (comunalidade = 0,399); F2 - seria fácil conseguir o que eu quero fazer com o MP4 (comunalidade = 0,496); Ex3 - usar o MP4 expressa a minha personalidade (comunalidade = 0,389) e En4 - na minha opinião, o MP4 seria chato de usar (comunalidade = 0,456).

Após a AFE, foram calculados os coeficientes alpha de Cronbach para se avaliar a confiabilidade da escala, ou seja, a consistência interna entre os múltiplos indicadores de um construto. Conforme pode ser observado na Tabela 1, apenas o construto Diversão (alpha = 0,545) apresentou valor abaixo do indicado, que segundo Malhotra (2001) aceitam-se valores acima de 0,60. Todos os demais construtos obtiveram alphas superiores a 0,730. Por fim, a consistência interna do instrumento foi atestada pelo valor do alpha de Cronbach geral que foi de 0,894.

A próxima etapa realizada foi a AFC, cujos valores encontram-se na Tabela 1. Os valores encontrados para as cargas padronizadas são considerados satisfatórios, pois estavam acima de 0,60, sendo que o menor foi para o item En1 (carga padronizada = 0,615). Os valores dos erros, ou seja, a variância não explicada, também foram considerados satisfatórios, pois o maior valor foi de 0,72 (para o item Ic3).

Por fim, o ajuste do modelo global apresentou índices dentro dos limites aceitáveis e recomendados. Os valores obtidos foram: qui-quadrado = 486,124; graus de liberdade = 210; qui-quadrado ajustado = 2,31 (5,00 é o valor máximo aceitável); RMR = 0,076; RMSEA = 0,062 (ambos os índices com valor máximo aceitável de 0,10); GFI = 0,893; IFI = 0,917; TLI = 0,898; CFI = 0,916 (valores de referência acima de 0,90). Dessa

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forma, conforme argumenta Byrne (2001), os valores encontrados proporcionam segurança na análise dos resultados obtidos com o instrumento de coleta de dados utilizado.

Tabela 1 – Estrutura Fatorial Resultante da AFE e AFC Fator

Carga Pad.

Erro

Alpha

Ex1- comprar o MP4 iria refletir o tipo de pessoa que sou

0,714

0,51

0,734

Ex2- usar o MP4 me traria status perante meus amigos

0,821

0,67

En1- o MP4 me traria diversão

0,615

0,38

En2- usar o MP4 seria excitante

0,699

0,49

En3- seria divertido usar o MP4

0,713

0,51

En5- o MP4 me traria alegria

0,785

0,62

U1- o MP4 seria uma maneira de assistir filmes e ouvir música

0,673

0,45

U2- o peso e tamanho do MP4 são convenientes para mim

0,743

0,55

U3- o MP4 seria útil como pendrive

0,705

0,50

F1- seria fácil aprender a usar o MP4

0,687

0,47

F3- seria fácil compreender e utilizar as ferramentas do MP4

0,740

0,55

F4- facilmente eu teria habilidade para utilizar o MP4

0,644

0,42

Pressão

Pn1- pessoas importantes para mim querem que eu tenha o MP4

0,710

0,50

Normativa

Pn2- pessoas que eu admiro esperam que eu tenha o MP4

0,810

0,66

Pn3- meus amigos esperam que eu use o MP4

0,668

0,45

Atitude de

A1- Bom/mal

0,722

0,52

Uso

A2- Sábio/tolo

0,750

0,56

A3- Favorável/desfavorável

0,746

0,56

A4- Útil/inútil

0,684

0,47

A5- Positivo/negativo

0,795

0,63

Intenção

Ic1- Não gostaria/gostaria

0,812

0,66

Compra

Ic2- Impossível/possível

0,728

0,53

Ic3- Improvável/provável

0,850

0,72

Expressão

Diversão

Utilidade

Facilidade

Itens

0,545

0,746

0,728

0,770

0,855

0,834

KMO = 0,860

Alpha Cronbach = 0,894

Variância explicada = 69,55%

Qui-quadrado = 486,124

Graus de liberdade = 210

χ²/gl = 2,310

RMR = 0,076

RMSEA = 0,062

GFI = 0,893

IFI = 0,917

TLI = 0,898

CFI = 0,916

Após a comprovação do ajuste do modelo, foram realizados testes estatísticos visando comparar as médias encontradas, em cada construto, e confrontá-las tendo como critério de diferenciação a estratégia de venda adotada.

Observa-se, na Tabela 2, um comportamento padronizado no que se refere às maiores e as menores médias dos fatores, ou seja, em todos os fatores as menores médias foram obtidas pela amostra composta por entrevistados expostos à estratégia de

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188 Grohmann, M.Z. ; Battistella, L. F.; Velter,A.

venda com foco no produto e as maiores médias pela amostra composta por entrevistados expostos à estratégia com foco no cliente.

Tabela 2 – Estatísticas Descritivas segundo a Abordagem de Vendas Foco Produto

Foco Competição

Foco Cliente

Fator

média

σ

média

Σ

Média

σ

F

Sig.

Expressão

2,2609

1,07880

2,2009

1,01888

2,3875

1,00725

0,989

0,373

Diversão

3,6370

0,74357

3,5022

0,83187

3,7063

0,79762

1,976

0,140

Utilidade

3,9884

0,85376

4,0089

0,75199

4,1917

0,68690

2,514

0,082

Facilidade

3,7130

0,85599

3,7649

0,84971

3,8833

0,84200

1,246

0,289

Pressão

1,5739

0,71266

1,7262

0,81676

1,7472

0,79799

1,716

0,181

Atitude

4,1322

1,03004

4,1857

1,20321

4,6417

1,03352

7,777

0,000

Intenção

3,4609

1,35981

3,7262

1,46785

4,0556

1,30311

5,508

0,004

As diferenças de média não foram muito grandes, tanto que, em apenas dois fatores tal diferença foi significativa. Esta afirmação é feita com os dados obtidos pelo teste ANOVA, que foi significativo. O constructo Atitude de Uso obteve valor de 7,777 para o teste F (significância de 0,000) e no construto Intenção de Compra o valor do teste F foi de 5,508 (significância de 0,004).

Continuando com os procedimentos de análise de dados, partiu-se para a análise das hipóteses (Figura 5), ou seja, comprovar relações entre os fatores de acordo com as estratégias de vendas adotadas. Dessa forma, foram calculados três modelos estruturais distintos, cujos resultados encontram-se na Tabela 3.

Figura 5 – Hipóteses da Pesquisa Fonte: Elaborado pelos autores.

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Tabela 3 - Teste das Relações Abordagem de Vendas Relação

Foco Produto

Foco Competição

Foco Cliente

H1a – Utilidade e atitude

0,173**

0,271**

0,275**

H2a – Utilidade e atitude

0,173**

0,271**

0,275**

H3a – Facilidade e atitude

0,070

0,145

0,100

H4a – Expressividade e atitude

0,124*

0,105

0,061

H5a – Diversão e atitude

0,404***

0,386***

0,321***

H1b – Utilidade e intenção

-0,059

-0,067

0,277***

H2b – Utilidade e intenção

-0,059

-0,067

0,277***

H3b – Facilidade e intenção

0,219**

0,215**

0,003

H4b – Expressividade e intenção

-0,030

-0,027

0,163**

H5b – Diversão e intenção

0,040

0,120*

0,079

H6 – Pressão normativa e intenção

0,140**

0,138**

0,077

H7 - Atitude e intenção

0,522***

0,590***

0,409***

Atitude

Intenção de compra

*** p<0,01; **p<0.05; *p<0,10

A primeira hipótese (H1) afirma que a estratégia de vendas com foco na competição irá influenciar fortemente a relação entre utilidade e atitude de uso (H1a) e entre utilidade e intenção de compra (H1b). Os resultados demonstraram que essa relação só é significativa na primeira relação (β = 0,271; p <0,01) já que em H1b os valores obtidos não foram significativos (β = -0,067; p > 0,05). Esses resultados, juntamente com o teste de invariância apresentado anteriormente, permitem afirmar que a hipótese H1a foi confirmada e que a hipótese H1b não se confirmou.

Na hipótese dois afirma-se que a estratégia focada no produto influencia fortemente a relação entre utilidade e atitude de uso (H2a) e entre utilidade e intenção de compra (H2b) e os resultados demonstraram que a hipótese é confirmada na relação entre utilidade e intenção de uso (H2a) (β = 0,173 e p = 0,056) para um nível de significância de 5%, mas, na relação entre utilidade e intenção de compra, não ocorreu relação significativa (β = -0,059 e p = 0,488).

Também sobre a estratégia com foco no produto, a hipótese 3 propunha que a relação entre facilidade e atitude de uso (H3a) seria forte e significativa, assim como a relação entre facilidade e intenção de compra (H3b). Observando-se os dados constatase que apenas a hipótese H3b foi (β = 0,219; p = 0,05), já que os resultados de H3a não foram significativos (β = 0,070 e p = 0,402).

A quarta hipótese (H4) diz respeito à estratégia de vendas focada no cliente e afirma que a expressão irá influenciar a atitude de uso (H4a) e que a expressão irá influenciar a intenção de compra. Em ambos os casos os resultados demonstram que não há relações significantes (β = 0,061 e sig= 0,418; β = 0,077 e sig= 0,522) e, portanto, as hipóteses são rejeitadas.

A próxima hipótese refere-se à estratégia com foco no produto e afirma que há relação entre diversão e atitude de uso (H5a) e entre diversão e intenção de compra

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190 Grohmann, M.Z. ; Battistella, L. F.; Velter,A.

(H5b). Os resultados demonstraram que a relação só ocorre no primeiro caso, ou seja, na relação entre diversão e atitude de uso (β = 0,404; p <0,01), já que em H5b os valores encontrados foram de β = 0,040 e significância de 0,663. Assim, somente a hipótese H5a é confirmada.

A sexta hipótese afirma que na estratégia com foco na competição, ocorre relação significativa entre pressão normativa e intenção de compra. Os dados confirmam esse pressuposto, visto que os valores encontrados foram β = 0,138 e p = 0,037. Por fim, a hipótese sete menciona que a estratégia com foco no produto influencia a relação entre atitude e intenção de compra. Tal hipótese é confirmada visto que os valores obtidos foram significativos (β = 0,522; p <0,01).

Em suma, como se pode observar na Tabela 4, das doze hipóteses testadas, apenas seis foram confirmadas. Dessa forma, conclui-se que as relações entre estratégia de vendas e adoção de produtos com inovações tecnológicas é menos significativa do que se esperava.

Tabela 4 - Hipóteses da Pesquisa Estratégia

Hipótese

Competição

H1a

Utilidade e atitude de uso

0,271 (p=0,001)

Confirmada

H1b

Utilidade e intenção de compra

-0,067 (p=0,382)

Não confirmada

H2a

Utilidade e atitude de uso

0,173 (p=0,056)

Confirmada

H2b

Utilidade e intenção de compra

-0,059 (p=0,488)

Não confirmada

H3a

Facilidade e atitude de uso

0,070 (p=0,402)

Não confirmada

H3b

Facilidade e intenção de compra

0,219 (p=0,005)

Confirmada

H4a

Expressão e atitude de uso

0,061 (p=0,418)

Não confirmada

H4b

Expressão e intenção de compra

0,077 (p=0,522)

Não confirmada

H5a

Diversão e atitude de uso

0,404 (p=0,000)

Confirmada

H5b

Diversão e intenção de compra

0,040 (p=0,663)

Não confirmada

Competição

H6

Pressão normativa e intenção

0,138 (p=0,037)

Confirmada

Produto

H7

Atitude e intenção de compra

0,522 (p=0,000)

Confirmada

Produto

Produto

Cliente

Produto

Relação

Valores

Conclusão

O parâmetro para a definição das hipóteses, conforme já mencionado, foi o estudo de Elliot e Fu (2008) e, desta forma, para concluir as análises dos resultados, são feitas comparações com o intuito de verificar se os resultados aqui encontrados são similares aos do estudo original.

Para fins de realizar um estudo comparado, apresenta-se a seguir os achados do trabalho de Elliot e Fu (2008). Na abordagem de vendas com foco na competição, ocorreu relação significativa entre utilidade percebida e atitude de uso (β = 0,231; p <0,10), porém entre utilidade percebida e intenção de uso além da relação ser negativa (β = -0,113), ela não foi significativa. Dessa forma, H1a foi comprovada e H1b não se comprovou.

Quanto à segunda hipótese, os dados sobre a abordagem de vendas com foco no produto identificaram que não há relação significativa entre utilidade percebida e atitude de uso (β = 0,134), da mesma forma a relação é não significativa, além de negativa, entre utilidade percebida e intenção de uso (β = -0,115), portanto os resultados levaram

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a rejeição de H2a e H2b. Foram rejeitadas as hipóteses H3a e H3b, ou seja, na abordagem com foco no produto a facilidade de uso não tem relação significativa com atitude de uso (β = -0,029) e também não há relação entre facilidade de uso e intenção de compra (β = -0,106).

A quarta hipótese afirmava que, na abordagem com foco no cliente, haveria relação significativa e positiva entre expressividade percebida e atitude de uso (β = 0,098) e entre expressividade percebida e intenção de compra (β = 0,011), com tais resultados não foram comprovadas H4a e H4b.

A abordagem de vendas com foco no produto apresentou relação entre diversão percebida e atitude de uso positiva e significativa (β = 0,633; p <0,01) e também foi significativa, porém mais fraca, a relação entre diversão percebida e intenção de compra (β = 0,286; p <0,05). Estes resultados comprovaram as hipóteses H5a e H5b.

A sexta hipótese foi comprovada, pois a relação entre pressão normativa e intenção de compra foi positiva e significativa (β = 0,295; p <0,01) na abordagem de venda com foco na competição, o que comprova H6.

Por fim, os autores identificaram que a atitude de uso possui relação positiva e significativa com intenção de compra (β = 0,306; p <0,05), quando se utiliza a abordagem com foco no produto e, consequentemente, H7 foi suportada.

A Tabela 5 apresenta a síntese dos dois estudos evidenciando seus achados comparativamente. É possível identificar que: H1a foi confirmada nos dois estudos; H1b não foi confirmada em nenhum estudo; H2a foi confirmada apenas no Brasil e H2b não foi confirmada em nenhum dos dois trabalhos; H3a não foi confirmada em nenhum dos estudos e H3b foi comprovada no presente estudo, mas não no artigo original; H4a e H4b não foram comprovadas em nenhuma das duas pesquisas; H5a foi confirmada nos dois estudos e H5b foi confirmada apenas no artigo original; H6 foi confirmada nos dois estudos, assim como H7. Dessa forma, o estudo original comprovou cinco das doze hipóteses testadas e, na presente pesquisa, seis hipóteses foram confirmadas.

Tabela 5 – Comparação entre os estudos Estratégia

Hipótese

Competição

H1a

Utilidade e atitude de uso

0,271***

0,231*

H1b

Utilidade e intenção de compra

-0,067

-0,113

H2a

Utilidade e atitude de uso

0,173**

0,134

H2b

Utilidade e intenção de compra

-0,059

-0,115

H3a

Facilidade e atitude de uso

0,070

-0,029

H3b

Facilidade e intenção de compra

0,219***

-0,106

H4a

Expressão e atitude de uso

0,061

0,098

H4b

Expressão e intenção de compra

0,077

0,011

H5a

Diversão e atitude de uso

0,404***

0,633***

H5b

Diversão e intenção de compra

0,040

0,286**

Competição

H6

Pressão normativa e intenção

0,138**

0,295***

Produto

H7

Atitude e intenção de compra

0,522***

0,306**

Produto

Produto

Cliente

Produto

Relação

Brasil

Estados Unidos

*** p<0,01; **p<0.05; *p<0,10

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192 Grohmann, M.Z. ; Battistella, L. F.; Velter,A.

5. CONCLUSÕES A pesquisa teve como propósito verificar a influência das abordagens de venda (foco na competição, foco no produto e foco no cliente) sobre a relação entre aceitação e uso de produtos com inovações tecnológicas. Dessa forma, buscava-se identificar as melhores táticas para “vender” inovações tecnológicas para o consumidor final (B2C).

Em um primeiro momento, destaca-se que a adoção do modelo TAM estendido (incluindo expressão percebida e diversão percebida) aliado ao TRA (que incorpora a pressões normativas), mostrou-se extremamente satisfatório para a mensuração de aceitação tecnológica (através da atitude de uso e intenção de compra). Essa afirmação é pautada nos índices obtidos no modelo pela AFC. Dessa forma, corrobora-se os resultados encontrados nos estudos de Nusveen, et al (2005), Know e Chidambaram (2000) e Elliot e Fu (2008) que também atestaram a validade do modelo utilizado nesse estudo.

Os resultados do estudo demonstraram que há relações significativas entre as abordagens de vendas e a aceitação de tecnologia.

Observa-se que a estratégia com foco na competição obteve seis relações significantes (atitude – utilidade; atitude – diversão; intenção – facilidade; intenção – diversão; intenção – pressão normativa e atitude – intenção). A estratégia com foco no produto obteve seis (atitude – utilidade; atitude – expressão; atitude – diversão; intenção – facilidade; intenção – pressão normativa; atitude – intenção) e que a estratégia com foco no cliente obteve cinco relações significativas (atitude – utilidade; atitude – diversão; intenção – utilidade; intenção – expressão; atitude – intenção).

Como nem todas estas relações significativas foram testadas nas hipóteses desse estudo, os dados podem sugerir a construção teórica de novas hipóteses relacionando os constructos antecedentes (expressão percebida, utilidade percebida, facilidade percebida, diversão percebida e pressão normativa) com os constructos consequentes (atitude de uso e intenção de compra) e evidenciando a estratégia de vendas como fator moderador.

Foi comprovado também que a atitude dos consumidores no que diz respeito à aceitação de novas tecnologias possui uma significativa influência na intenção de compra de produtos com este tipo de inovação. Nesse sentido, verificou-se que essa relação é válida para todas as estratégias de vendas.

Em termos de confirmação das hipóteses, 50% foram confirmadas (seis hipóteses): a estratégia de vendas com foco na competição influenciar a relação entre utilidade e atitude de uso (β = 0,271; p <0,01); a estratégia focada no produto influencia a relação entre utilidade e atitude de uso (β = 0,173 e p = 0,056); a estratégia com foco no produto interfere na relação entre facilidade e intenção de compra (β = 0,219; p = 0,05); estratégia com foco no produto afeta na relação entre diversão e atitude de uso (β = 0,404; p <0,01); na estratégia com foco na competição, ocorre relação significativa entre pressão normativa e intenção de compra (β = 0,138 e p = 0,037); e a estratégia com foco no produto influencia a relação entre atitude e intenção de compra (β = 0,522; p <0,01).

Para ampliar a discussão sobre as abordagens de vendas e tentar identificar uma estratégia mais eficiente, utilizou-se o teste de invariância, ou seja, a partir do modelo base foi realizado o cálculo do qui-quadrado do modelo restritivo e detectou-se que a diferença encontrada era significativa (∆ χ²=36,914 com significância de 0,000), o que denota que há diferenças entre os modelos.

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Em seguida, o teste de invariância dos parâmetros foi realizado com a imposição restritiva de cada um dos parâmetros, de forma a torná-los invariantes nos três grupos comparativos. As restrições foram feitas para todos os parâmetros e os resultados comparados com os do modelo-base.

Os resultados demonstraram que não há diferenças significativas entre o modelo de estratégia com foco no produto e o modelo de estratégia com foco na competição, pois a significância encontrada foi maior que 0,005 (p=0,020).

Para todos os outros parâmetros testados, houve diferença significativa, demonstrando que as diferenças encontradas nos modelos estruturais são significativas.

Dessa forma, o teste de invariância permite algumas conclusões auxiliares: é possível afirmar que a relação entre atitude e utilidade é mais forte na estratégia com foco na competição (β = 0,271) do que na estratégia com foco no cliente (β = 0,275), pois a ∆ χ²= 12,769 teve significância 0,000; na relação entre atitude e diversão, a relação mais forte é na estratégia produto (β = 0,404) do que na estratégia com foco no cliente (β = 0,386), pois o ∆ χ²=25,029 teve significância 0,000; já não é possível afirmar o mesmo entre a estratégia com foco no produto e a com foco no cliente, pois a ∆ χ²=17,992 não foi significante (p=0,020); não se pode afirmar que a relação entre intenção e facilidade é mais forte na estratégia com foco no produto (β = 0,219), do que na com foco no cliente (β = 0,215), pois a ∆ χ²=17,992 não foi significativa.

Por fim, apesar das três estratégias terem obtido valores significativos para a relação entre atitude e intenção, só é possível afirmar que a estratégia com foco no produto (β = 0,522) tem relação mais forte do que a estratégia com foco no cliente (β = 0,409), pois a ∆ χ²=23,571 foi significativa; e que a relação na estratégia foco na competição (β = 0,590) foi mais forte do que na estratégia foco no cliente (β = 0,409), pois a ∆ χ²=9,423 foi significativa. Não é possível afirmar que a relação na estratégia foco no produto é mais forte do que na estratégia foco na competição, pois a diferença do qui-quadrado não foi significativa.

Para concluir, é necessário salientar que, quando comparado os resultados do presente estudo com os que utilizaram outro tipo de fator moderador (idade, gênero, renda, nível educacional, etc...), identifica-se que a abordagem de venda interfere menos e de forma mais fraca do que outras variáveis. Estudos como os de Venkatesch, Morisson e Ackerman (2000), Venkatesch, Morisson, Sykes e Ackerman (2004), Gefen e Satrub (1997), Madifassi e Canessa (2009) apontam que o gênero é um dos fatores com maior influência.

Este estudo apresenta limitações, principalmente, no que concerne a amostra utilizada. Os respondentes da pesquisa eram jovens universitários que pertenciam, basicamente, às classes A2, B1 e B2 e oriundos de um único curso de graduação (Administração), ou seja, não houve uma heterogeneidade de respondentes. Ainda no que concerne à amostra, o tamanho da mesma, quando dividida nas três abordagens de vendas, é considerada como o mínimo necessário para a realização da Modelagem de Equações Estruturais, e, portanto, seria indicado uma amostra maior. Outro aspecto é o fato de que o estudo foi realizado apenas com um único tipo de produto (um aparelho do tipo MP4), o mesmo proposto no estudo original de Elliot e Fu (2008) e, desta forma, seria interessante repetir a pesquisa em outros segmentos e com outros tipos de produtos.

Em suma, os resultados encontrados servem como um parâmetro inicial, mas não podem ser generalizados. Assim, sugere-se que novos estudos sejam realizados, tanto quanto ao aspecto de aceitação de inovações tecnológicas, aquisição de produtos JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 10, No. 1, Jan/Apr. 2013 pp. 177-197

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tecnológicos, inserção de outros fatores moderadores e, principalmente, adoção de outras estratégias de vendas, já que neste estudo optou-se por utilizar somente estratégias com foco na mensagem transmitida pelo vendedor.

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Congresso / Conference

10th CONTECSI International Conference on Information Systems and Technology Management June 12th-14th, 2013 USP/São Paulo/SP FEA USP São Paulo, Brazil

The 10th International Conference on Technology and Information Systems Management CONTECSI is an event focusing Technology and Information Systems Management under a multidisciplinary view. CONTECSI aims at putting together academics and professionals involved in IT and Systems management for a state-of-the-art discussion. International researchers are expected to contribute for the integration between the academic and the professional communities.

The Conference welcomes papers submission for presentation and panel discussions. Major topics on interest include, but are not limited to: Information Society, Open Systems, Systems Interfacing and Integration, Wireless Computing, Entrepreneurship in IT and IS, Accounting Information Systems, E-Commerce / E-Business, Software Engineering, ERP Systems, Financial Management in Information Systems, IT Strategic Management, etc. All papers will be subject to a blind review process and full papers will be published (CD) in the Conference Proceedings.

More information: http://www.tecsi.fea.usp.br/eventos/contecsi Coordination: Prof. Edson Luiz Riccio. PhD – FEA USP and TECSI Contact: contecsi@usp.br

10º CONTECSI Congresso Internacional de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação 12 a 14 de Junho de 2013 USP/São Paulo/SP FEA USP São Paulo, Brasil O 10º Congresso Internacional de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação CONTECSI visa reunir acadêmicos e profissionais envolvidos com a temática de gestão para discussão do Estado-da-arte deste campo. Atualmente este campo encontra-se disperso em áreas específicas, carecendo de uma visão holística e integrada do assunto. O CONTECSI contará com a presença de palestrantes de renome, bem como estará aberto para a recepção de trabalhos para serem apresentados em sessões paralelas e painéis.

Assim como compareceram nos anos anteriores, são esperados personalidades, professores e pesquisadores do Brasil e do exterior, principalmente de Universidades da França, Inglaterra, Espanha, México, Portugal, Chile, Argentina, Colômbia, Uruguai, Venezuela entre outras.

Os foco de interesse deste congresso inclui todas as abordagens referentes à gestão de Tecnologia e dos Sistemas de Informação nas instituições publicas e privadas e na sociedade em geral.

Mais informações no site: http://www.tecsi.fea.usp.br/eventos/contecsi Coordenação: Prof. Dr. Edson Luiz Riccio – FEA USP e TECSI Contato: contecsi@usp.br

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JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação ISSN online: 1807–1775

Every four months/Quadrimestral

1) Paper Submission Guidelines Register at "Online Submissions" and submit your paper accordingly to JISTEM guidelines. www.jistem.fea.usp.br a) Manuscript style Articles must be submitted in English, Spanish, Portuguese or French in MS-Word format. Authors must translate the final version of the article to English.

First page must present: title of the article, author's full name, affiliation, full address, telephone, email, fax and a brief curriculum vitae. Limit of 3 co-authors per article.

Second page must present: title of the article, abstract in the original language of the article of about 100 words, title, area and 5 keywords (if accepted an abstract in English and keywords will be required), Articles must be limited to 30 pages in double-space, Arial or times new roman, 12 points; Authors must include figures and graphics in high-resolution 300 dpi (jpg or gif). They must be numbered (Arabic) and with the complete title. References to each table or figure have to be made in the text.

Authors must submit the questionnaires and research results to the editor and review purposes.

Acknowledgments to institutions regarding financial support can be included only in the final accepted version. b) Structure Style Articles should clearly present the Abstract, Introduction, Objectives, Justification, Question, literature review, research method, results, conclusion, recommendation and limitation, plus references; References are to follow the American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines. More detailed explanations and examples of these guidelines can be found at the following locations: http://www.apastyle.org/faqs.html or Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed., 2010) American Psychological Association (APA).A list of reference must be presented in alphabetical order.

A glossary can be included in the end of the article if needed.

2) Book Review Book review should be sent by Prof. Edson Luiz Riccio at jistem@usp.br

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200 1) Instruções para submissão de artigo Cadastre-se no sistema e submeta seu artigo de acordo com as normas editoriais www.jistem.fea.usp.br a) Quanto à Formatação Os artigos submetidos para publicação, em inglês, espanhol, português ou francês, devem ser enviados em formato MS-Word. Depois de aceito, os autores devem traduzir o artigo para o idioma inglês.

Na primeira página do artigo deve constar: título, subtítulo (se houver), tema, nome, instituição, departamento, endereço, telefone, fax e e-mail do autor e co-autores (máximo de 3 co-autores) e breve curriculum que indique sua formação, instituição/empresa a que pertence e sua área atual de trabalho.; Na segunda página do artigo deve constar: título, subtítulo (se houver), tema e resumo na língua original do artigo, com 100 palavras aproximadamente e 5 (cinco) palavras-chaves. Se o artigo for aceito para publicação será solicitado o envio do título, abstract e palavras-chave em inglês; Os artigos deverão ter no máximo 30 páginas em espaço duplo, fonte arial ou times new roman, tamanho 12; As figuras e gráficos devem estar em alta qualidade com resolução de 300 dpi (figuras) e extensão jpg e/ou gif no artigo. Cada ilustração deve conter numeração e legenda. Deve ser feita referência à figura ou tabela no corpo do texto.

Questionários e resultados da pesquisa devem ser enviados para a avaliação do Editor e pareceristas.

Agradecimentos a órgãos de financiamento da pesquisa devem ser incluídos apenas na versão final do artigo, após o aceite. b) Quanto à Estrutura Os artigos enviados devem conter em seus tópicos os seguintes itens: Resumo, Introdução, Objetivos, Justificativa, Problema/Questão, Revisão da Literatura, Metodologia, Resultados, Conclusão, Recomendações, Limitações e Referência Bibliográfica; As citações e referências devem seguir o estilo da APA (http://www.apastyle.org/l) As referências deverão ser apresentadas no corpo do texto, incluindo o sobrenome do autor, a data de publicação e o número de página (se for o caso), conforme normas da APA. Referências bibliográficas completas do(s) autor (es) citados deverão ser apresentadas em ordem alfabética, no final do texto, de acordo com as normas da APA. Para maiores informações: American Psychological Association (APA).

(2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC Poderá ser incluído um glossário ao final do artigo, caso o autor julgue necessário; 2) Sugestões de livros para Resenha Resenhas devem ser enviadas para o Prof. Edson Luiz Riccio pelo e-mail: jistem@usp.br

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 10, No. 1, Jan/Apr., 2013 pp. 201 ISSN online: 1807-1775

ERRATUM: TOWARDS ACTIVE SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION) 2.0 Charles-Victor Boutet (im memoriam) Luc Quoniam William Samuel Ravatua Smith South University Toulon-Var - Ingémédia, France ____________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT In the age of writable web, new skills and new practices are appearing. In an environment that allows everyone to communicate information globally, internet referencing (or SEO) is a strategic discipline that aims to generate visibility, internet traffic and a maximum exploitation of sites publications. Often misperceived as a fraud, SEO has evolved to be a facilitating tool for anyone who wishes to reference their website with search engines. In this article we show that it is possible to achieve the first rank in search results of keywords that are very competitive. We show methods that are quick, sustainable and legal; while applying the principles of active SEO 2.0. This article also clarifies some working functions of search engines, some advanced referencing techniques (that are completely ethical and legal) and we lay the foundations for an in depth reflection on the qualities and advantages of these techniques.

Keywords: Active SEO, Search Engine Optimization, SEO 2.0, search engines

Erratum This is an Erratum for the article 2012 JISTEM V.9, n. 3 2012. Author William Samuel Ravatua Smith was included.

The full text is available in http://www.jistem.fea.usp.br/index.php/jistem/article/view/10.4301%252FS180717752012000300001/330 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752012000300001 _____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 16/03/2011 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 10/07/2012 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência Charles-Victor Boutet, (im memoriam), UFR Ingémédia, France Luc Quoniam, Professor of Universities in Sciences of Information and the Communication (71st section of the French National Council of Universities, CNU).PhD in Science de l'Information et de la Communication at Université Aix Marseille III. Université du Sud -Toulon - Var, Ingémédia. Avenue de l'Université - BP20132 FRANCE 83957 - La Garde CEDEX, - França Telefone: (33) 870405651 URL da Homepage: http://quoniam.info/ William Samuel Ravatua Smith, Chaminade University of Honolulu, University of the South Toulon-Var: I3M Research Laboratory of Info. Com. http://chaminade.academia.edu/WilliamSamuelRavatuaSmith E-mail wsamsmith@gmail.com

Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2013 All rights reserved.