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ISSN: 1807-1775

Volume 9 : Number 3: 2012

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JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol.9, No.3, Set/Dez, 2012, pp. 441-638 ISSN online: 1807-1775

Volume 9: Number 3 / Volume 9: Número 3

2012

Content / Índice

441-442

1

Towards active SEO (Search Engine Optimization) 2.0 Charles-Victor Boutet, UFR France; Luc Quoniam, South University ToulonVar - Ingémédia, France

443-458

2

Internet: monitored freedom Fernando Kuschnaroff Contreras, Fatima Bayma de Oliveira, Evelyn Souto Martins, Getulio Vargas Foundation, São Paulo, Brazil

459-472

3

Software process assessment and improvement using Multicriteria Decision Aiding - Constructivist Leonardo Ensslin, Luiz Carlos Mesquita Scheid, Sandra Rolim Ensslin, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil, Rogério Tadeu de Oliveira Lacerda, UNISUL – University of South of Santa Catarina, Brazil

473-496

4

Value creation from organizational project management: a case study in a government agency Warlei Agnelo de Oliveira, University Center UNA, Brazil; Cristiana De Muylder Fernandes, University FUMEC/FACE, Brazil

497-514

5

Determinants of the choice of marketing channels by corporate clients: an analysis of the information technology sector Guilherme Soares, Adriana Bruscato Bortoluzzo, Henrique Machado Barros, Insper Institute of Education and Research, Brazil

515-540

6

Improving logistics services through the technology used in fleet management Mauro Vivaldini, Silvio R. I. Pires, Methodist University of Piracicaba – UNIMEP, Brazil; Fernando Bernardi de Souza, São Paulo State University Júlio de Mesquita Filho– UNESP, Brazil

541-562

7

Management practices and influences on IT architecture decisions: a case study in a telecom company Chen Wen Hsing, Cesar Alexandre de Souza, University of São Paulo, Brazil

563-584

8

Benefits and success factors of open-source web services development platforms for small software houses Valter de Assis Moreno Junior, IBMEC-RJ, Brazil; Josir Cardoso Gomes, RADIX Educational Institute, Brazil

585-606

9

Estratégia de Engenharia de Requisitos para ambientes de Realidade Aumentada Strategy of engineering requirements for augmented reality environments Paula Teixeira Nakamoto, Federal Institute of the Triângulo Mineiro, Brazil Gilberto Arantes Carrijo, Alexandre Cardoso, Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil, Lázaro Vinícius de Oliveira Lima, Federal Institution of Education, Science and Technology of Brasília, Brazil

607-626

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442 Content / Indice

Events / Eventos

627

Contributions / Submissão de Artigos

628-629 630-638

Editorial Information /Ad Hoc reviewers/ Content 2012 Informações Editoriais /Avaliadores Ad Hoc/ Indice 2012

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

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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 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. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec., 2012, pp. 443-458 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752012000300001

TOWARDS ACTIVE SEO (SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION) 2.0

Charles-Victor Boutet (im memoriam) Luc Quoniam 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

1. INTRODUCTION With the Web 2.0 era and writable internet, opportunities related to internet referencing have increased; everyone can easily create their virtual territory consisting of one to thousands of sites, and practically all 2.0 territories are designed to be participatory so anyone can write and promote their sites. In addition, search engines such as Google issue guidelines on referencing practices; if these guidelines are not followed, it can lead to the exclusion of a website in the indexing engine or severely degrade its performance in terms of positioning. In general, those who venture off the beaten path are often considered as « black hat SEO » without necessarily being harmful _____________________________________________________________________________________ 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/ Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2012 All rights reserved.

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or malevolent in any way. In recent years, a terminology has emerged that attributes a color to referencers based on their practices; such as black, gray or white. Throughout this article we explore new SEO practices that take advantage of Web 2.0 structuralism and illustrate this study with concrete examples and a semiotic analysis of the aforementioned designations. Then we introduce the concept of active SEO 2.0.

2. CONTEXT 2.1 An information society In his book "La rencontre des mondes", Paul Rasse (2005) introduced the concept of the connectivity revolution; the start of automated information exchange was launched with the invention of the automatic telephone in the 1940s. In the following decades, this automation has become ubiquitous, resulting in an information society in which automated information is produced everywhere and through every act of everyone’s mundane daily life as databases are fed and consumer profiles are created as we pass through the checkout lane at the supermarket (Larose et al, 2005). The democratization of high speed internet connections has allowed households to connect to the internet in perpetuity, leaving free access to a new territory in which it has quickly and easily left a footprint.

2.2 A paradigm shift Web 2.0 has generated a lot of interest even though the "old timers" consider it to be a buzzword invented by internet businessmen in order to sell their customers technologies that are sometimes outdated such as javascript (Quoniam et al., 2008).

These new technologies have overwhelmed the internet with innovative uses. From the design of modern computer architecture, a computing resource could or could not offer three rights to the user: reading, writing and execution. Before Web 2.0, writing was limited and there was the "any-to-many" model of information diffusion that refers to a few transmitters and many receivers. Since then, Web 2.0 has been the first to host podcasts, weblogs and wikis. Overall, Web 2.0 contributions allow everyone to relay or publish their information on platforms whether or not they are the main editor.

Everyone is both a potential transmitter and receiver, "the historical gap that separates the producer and consumer" (Toffler, 1980) is closing, where a "many-to-many" model offers vectorization of increased information that is accelerated, relayed until the bitter end; developing a "rage to connect" (Ramonet, 2001) now embodied by the buzz effect.

The virtual territory is potentially unlimited in size and creates a structure composed of an astronomical number of websites and is one of the new paid territories for strategies of SEO (see below).

2.3 Research on the internet In France, nearly 90% of internet searches are performed through Google (AT Internet Institute, 2009). A study conducted with a panel of 1,403 users showed that 90% of them, when using a search engine, do not consult with the results beyond the third page (iProspect, 2006) as shown in Figure 1. Other studies show that overall, internet users consult only the first page of results which is typically composed of 10 result entries (Spink et al., 2004). The goal of SEO web sites is important, particularly as we are in a period of a paradigm shift of information communication where a manyto-many model (Quoniam et al., 2008) is implicated and is replacing the mass media and the era of one-to-many (De Rosnay, 2006). Everyone can have worldwide visibility

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through search engines, a privilege previously reserved for prestigious broadcasters.

Also, when someone uses a search engine for a specifically targeted term, it is preferable that our website is well positioned; this is the main objective and goal of using SEO techniques.

Figure 1. Number of pages seen following a request on a search engine before the first click (iProspect, 2006) As the amount of information on the internet is growing at a delirious rhythm, the use of search engines to find pertinent information becomes increasingly critical. A search engine retrieves pages supposedly relevant to the request of the user while comparing the attributes of the page with other characteristics such as anchor texts and returns the results that best match the query (Svor, 2007). The user sees a list of general results ranked at 10 to 20 URL’s per page. Search engine page ranking has proven to be an essential component in determining how users browse the Web (Id). In terms of referencing, being the first (or on the first page) results returned to the user is like 'being in the right spot' while out fishing. The metaphor does not stop there; you can fish with a single line (having a single web page indexed), or go fishing with drift nets in an industrial manner and have 300 pages that monopolize the 300 initial responses returned to a user for a precise search. In the latter case, you are certainly more likely to capture the majority of traffic generated by a keyword. Because Google is by far the most popular search engine, it is the main target of users who attempt to influence the ranking of search results (Bar-Ilan, 2007). Google has become extremely powerful; essentially they decide who should be visible and who is virtually invisible on the Web (Id) in a completely discretionary manner.

2.4 Search engines and cognitive biases: Information overload The problem is not new: "Historically, a large amount of information has always been a good thing: the information has made the spread of cultures possible,). "Today, the initial benefits taken from technologies like ‘search engines’ are deteriorated with time (Id.) and now the constant increase of information [...] at the international level [...] poses a problem of how such information will be constructed, combined and processed" (Dou et al., 2003). The information overload and the organization of the information are problems, particularly on the internet.

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3. THE VERTICAL MODEL Most search engines present overabundant results in a linear cascade form called a vertical display. This overabundance "is paralleled by uncertainty; it leads the user to develop protective mechanisms called unconscious biases. The biases are intended to simplify the complexity of reality and to avoid an information overload. This reflex is needed to ensure the mental health of the internaut" (Boutin, 2006). In fact, a visitor can not equally value all of the results obtained from a search engine; simply because all of the results will not be consulted. Most people limit their search to the first few pages (iProspect, 2006), giving great importance to the first documents available and minimizing the importance of the following results (Bar-Ilan, 2007). People build their own version of reality on the basis of information provided by their senses, but this sensory input is diminished by mental processes (Heuer, 1999). In this case, there a type of cognitive rigidity or resistance exists; "the phenomenon whereby people [organizations] will limit their ability to develop alternatives because of cognitive frameworks that constrain it." (Boutin, 2006). If yet another result invalidates the previous ones, there is cognitive dissonance: the individual will search for cognitive balance which, when broken, produces a state of tension, that in turn motivates the individual to pursue a coherent alternative (Vaid et al., 2007). Joule and Beauvois evoke a more general perception of behavioral consistency (Id.) involving the coherence of decisions in the present time with decisions taken in the past. That being said, the theory of cognitive dissonance presents a particularly motivating characteristic that stands out from the theory of consistency (Ibid). Being present among the first search results, and ideally monopolizing them, could be a guarantee of legitimacy and certainty that leads to the capture of targeted traffic on the search query.

4. THE INFORMATION OVERLOAD AS A STRATEGY Consequently, strategies have been developed for the presentation of vertical data, and strategists in this area, knowingly create an overload of information which is considered by Ignacio Ramonet as "democratic censorship" and the concept of censorship has always been the equivalent of authoritarian power. Censorship signifies the suppression, prohibition, severing and retention of information." (Ramonet, 2001).

Contrarily, "democratic censorship [...] is no longer based on the suppression, prohibition, severing and retention of data, but on the accumulation, saturation and excessive information overload "(Id.). In fact the user "is literally asphyxiated, bombarded by an avalanche of data [...] that mobilizes, occupies and saturates their time" (ibid.). This is mostly to create a sort of screen effect where "information hides information" (ibid.). In Figure 2, an example of using the e-commerce site eBay, the seller of many USB keys, instead of using the less expensive Hollandaise´s auction system (a single announcement for N times the same object), the seller made the choice to pay N times the cost of listing to occupy the first pages in search engines.

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Figure 2. Example of Information overload .

Applied to the search engines of websites, this strategy called "doorway pages" or "satellite pages" are created when a large number of pages are optimized for SEO referencing on the same website, or a constellation (mininet) if the pages in question are distributed over a large number of websites. The idea is to get the pages indexed by this large number in the first results from a search engine for one or more specific search queries as shown in Figure 3. A process, which returns to shops "hard evidence", is to monopolize all the steps of the path which are the most visited by potential customers in the city. We often speak of the ÂŤ long train and earnings stalls Âť materialized in this respect, it is much less possible to grab the top of the e-pad that is creating a multitude of electronic storefronts at a ridiculous cost and thus ensuring a good audience. These processes are part of the toolbox of practices known as black hat SEO - we will further discuss the actual validity of this designation.

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Figure 3. Overshadowing competitors with overload information "black hattitude" example

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The creation of constellations and link farms seen hereafter are a form of information overload from search engines and are also a very effective way to get a good indexing in view of the Pagerank 1 principle.

5. EVOLUTION OF NETLINKING STRATEGIES: RECIPROCAL LINKS In a time of democratization of DSL lines and the Internet, webmasters took use to making bilateral trade links called "reciprocal links". For example, Luc had a site A and Charles site B, Luc created a link towards Charles (from A to B) and Charles returned a link to Luc (from B to A) as described in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Exchange of bilateral links as practiced ten years ago; a link acts as a pertinent vote.

6. TRIANGULAR TRADE In fact, a link to a site acted and still acts like a vote of popularity or relevance in the eyes of Google, it is the basis of PageRank (that is why Google bombing still works). Then Google made the exchange of reciprocal links obsolete ; it was a sort of widespread secret agreement intended to artificially drive up website results in search queries (SERPs 2 ). Webmasters quickly found a solution by initiating triangular exchanges as shown in Figure 5. For example, Luc creates a link from his website A towards William’s website B, the latter creates a link from website B to Charles website C and closes the circuit by creating a link from website C to website A that belongs to Luc.

Figure 5. Exchange of triangular links.

1 Pagerank: algorithm used by Google to determine the indexing of web pages.

2

SERP: Search Engine Result Page

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The creation of such secret agreements is difficult because it is not just an exchange of mail between two people to establish the structure.

7. MININETS: DIGITAL CONSTELLATIONS Michael Campbell devised the mininets (or constellations) that he described in his e-book "Revenge of the mininet" in 2003. The principle is to always have a closed circuit of exchanged links between different websites. Campbell conducted a number of tests on structures that he has envisioned. It was apparent that the structure called the "butterfly" as shown in Figure 6 is the most efficient among all those that were tested.

The objective is, as in triangular link exchanges, to create a group of interconnected sites. In addition, Campbell would introduce a central site; each site in the group, in addition to voting for the next link, votes for the central site that will receive the best indexing results. The author states that it is optimal to have 6 satellite sites promoting the central site. More is not necessarily better, and instead of creating a mininet of hundreds of satellites around a "main site", it would be preferable to proceed with fractals (each satellite on the first floor and the main site with another mininet of 6 satellites of secondary ranking, etc) (Campbell, 2003). This solves the dilemma of referencing "pyramid or butterfly", because in this case we finally obtain an optimized pyramidal structure. Using this model and while proceeding in fractals, the term constellation makes sense since it is composed of two-story structures containing a total of 259 entities.

Figure 6. Structure called the "butterfly": a group of 6 satellite sites.

8. THE LINKWHEEL: THE MININET 2.0 One of the applications derived from Web 2.0 is the ability to create blogs through various hosts with the willingness and opportunity to create a giant constellation as we have done to promote a website with the keyword "competitive intelligence" (Figures 8

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and 9). The other being an opportunity offered by the Digg-like3 that are actually 2.0 directories. The Digg was supposed to be like the manifestation of a popular expression (through submission of supposedly relevant articles and a referendum of votes for those items / websites), followed by submissions to these directories (wikio, technorati) implying that the subject URLs would be relevant, and indeed, go up in the SERPs. A fortiori, these structures that create mininets then become linkwheels as in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Mininet members are enrolled in Digg-like/2.0 annuaires, all relevant votes in the eyes of search engines.

9. ACTIVE SEO 2.0 9.1 Definition of active SEO 2.0 Because of its writable orientation, Web 2.0 offers excellent referencing potential and it is possible to take part without violating the law. Just creating a digital constellation and optimizing the structure to obtain good indexing. The keystone lies in 3

Digg-Like: Web 2.0, always from the aspect of its writability, has permitted the advent of such systems: a type of platform that proposes establishing a ranking of websites based on the most votes attributed by users. The articles or websites that have the most success are placed on a page, which in the eyes of Google and other search engines, has good visibility and good credibility since it has won the popular vote. This is the principle of platforms like Digg, Wikio, and the CMS programs like Pligg, PHPDug and Scuttle. It is enough for the author of a constellation to find an automated system that automatically votes for its member sites and, ultimately, these sites will be placed high on the list for key words chosen by the designer. It is a form of social bookmarking.

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automation; where a cognitive limitation of the internaut plays in our favor; the drive limits prevent, or at least slow down further development. Since we are not violating any law, there is no impediment in using techniques that enable us to ensure to attract the greatest audience and there is no reason to see any dark side, neither gray nor black hat SEO. We create our own virtual territory as shown in Figure 8. The active SEO 2.0 can be defined as a set of postures aimed at achieving maximum effectiveness, which goes beyond the acclaimed voting techniques of search engines without breaking the law.

Figure 8. Screenshot of the software "link farm evolution “. Virtual territory of 6,149 blogs: a digital constellation.

9.2 Active SEO applied to intelligence To illustrate the potential of active SEO, we have referenced the site http://quoniam.univ-tln.fr with the term "competitive intelligence". Originally, this site was located at a distance of several thousand ranks away from the first place in a Google search query. In less than two weeks, we succeeded in elevating its placement within the first twenty places in ten or so google´s search engines in various countries including the top ten in France and Google.com as shown in Figure 9. Three months after this active SEO campaign, the page in question remains stable in these positions.

Figure 9. Positions of the page 12/2009, for the search phrase "competitive intelligence" in company ranks.fr.

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10. STRUCTURALISM OF THE ACTIVE SEO 2.0 10.1

Systematic Approach

Web 2.0 has created numerous potentials, it is still necessary to detect them. When one refers to the internet, we talk of virtual territory. As it is virtual, its geography, its limits and its extent is varied. Everything acts as a potential showcase, a traffic generating resource, for sales and therefore economy and it is possible for anyone to create a broad audience acting as a net whose size is unlimited. This large extent, whether it takes the form of a constellation or a gigantic interconnection of websites, will be interpreted by the judges (search engines) as a set of independent actors voting for one another. Search engines will become increasingly effective in properly referencing such systems. Beyond the economic aspect, we believe that it is the potential to disseminate information on a massive scale, to have a display rack and unlimited diffusion where the initiator has control. This is a direct application of the "Pronetariat" or "Net" revolt as understood by Joel de Rosnay (De Rosnay, 2006).

10.2

Automation of the vectorization

In his book "the 3rd wave", Alvin Toffler studies the major change between the first and second wave, between the impact of agriculture and that of the industrial age, the passage of the "living cell"; human and non-human energes that carry productivity beyond human capabilities (Toffler, 1980). We are now in a situation where every individual can transmit information globally, which in itself is a major paradigm shift.

10.3

The last barrier

Essentially, to use the opportunities of writable web is to write back on a resource; blogs, forum, wiki, podcast, and first of all complete a form showing that you're not a robot, solving a Captcha4 as shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10. Examples of Captchas, making it difficult to automatically disseminate information.

4

Captcha: Reverse Turing test under visual form: a controller, software, tests if the interactor is a human or an automaton itself by presenting an alphanumeric string of hidden characters in an image that is supposedly untreatable by automated systems such as optical character recognition systems, and asks to copy the contents into the appropriate reply box.

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In this case, the captcha is the last barrier or fortress that prevents the internaut from rejoining what appeared to be an exclusivity in the past; the opportunity for a transmitter to send information to a multitude of receptors. The introduction of these systems is a rare form of organization as described by Joël de Rosnay (De Rosnay, 2006). Allocating the right to write a resource has become the norm. In the United States, 57% of teenagers create online content (Lenhart, 2005). In France, 68% of respondents reported contributing to at least one type of Web 2.0 platform (SOFRES, 2007). During 2006, 35,000 videos were posted daily on YouTube (Wired News, 2006).

Before Web 2.0, permission to write was granted to e-mail systems. This law gave birth to the spam e-mail phenomenon i.e. the automated sending of information from an individual to millions of receivers. With the new practices of Web 2.0, spamming has emerged in forums, weblogs and chatrooms. As various breeding grounds for both advertising and sowing trackbacks that act as voting in terms of relevance to the page or pages.

10.4

Industrialization of e-griculture

Today we find ourselves in a context of the economy of information that moreover deepened the bed of a new semantics based on an endangered mining industry. "Today, information replaces coal, it speaks of ‘textmining’ of ‘data mining’, as if described in words, after the end of "black faces", the advent of a new Eldorado" (Bulinge, 2002).

The constellations enable the generating of potential indexing and traffic that constitutes the fuel necessary for any website. E-griculture constitutes, according to Toffler, the second wave 5 that has permitted the formalization of this activity. Subsequently, the industrial era, the second wave has enabled the automation of agriculture, which adds another dimension to this sector. Similarly, web 2.0, thanks to its writable aspect, has permitted a change in magnitude of various forms of culture; that, without automation, could not be as effective. Link farming 6, PR farming7, link baiting8. All practices that allow gaining control of the top spots on search engines and receive maximum visibility. Beyond information, the simple visit of an internaut to a website represents a resource because website traffic is valuable. In this sense, the automation of targeting information can fool the judges, in the case of search engines, which will cautiously allocate certain importance to websites. Since the arrival of Web 2.0, old methods have been revived, for example mininets that become linkwheels and produce fruit: the traffic and potential indexing.

10.5

The challenges of SEO

Search engines are daily crossing points for millions of Internet users. It is therefore a preferred destination for advertising media as shown in Figure 10.

5 The Toffler Wave: According to Toffler, it is possible to synthesize and consolidate changes, the innovations in meta-entities that sustainable impact humanity on a global scale for example: agriculture and industrialization. Finally, to have a vision enabling a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms involved in such a phenomenon.

6

Link farming: growing links, such as mininets: the result of digital constellations whose fruit is a potential for optimization, visibility allowing the capture of the audience.

7 PR farming: cultivation of pagerank, similar to link farming.

8

Link baiting: practice of luring a visitor to promote a link. It requires creating interesting or useful content that the internaut will find relevant for voting, either by making a trackback from your own site to content in question, or sharing it with others through forums or social bookmarking sites.

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There are simple solutions to appear at the top of the results page for a keyword: search engine paid advertising. It is therefore quite clear that using SEO techniques capable of achieving these same results can be seen as a loss to these search engines. As for the argument that says SEO techniques strictly come out of advice provided by the search engines and alter the relevance of the research results, simply refer to Figure 10.

Another argument to discourage people tempted by these techniques is that it is impossible to reach the very top of google listings by using them (see Figure 9), or that these results are not sustainable (results in Figure 9 were stabilized for 3 months despite cessation of the SEO campaign). Finally, any person in violation of the SEO guidelines issued by the search engines will be branded as black hat SEO.

Figure 10. The query "mobile phone" on the engine google.co.uk returns a page with only 21% of its surface are the results of research, the remainder is publicity generated

by Google.

11. BLACK HAT SEO: 11.1

Critical Interpretation

Literally, the term can be translated as "SEO Research" (as defined by indexing websites, SEO means "search engine optimization") with the application of the black hat style. In computer sciences, the term "black hat" (as opposed to the term" white-hat ") refers to westerns films (where the good guy wears the white cowboy hat and the bad JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 2, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 443-458

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guy or villain wears the black cowboy hat) and is a dualistic choice of symbols representing light against darkness and the white against the black are symbols with eloquence far beyond that of our Judeo-Christian culture. The Yin and Yang that already appear in the Tao te Ching, are the perfect example. The name is likely to be widely perceived as an insult, expressing a negative connotation or as distasteful.

11.2

Epistemology

For the company Google and referencers, this term covers all of the processes that bias or unfairly influence search engine algorithms. For others, it rejoins the nuisances of spam, unsolicited messages and commentaries in what Matt Cutts harshly refers to as "devastating or burning" techniques (Cutts, 2008). Globally, we remark that the term encompasses a wide range of practices, most of which aim at profits. Thus, the forums dedicated to black hat SEO, mingle with people that encourage the indexing their website by any means, but also individuals who are seeking profits illegally through the hacking of websites or credit cards and it is not surprising that this activity creates a bad image.

11.3

Historic Anchorage

Globally, black hat SEO involves using unconventional techniques to improve the indexing of websites. The choice of the term "Black hat" refers to the world of hacking and more generally the term "hacker". This name, widely used in the media, has taken root in the collective unconscious as a synonym for a computer thug. In the U.S., people like Kevin Mitnick have become synonymous with the name "hacker" and many of the articles and documentaries on the matter were devoted or associated to him. In France, the vulgarization of the term occurred at the time of the discovery of "carding" (production of fraudulent bank cards) by the public and the fraudulent business of Serge Humpich (Humpich, 2001). Today, this attribute sounds like an argument of informal fallacy as, FOX 11 recently evoked the "Anonymous" movement as "hackers on steroids" (FOX 11, 2008). The use of the term in the media approaches, in reality, the term "cracker" which would actually be more appropriate. Originally the term hacker referred to bored MIT students who, for example, would repair the printers themselves.

For Pekka Himanen, the term encompasses more than boredom and goes beyond the concept of passion. Thus, we can be a hacker in our everyday life even while gardening (Himanen et al., 2001). Referencing professionals were smart to use the designation: "black hat SEO". This profession allows the rapid obtention of a good reference and it represents a serious threat in this area, while "white-hat" practitioners strictly comply with search engines recommendations. If they expect their competitors to comply with "white-hat" technicalities, we can say that we have arrived at a time where the indexing of websites is a crucial asset, and that if everyone works with equal strategies, any new positioning of a keyword will already be the subject of greater competition. Simple "white hat" referencing techniques will make it difficult to find a place among the first results. Without alternative techniques, it is not easy for a newcomer to be properly indexed. Discrediting means to be surpassed and is not without interest. The subject is no exception to the trend of "ambient binarism" (Wield, 2008) for everything related to the web "between curse and idolatry"(Id). For fear of being treated as thugs, professional SEO referencers opted for the gray hat SEO which means: it is not "black hat", not a bad guy, but not limited to techniques known as "white hat" (which everyone knows the limited scope).

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12. CONCLUSION Currently, SEO techniques do not conform strictly to recommendations issued by search engines and are being smeared with bad press because they are considered illegal or ineffective. Our work demonstrates the contrary, using the appropriate techniques; it is possible for a single individual to position a website on the forefront of search engine results in a sustainable manner without being illegal: this is active SEO 2.0 in action. If for the moment, such techniques are being discredited, we believe in the capacity of active SEO 2.0 and the paradigm of "many-to-many" information diffusion. It is neither more nor less than the available potential for each individual to communicate globally with the same opportunity as large structures; by uniquely using the potential that this new technology offers for creating digital constellations. We further observe that such potential is greatly facilitated by the vertical model that is adopted by the vast majority of search engines. ________________ * Carding: Refers to the piracy of credit cards, bank accounts and phones, usually in the smartcard format (microchip cards)

REFERENCES Anonymous. (2008). from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkAngvkWVkk &feature=youtube_gdata.: FOX 11 News Report .

Bar-Ilan, J. (Dec de Aug de 2007). Manipulating search engine algorithms: the case of Google. Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 2/3, pp. 155 166.

Boutin, E. (2006). Biais cognitifs et recherche d’information sur internet. Quelles perspectives pour les indicateurs de pertinence des moteurs de recherche. Actes du colloque VSST. Lille, France.

Bulinge, F. (2002). Pour une culture de l'information dans les petites et moyennes organisations : un modèle incrémental d'intelligence économique. France: Université du Sud Toulon Var. Campbell, M. (2003). revenge of the mininet. from http://www.ojdl.com/Ebooks/seoebooks/revenge-of-the-mininet.pdf.

Cutts, M. (2008). Preventing Blight. Google.

Dou H., B. E. (2003). De la création es bases de données au développement des systèmes d'intelligence pour l'entreprise. ISDM. Himanen, P. (2001). L'Ethique Hacker et l'Esprit de l'ère de l'information. Exils.

Humpich, S. (2001). Le Cerveau bleu. Xo Editions.

Institute, AT Internet. (Avril, 2009). Baromètre des moteurs ( from http://www.atinternet-institute.com/fr-fr/barometre-des-moteurs/barometre-desmoteurs-avril-2009/index-1-1-6-170.html ed.). France: Institute, AT Internet.

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IProspect. (2006). Search engin user behavior study. from http://www.iprospect.com/premiumPDFs/WhitePaper_2006_SearchEngine UserBehavior.pdf.

Larose, D. (2005). Des données à la connaissance : Une introduction au data-mining.

Vuibert.

Maniez, D. (2008). Les dix plaies d'Internet : Les dangers d'un outil fabuleux. Dunod.

Quoniam, L. B. (2008). web 2.0, la révolution connectique. Document numérique 11, no. 1-2: 133-143.

Ramonet, I. (2001). La Tyrannie de la communication. Gallimard.

Rasse, P. (2005). La rencontre des mondes : Diversité culturelle et communication.

Armand Colin.

Rosnay, J. d. (2006). La révolte du pronétariat : Des mass média aux média des masses.

Fayard.

Spink, A. J. (2004). Web Search: Public Searching On The Web. New York: SpringerVerlag.

Svore, K. Q. (2007). Improving web spam classification using rank-time features. ACM, pp. 9-16.

TNS Sofres. (2007) Marques et Web 2.0 : mythes et réalités.

France from http://www.tns-sofres.com/_assets/files/221007_web20.pdf.

Toffler, A. (1980). La 3ème vague. Denoël.

Wired news. (2006) Now Starring on the Web: YouTube. from http://www.wired.com/techbiz /media /newsl2006/04170627: wircd news.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp.459-472 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752012000300002

INTERNET: MONITORED FREEDOM Fernando Kuschnaroff Contreras Fatima Bayma de Oliveira Evelyn Souto Martins Getulio Vargas Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil _____________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT The Internet is a phenomenal research and information tool. It has entered the lives of people in an extremely fast way, offering a sense of freedom, and discoveries. This study presents the Internet usage in organizations, along with the use of equipment and information systems supplied by the employer and personal Internet usage at work. The subjects of the present research are businesspeople chosen among employees with a university degree in companies in the City of Curitiba, in the State of Paraná, with leading, managerial or operational occupations, with access to the Internet in their offices as well as at home. The study proposal consists of a critical analysis on the theme.

Keywords: Internet, Organizational Structures, Control, Punishment

1

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, the Internet is a powerful work tool. It provides fast communication, economy and cost reduction. However, it also creates insecurity and uncertainty, reason for enhancing research on the theme. Vitak, Crouse and La Rose (2011) center on individual behavior, personal Internet usage, and its applications.

Liberman, Seidman, McKenna and Buffardi (2011) examined employees’ job attitudes, organizational characteristics, attitudes towards the personal use of the Internet and the reasons for it. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 12/11/2010 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 10/07/2012 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência Fernando Kuschnaroff Contreras, Fundação Getulio Vargas Av. Pres. Affonso Camargo, 2491 – Curitiba, Parana, Brasil Tel/Fax: (41) 3016-8983, Mestre em Gestão Empresarial – EBAPE/FGV - Prof. dos Cursos de MBA e Graduação da Ebape FGV E-mail: fernando.contreras@fgv.br Fatima Bayma de Oliveira, Mestre em Administração Pública – University of Connecticut, Doutorada em Educação – Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Prof. Titular dos cursos de Doutorado, Mestrado, Pós-graduação e Graduação da Ebape e UFRJ, Fundação Getulio Vargas Praia de Botafogo, 190 – RJ, Brasil, Tel/Fax: (21) 3799-5768 E-mail: Fatima.bayma@fgv.br Evelyn Souto Martins, Mestre em Gestão Empresarial – EBAPE/FGV, Fundação Getulio Vargas Praia de Botafogo, 190 – RJ, Brasil, Tel/Fax: (21) 3799-5768 E-mail: evelynmueller@terra.com.br

Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2012 All rights reserved.

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Saran and Zavarski (2009) studied the use of the Internet in organizations and concluded information security policy is essential to avoid deviations and guarantee organizational management.

Garrett and Danziger (2008) evaluated if personal Internet use had any relationship with the position occupied by employees as well as the incentives of each occupation.

Arnesen and Weis (2007) developed an extensive study evaluating the professional development of those using the Internet, the issue of monitoring employees and their e-mails, the organizational culture and the creation of an effective policy for the logical use of this new tool.

Whitty and Carr (2006) developed a proposal for employees’ participation in organization policy for the use of the Internet as the best alternative against the incorrect use of this new working tool.

Lee, Lee and Kim (2004) deepened their research by trying to understand the reasons for personal Internet usage in the workplace.

Anandarajan and Simmers (2003) dedicated to understanding how work develops on the Web inside the organizations. With the purpose of maintaining control over the labor environment, organizations have been looking for adequacy and adaptation after the Internet came into existence. It is extremely relevant to identify innovative controlling methods, and alternatives to a better conviviality inside this new structure. Therefore, this study analyses the introduction and Internet usage in labor environments, evaluating relationships and types of control put into practice after the Internet implementation, and changes in people’s lives and companies.

The Internet in Organizations The Internet became a catalyst of modern business models, strategies and organizational structures. It introduced other factors affecting the competitive landscape, new rivalries and demands; innovations that many business leaders were not prepared to face. (Wallace, 2004, p. 2) Increasing and permanent competition for markets and clients is a great concern resulting in internal tension among employees as they engage in activities towards objectives and corporate profits. Employees’ performance is also evaluated according to established goals in budgets and strategic plans.

The great number of companies competing for the same public in the market, added to the need of perpetuating the capital in this environment, may lead to two very important facts: the permanent search for cost reduction and the need to boost productivity.

As for labor productivity, we observe that companies have adopted information systems available by personal computers for employees. This guarantees communication capability as well as the accomplishment of desired results. However, these measures changed the organizational environment considerably as, to maintain their positions in the company, people are forced to submit to and accept an increased amount of service and additional labor time, without any other benefits. To this respect, Wallace (2004, p.54) states that, in the backstage, NET technologies are helping to

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shape business environments in which working harder and for a longer period may be mandatory for some people and desirable by others.

According to Zuboff (1994, p.82): “administrators invest in new information technologies as they believe it will permit faster performance at a lower cost.” This complies with this moment of market uncertainty, when it is fundamental to maintain competition and reduce operational costs to the most, as well as a guarantee the margins and financial return, letting the company go on with projects and investments.

A relevant aspect of environment organizations is information. It is used in corporations as an instrument for innovation, and the establishment of competitive differentials within a strategic. Configuration necessarily implies changes in structures and controls, as data may very easily flow over the network exposing the company to competitors, contributing to loss of competitiveness in the market.

Thus, employee surveillance has a new meaning: developing employee’s activities using the Internet. In addition to productivity control, employees using the microelectronic tools are monitored, as well as communication with the market, during office hours. Corporate management has always monitored employees one way or another, but only for the sake of supervision itself. Hence, these new electronic tools allow greater management power and surveillance possibilities due to its high availability and simple implementation. (Wallace, 2004, p.222) Considering productivity in the use of the Internet, another paradigm called “Cyberslacking,” the use of company equipment for personal purposes, has also appeared (Vitak, Crouse and La Rose, 2011). “Cyberslacking” is a new risk for companies, as simple access to different sites may expose or make the system vulnerable, thus permitting virus or cyber espying.

Thus, a dilemma comes to light: company’s success in the use of informatics, particularly the Internet, will depend on the actions adopted. On one hand, an extremely restrictive policy may lead to efficiency loss. On the other hand, greater freedom may lead to lack of control over employees who may lose focus on the job (for which he or she is hired), concentrating attention on received messages, and on various pages available on the Internet.

Employee and Hyperconnectivity It is extremely important to consider employees’ behavior in face of new technologies. Every year, innovations in communication and computing areas are launched in the market, overloading shelves.

This technology craze has also a dark side. Hyperconnectivity is a consequence in this new wave, as it has overcome all the existing barriers between companies, homes, and personal and professional lives. People’s attitude toward connecting to the Internet, cell phones and computers all the time, in their offices, at home, or even during vacation periods is known as hyperconnectivity. Some pathological symptoms have already been observed, such as techno-anxiety, or “onlineaholics,” that is, anxiety for being distant from devices and gadgets, or people addicted to the Internet virtual environment.

Hyperconnectivity results from a desperate search for information, sharing experiences, looking for acceptance and social interaction. People are absorbed by

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technology, developing compulsive behaviors towards innovations. This fascination explains the difficulty separating work from leisure.

People are committed to organizational intentions, and organizations bet on men’s ability to perform different functions at the same time, known as multifunctionality. Some companies supply the equipment (notebooks and cell phones) so that employees may connect to the company and do their jobs at any time or weekday, or even at any place.

Companies value workaholics, recognizing they are more productive, competitive, and efficient, live for the company and are in search of objectives related to work, with a high level of personal performance. People with this behavior are rewarded and stimulated, reaching high-profile positions and jobs inside the organizations.

Workaholic employees turn into role models for companies that emphasize their performance. Success or personal achievement in the company structure is increasingly associated with prestige, status and power of command.

Considering control and acceptance of employees, those not complying with them are punished with economic impotence, extended to spiritual and individualist impotence. Excluded from the industrial activity, employees have their inadequacy easily proved (Adorno, and Horkheimer, 1985, p.110).

Thus, it is easy to understand individuals’ bond to computers. It results from the need of maintaining their positions in the organizations, driving away the ghost of employee dismissal. On the other hand, as they maintain this bond to the equipment, they also develop an unhealthy attraction to it, together with the need for status, assurance and social acceptance by reference groups, positively affecting their selfesteem, as updated, modern and influential individuals.

The socio-cultural context overestimating performance and competence in the use of technologies reinforces and easily creates technological dependence, or netdependence, as it is known nowadays. A basic and fundamental element favoring netdependence is socialization and interpersonal communication, through chats, e-mails, forums and real-time conversations.

To affirm that individuals purchase objects (computers, cell phones, netbooks, and notebooks) for personal purposes and leisure is a misjudgment. Whenever employees get involved in the system, they are held under the influence of these items.

Using them is also a guarantee of active survival inside the organizations.

Thus, attachment to new technologies, mainly computers and the Internet, may be the result of two singular powers: the need to maintain their jobs as a means of earning their living, and social affirmation of the individual. A leisure object becomes a working tool as well.

Controlled autonomy An analysis about controlling codes and the process of obedience to the rules is also possible. As mentioned before, man accepts system rules owing to the need of survival, aspects of personal and material life transformations provided by the earnings from labor.

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Taylor’s and Ford’s principles of labor were based upon dominant control. They used coercion and manipulation as predominant methods of control. Other systems of labor replaced these methods by a hegemonic mode of control using consent and legitimacy (Carvalho and Vieira, 2007, p.55).

This new model is founded on knowledge, skills, expertise, and competition between employees. In most organizations, two or more ways of control coexist, frequently, depending on adequacy to the kind of labor done in each subunit (Carvalho and Vieira, 2007, p.57).

Companies have adapted their structures aiming at productivity, agility and obviously better results changing to a flexible system.

The management system is dynamic: rules are not fixed, but modified, remodeled or eliminated so that new ones may replace them. Everything aims at a quick adaptation to reality and pace of market transformations in which companies act. Thus, the hard, rigid and fixed profile of old bureaucratic structures gave place to another bureaucratic structure requiring acceptance or commitment to its rules and procedures on the part of individuals.

Pagés et al. (2006, p.49) observed that system effectiveness did not depend on imposing it, but on acceptance by individuals affected by its application. This means individuals engage in the system, and they may also intervene in the conception according to their own aspirations.

At first, we might suppose employees take an enormous advantage in the process they are subjected to, as they may create rules or conditions. Notwithstanding, as it was observed by Pagés et al. (2006, p.51), employees are led to honor the rules which they are prone to adopt. Therefore, they may not oppose their own established rules.

The main aspect in this process is coherence. Situations permitting autonomy to individuals are the same in which they know they are not protected. The feeling is of confronting the organization even when serving it (Patés et al., 2006, p. 57).

Process of involving employees in establishing rules leads to respect and fear.

Not complying with rules would be a total lack of coherence; therefore, a reason for distrust and breaking the code of conduct in face of other employees. They start to watch peers, as in flexible structures of production, employees are part of a “team” or “crew,” in which everybody has established rules and agreed to respect them.

Agreeing to objectives is the key to labor relations. There is more freedom when employees submit to rules. Opposition between freedom and submission emerges, when the individual acknowledges complying with the game rules. This causes a fear of loss, as well as of going astray, and this means an anguished conscience of alienation (Pagés et al., 2006, p. 58).

Employees are invited to endorse game rules. They know the result is always organization performance. Everybody united in the pursuit of the same objectives, but with freedom to define ways to reach results.

Pagés et al. (2006, p. 61) assure objectives, and control applied to the rules are evaluated in financial terms. This purpose in the company translates into the importance of profit and expansion policy.

Technology makes the job easier, and captures employees’ interest. If he or she does not comply with rules, the employee is submitted to punishment, according to rules

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agreed. As organizations assumed a supreme and divine entity, it reinforces on the individual a feeling of guilty in case of failure of the accomplishment of goals.

According to Carvalho and Vieira (2007, p. 20), the organization was deified taking the role of God. Therefore, by not fulfilling their role in the organization, individuals are disrespecting God, a sacrilege in a religious doctrine. Thus, employee’s autonomy in the regime of flexible production is a consequence of a bureaucratic adaptation to the means of production to maintain control and achieve results.

Employees are invited to define the game and its rhythm, but submitted to increasingly ambitious results inside the organizations. This means they work harder to win the game whose result does not favor the individual, but the collective, as possible continuous losses for organizations may likely result in losing jobs or income.

Internet, privacy and the power of Organizations At this point, we should emphasize and reflect on some aspects in the use of the Internet inside working environments, and issues related to privacy, damage and jurisdiction. Initially, examining the Universal Declaration of Human Rights established by the UN, on December 10th, 1948, basic human rights, expressed in Article 12: no one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

In Brazil, the Federal Constitution of 1998, Article 5, specifies basic rights, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It states in the Subsection 10 and 12 that: the privacy, private life, honor and image of persons are inviolable, and the right to compensation for property or moral damages resulting from their violation is ensured; the secrecy of correspondence and of telegraphic, data and telephone communications is inviolable, except, in the latter case, by court order, in the cases and in the manner established by law for the purposes of criminal investigation or criminal procedure finding of facts; Derived from the above, it is assumed all citizens have their rights secured by Law. Notwithstanding, when companies started using the Internet for electronic communication, there was a violation of individuals’ and employees’ right to privacy on the part of the companies, claiming damage and loss to organizational structures.

Privacy is an individual guarantee. It may not, and it must not be violated by others or by any entity. It is secured by the Laws already mentioned. As a new tool of communication, the Internet creates a scenario of conflicts, outlined by companies attempts to control employees’ activities. They aim at maintaining the level of productivity and profit by protecting the right to industrial property inserted in the data, information, and in the existing managerial reports inside companies’ databases.

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Therefore, for the entrepreneur, it is not enough to control employees with internal surveillance cameras or access badges, but through communication nets implemented as a productivity tool, as well. However, employee’s electronic surveillance has been illegally used by companies, and many times without their awareness or consent. According to Saran and Zavarsky (2009, p. 371), Internet usage and network traffic policies allow using e-mails, and the Internet, without any harm, providing greater employees’ confidence and commitment.

For sure, the entrepreneur has the right to guarantee patrimony security. And this comprises physical patrimony, such as machines, equipment and other fixed assets and inventories, and intangible assets such as strategic information, as well. According to specialists and jurists’ worldwide, the entrepreneur has the right to control the quality of work, the use of instruments, implement security measures for employees’ occupational safety, and avoid unfair practices, such as frauds, financial and material misappropriations, sexual abuse or even industrial espionage.

The entrepreneur has also the right to establish rules of conduct, norms and procedures to accomplish tasks. The aim is to guarantee the organizational efficiency longed by stakeholders, as they undertake the risks of production secured by the Brazilian Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT), in accordance to Decree-Law 5452/May 1st, 1943. Labor Laws allow the entrepreneur to dismiss an employee who fails to follow the rules established in the CLT, Title VI, Chapter V, Termination, Article 482.

However, the entrepreneur exceeds controls previously made by people, and rules by using electronic mailing surveillance. They violate employees’ individual rights, individuality, and privacy before detecting any damage caused by an employee during working hours. They exceed control simply based on a remote possibility of a system threat caused by employees’ machine usage.

Violation of correspondence is also established by the Brazilian Criminal Code, Article 151: “wrongfully violating the content of sealed correspondence addressed to another person.” According to the Law, the person responsible for such an act would be subjected to 1 (one) to 6 (six) months detention, or a fine.

However, in spite of the labor relationship agreed between employer and employee, the labor contract may never give the employer the right to go beyond of employees’ or individuals’ legal and constitutional rights. Even to justify the act as company preservation.

We must restate the first transgression, the primary illegal act in the use of the Internet tool, is done by entrepreneurs when disrespecting employee’s privacy, and not the opposite. Thus, according to Law, crime would be the violation of electronic mailing. As “cyberslacking” or the use of company equipment for personal purposes is not-established by jurisprudence. Accessing the net by curiosity or even leisure is not a crime.

Brazilian legislation and international laws, as well, are still extremely contradictory on this issue. In Brazil, we are yet elaborating Projects and discussing legal aspects. Thus, considerations must not be unilateral, giving priority to entrepreneurs, not even after investing in company construction, and equipment for internal usage. Even if an entrepreneur suspects employees are not accomplishing tasks accordingly, it must be emphasized the fact that the Internet usage increases employees working load. They carry out their tasks beyond typical office hours, at home, using the Internet for this purpose without receiving any additional payment. This contradicts the norms established by the CLT. JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 459-472

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Companies have implemented restrictive measures, control and security policies to restrict personal Internet usage during office hours, but they have noticed a negative effect on productivity in doing so.

Garrett and Danziger (2008, p. 953) suggest thinking about the personal use of the Internet during office hours, not only as threatening to the company, but as an attractive functionality offered to the accomplishment of the work itself.

Another issue is that employees’ dismissal may increase the level of turnover, reducing employees’ morale and motivation, creating legal troubles such as sexual harassment, resulting in huge financial losses to the company (Young and Case, 2004, p. 106).

The use of organizational policies for correct Internet usage may be inestimable to avoid improper use by employees, and interfere with productivity (Arnessen and Weiss, 2007, p. 53). Thus, more than ever, organizations are challenged to enhance normative and functional structures creating a conformity policy to the use of the Internet in the working environment, in an unrestrictive and unpunished way, changing the Internet into a helpful tool and not simply a risk to productivity (Sanran and Zavarsky, 2009, p. 372).

Distrust process or control in excess may undermine the individual response of each employee. Mahatanankoon (2006, p. 17) pointed out that, in the office, stress, injustice, lack of appraisal, uncertainty, and disaffection are extremely more harmful to organizations. These also cause an increasing loss in productivity than simple Internet usage during office hours. He suggests employees must be motivated to search for additional productivity, especially by using the Internet as a working tool. This means huge changes in the company view and that of the employee.

The Internet has created additional possibilities for distraction, mainly for its characteristic of an open net linked to millions of computers and pages of different configurations. For Robbins (2004, p.211), “if work itself is not interesting or causes excessive stress, employees are motivated to do something else”.

Garrett and Danziger (2008, p. 952) concluded that a great majority of employees access the Internet in the companies for personal reasons, and during office hours (cyberslacking). Though they observed productivity loss, they found no signs of hostility or intentional harmful purposes in their behaviors. This means there is no intention on the part of employees to cause losses to the organizations.

Robbins (2008, p. 7) reports employers consider surveillance, and control over employees necessary. This way, it is possible to verify if employees are really working or messing around or disclosing organization’s secrets. It also aims at protecting employees from likely harassment or hostile environments against women or minority groups.

Therefore, it is fundamental for employees to be conscious that misuse of working tools may generate damages, many times of an elevate cost and irreparable harm to the internal information system of an organization. This is considered an illegal act by the CLT, and the Criminal Code. Employers must also stop breaking the law, by monitoring and violating employees’ e-mails, an act that disrespects the Brazilian Constitution, Human Rights, the Civil Code, and the CLT, as they fail to compensate employees for their extra work.

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2. METHODOLOGY In the present study, the group of respondents is composed by men and women from Class A and B who own notebooks and desktop computers, employed by large and medium-sized companies in the State of Paraná, in the South of Brazil, with a university degree, occupying operational and leading/managerial positions. All in all, 305 respondents answered the survey instrument, between January and April, 2008. The focus was on the sample profile described above to evaluate executives’ behavior in large companies, mainly using technology in their daily working routine.

Results are reported with descriptive statistics through absolute and relative distribution (n - %). Chi-square test method for bivariate analysis among qualitative variables (2) was used to establish comparisons among frequencies (real) observed and expected, as well as the analysis of adjusted residuals. Negative values in adjusted residuals indicate a real frequency, lower than the expected, and positive values indicate a real frequency higher the expected. The cells, in which adjusted residuals values are equal or higher than 1.96, in absolute value, contribute significantly to mutual dependence of compared variables (Everitt, 1991). In contingency tables, in which at least 25% of cell values present an expected frequency lower than 5, Fisher’s Exact test was used, but on occasions when at least one variable is polytomous, Monte Carlo simulation method was used.

We also looked for identifying a pattern behavior between men and women, considering working position levels. The extended Mantel-Haenszel Test (Chi-Squared Test with degrees of freedom), was used to for analyzing tables 2 x r when the answer is ordinal. This extension involves medium scores for the response and uses the differences between these scores for the calculation of satisfactory test statistics.

3. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION Companies are using portable tools (notebooks) as they are easy to carry and wireless access to the Internet is easy as well. In the researched public, 79.7% received equipment from the companies. More frequently, men are those who received portable equipment (notebooks) for working and accessing the Internet for professional purposes on weekends, and outside office hours. No more than 21% of the women had the same advantage. After companies started using the Internet, 80.6% of the public researched observed an increase of daily working hours.

Companies started using new ways of controlling and monitoring employees, mainly when working via the Internet. Among the people interviewed, 79.7% sensed an increase in surveillance and control over their work.

Evaluating the relationship between the “feeling of control over work” and “gender,” no important association was identified. This reveals that the feeling of control over work sensed inside the organizations does not depend on gender for this sample (p>0.05). However, when “position” was compared with the “feeling about control over work,” a significant difference came to light (p<0.05), indicating those in administrative/direction positions investigated sensed a feeling of less control, while JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 459-472

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those in operational positions suffered more control. For supervision/leading and technical positions, the test showed the analysis of adjusted residuals pointed to a tendency of significant association with the feeling of more control over work. When we study the issue of e-mail surveillance related to “positions” or “gender,” the association with control was restricted to the masculine (p<0.001), as in the feminine there was no relevant evidence.

When we associate controls to avoid navigating non-authorized sites during office hours with sex and gender, no significant statistic association (p>0.05) was detected. This indicates that an application of Internet navigation controls in the organizations does not depend on user’s position (χ² Calc = 13.439; p=0.278) or gender (χ² Calc = 7.755; p=0.100).

It was also observed (90.2%) that nowadays companies use electronic surveillance. E-mails sent and received are constantly monitored, and information technology sectors created mechanisms to track suspicious e-mails, where secret information or even corporation data may be circulating.

The Internet presents risks according to the employees interviewed. However, 92.5% of this public assured its correct use provides more gains of productivity, efficiency and efficacy. They sensed this improvement in their own functional performance. We observed a strong association between productivity and the Internet usage as employees work more, including outside office hours (p<0.001). As productivity and workload, because of the Internet usage, are classified as ordinal variables, a concordance analysis using Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficient was applied. It pointed out a significant correlation, positive in a moderate degree (r=0.531; p=<0.001), indicating that high scores in productivity are correlated with high scores in the evaluation of the Internet usage as a way of increasing workload.

Employees consider this gain in productivity as an advantage for both organization and employee. Nowadays, they are benefitting from this gain by profit sharing promoted by many organizations. Thus, in spite of the observed risks, controlled Internet grants organizations excellent results in reducing operational costs, as well as speed.

Correlation between e-mail surveillance and productivity gains with the Internet as a working tool is an important aspect. Statistics association was significant (0<0.01).

Employees who totally or partially agreed with productivity gains also agreed that the company usually monitors Inbox and Outbox. E-mail surveillance with change in the number of activities performed, and the number of hours worked are also positively related (χ² Calc = 30.567; p˂0.01) as well. The group that totally agreed with e-mail surveillance showed significantly (χ² Calc =34.192; p˂0.01) inclined to agree with the use of the Internet as a tool to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

We tried to establish continuity correlation using Pearson’s Chi-square by relating those who work beyond normal office hours with those who do not accept punishment against Cyberslacking. No significant (χ² Calc = 0.195; p=0.659) association was detected. This means most people who reported working beyond normal office hours are different from those who disagree with punishment against Cyberslacking. Next, we studied if men and women agree with punishment for incorrect use of equipment, in accordance with their position in the company. Results did not permit asserting whether there is an agreement with punishment directly associated with working positions (Qsm= 0.05274 and p-value = 0.8184).

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In the research, we tried to identify a gender distinction in relation to changes in the rules of control over work. However, associations statistically significant were not detected (p>0.05). Therefore, in the studied sample, showing agreement or disagreement does not depend on position or gender. When stratified by positions, in jobs related to direction/executive, and supervision, only the masculine gender showed a tendency toward partial agreement or impartiality about changes in the norms and rules of conduct. It was also observed that men in operational jobs were totally inclined to agree with changes.

We tried to find out any association between routine changes and working processes with efficiency and efficacy. However, we did not detect associations statistically significant (p>0.05). Thus, we found no evidence that men and women presented different opinions towards changes the Internet has created in the work environment, as well as about their opinion about efficiency with the Internet usage.

When we applied the Mantel-Haenszel extended test to identify a feeling of dependence on the Internet, among men and women, according to occupation, we concluded that a strong tendency (Qsm = 54.1420, and p-value = 0.0001) of dependence on the Internet for men, and women, is related to their occupation. Thus, dependence on the tool increases as occupation and salary are higher.

Considering the feeling towards the number of hours worked, men and women observed different feelings according to their respective occupations and increase in the number of worked hours caused by the Internet (Qsm=8.3192 and p-value=0.0039).

Men in managerial occupations are working extra hours outside normal working environments. It was observed that 62% of the researched public works at home two to three additional hours per week.

We also identified a relationship between the position occupied and gender with the use of company equipment for personal purposes. Men and women who occupy supervising, leading and technical positions are those who use the company machines this way. They also noticed an increase in the number of office hours (Qsm = 45.1961 and p-value = 0.0001).

4. FINDINGS Companies have offered portable computers easily carried for use in different places by their employees, who use the equipment with access to the Internet at home beyond office hours, and during leisure time. People confirmed working beyond normal office hours in the company environment. Thus, employees perform tasks and other types of activities linked to their work, at different hours, without enjoying leisure dedicating all time to the company.

Employees accept this situation by fear of something worse, such as unemployment and purchasing power losses that interfere with their status quo.

Employees notice a greater control over equipment with access to the Internet, chiefly over means of communication used in the office. They agreed that some measures were necessary, mainly to defend organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s database, protecting information as well as avoiding the use of company equipment for private purposes during office hours.

They believe disciplinary measures are necessary to avoid abuse in the use of working tools, mainly punishment for incorrect use of machines representing risks for JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 459-472

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labor environment dignity and morale, as well as obvious risks to the system.

Employees acknowledge the Internet functionality and consider controlled use might generate more gains than risks. Therefore, they agree to be submitted to the rules of organizational surveillance.

Employees confirmed that companies had improvements in their results (profits) with the operational cost decline derived from productivity gains, through efficiency and efficacy brought by technology, and by the Internet.

As an instrument of internal use of the organization, and also subject to risks, employees regard surveillance as necessary, though they have some restrictions towards surveillance ethics.

5. CONCLUSIONS Technological advances implemented in organizations and the introduction of new working tools such as the Internet provide a notable increase in workload and office hours, as well as in searching for productivity and changes in employees’ behavior. Immersed in routines, and gains, in their job positions, employees are working more hours and becoming more dependent on equipment and technology.

One change easily noticed in organizational structures among others caused by the Internet are managerial controls, not directly performed by managers and supervisors, but by electronic means. It breaks a straight relationship pattern between superiors and subordinates.

The Internet usage in corporate environments is an irreversible process, and ways of punishment implemented by the companies are validated by employees. Thus, monitoring was facilitated and punishment naturally accepted. The use of corporate computers for personal purposes inside the company is regarded by the group as an inadvisable and dangerous attitude. Though, many employees wish to do it during office hours.

We assume this employees’ attitude represents an escape from routine.

However, recent studies by Garrett and Danziger (2008) suggested work dissatisfaction factors in the office, and stress, are not directly correlated with free Internet navigation during office hours. Saran and Zavarsky (2009) did not come to definitive data in their study to make assumptions on the motivational factors of behavior, suggesting an additional study to accomplish a conclusive explaination model. Our research also recommends other and more profound psychological studies to determine accurately impulses motivating such behavior by employees.

6. RECOMMENDATIONS We suggest new studies on individuals’ behavior toward cyberslacking, employee’s privacy and use of communication means offered by organizations. We also suggest searching in organizations and labor unions for a consensus to assist legislators in the elaboration of relevant labor laws.

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The organizational dilemma of the future is to balance information systems and workers’ control and monitoring with efficiency and operational efficacy. Generations of executives born in the 1960s and 1970s were familiar with organizational structures following Ford’s models. They witnessed the transition to a flexible regime of production with the use of technology based on microelectronics. These generations lived inside hierarchic and vertical structures with rigid bureaucratic rules and strict discipline.

Generations born in the 1980s and 1990s found a fresh organizational design early in their careers. They were born during the information era and before long had contact with the Internet and its conveniences. They are less susceptible to rigid controls and direct surveillance. Thus, an evaluation of new organizational structures must be done. They must be tailored and flexible to guarantee maximum productivity, and benefit from the latest profiles of competence.

7. STUDY LIMITATION In Brazil, studies on Information Technology and Communication are recent.

Major surveys were conducted by the Internet Management Committee, created in 2005. It is necessary to extend studies about cyberslacking, mainly in more mature organizations, correlating older and younger public recently hired.

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Anandarajan, M. & Simmers, C.A. (2004) Constructive and Dysfunctional Personal Web Usage in the Workplace: Mapping Employee Attitudes. Personal Web Usage in the Workplace: A Guide to Effective Human Resources Management. Idea Grup Inc. USA. Chapter 1.

Arnesen, D.W. & Weis, W.L.. (2007) Developing an effective company policy for employee Internet and e-mail use. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict. V.11, 53-56 Carvalho, A.C. & Vieira, M.M.F.. (2007); O Poder nas Organizações. 1st edition. São Paulo: Thomson Learning, p 138.

C.LT. Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho. Decreto Lei 5452 de 01 de maio de 1943.

Available via: http://www.trt02.gov.br/geral/tribunal2/legis/CLT/INDICE.html.

Accessed on September 2, 2008 at 17:32.

Constituição. (1988) República Federativa do Brasil. Brasília: Senado Federal - Centro Gráfico, 1988 Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos (1948). Available via: http://www.onubrasil.org.br/documentos_direitoshumanos. Accessed on August 28, at 18:50 Everitt, B. S. (1991) The Analysis of Contingency Tables. Ed 2. Chapman & Hall.

London,. 126-127.

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Garrett, R.K. & Danziger, J.N. (2008) On Cyberslacking: Workplace Status and personal Internet Use at Work. CyberPsycology & Behaviour. V.11, Number 3.

Garrett, R.K & Danziger,J.N. (2008) Disaffection or expected outcomes: Undestanding personal Internet use during work. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.

V.13 937-958 Lee, Z. & Lee, Y. & Kim, Y.; .(2004) Personal Web Usage in Organizations. Personal Web Usage in the Workplace: a guide to effective human resource management 28-45 Liberman, B & seidman, G. Mckenna, K & Buffardi, L. (2011) Employee job attitudes and organizational characteristics as predictors of cyberloafing. Computers in Human behavior 27 2192-2199 Mahatanankoon, P. (2006) Internet abuse in workplace: Extension of workplace deviance model. In M. Anandarajan, T. Teo & C. Simmers (Eds.). The Internet and Workplace transformation (pp. 15-27). Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe.

Mantel, N. (1963). Chi-square tests with one degree of freedom: Extensions of the Mantel-Haenszel procedure. Journal of the American Statistical Association, v.58, p.690-700 Pagès,M.;Bonetti, M. & Gaulejac, V. & Descendre, D. (2006) O Poder das Organizações. 1st edition. São Paulo: Ed. Atlas; p 234.

Robbins, S.P. (2004) Fundamentos do Comportamento Organizacional. 7th edition. São Paulo: Pearson-Prentice Hall; p 536.

Saran, M. & Zavarsky, P. (2009) A Study of the methods for improving Internet usage policies. International Conference on Computational Science and Engeneering. V.3 371-378 Young,KS; Case CJ. (2004)Internet abuse in the workplace: new trends in risk management. CyberPsychology & Behavior.: N.7 105-111 Vitak, J. & Crouse, J. & LA ROSE, R. (2011) Personal Internet Use at Work: Understanding Cyberslacking. Computers in Human Behavior. Elsevier 27 1751-1759 Wallace, P. (2004)The Internet in the Workplace. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.; p 301.

Whitty, M. & Carr, A.N. (2006) New Rules in the Workplace: Applying objectrelations theory to explain problem Internet and email behavior in the workplace.

Computer in Human Behaviour 22 235-250.

Zuboff, S. (1994) Automatizar/Informatizar: As duas faces da tecnologia inteligente.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec 2012, pp.473-496 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752012000300003

SOFTWARE PROCESS ASSESSMENT AND IMPROVEMENT USING MULTICRITERIA DECISION AIDING CONSTRUCTIVIST Leonardo Ensslin Luiz Carlos Mesquita Scheid Sandra Rolim Ensslin Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil Rogério Tadeu de Oliveira Lacerda UNISUL – University of South of Santa Catarina, Brazil _____________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT Software process improvement and software process assessment have received special attention since the 1980s. Some models have been created, but these models rest on a normative approach, where the decision-maker’s participation in a software organization is limited to understanding which process is more relevant to each organization. The proposal of this work is to present the MCDA-C as a constructivist methodology for software process improvement and assessment. The methodology makes it possible to visualize the criteria that must be taken into account according to the decision-makers’ values in the process improvement actions, making it possible to rank actions in the light of specific organizational needs. This process helped the manager of the company studied to focus on and prioritize process improvement actions. This paper offers an empirical understanding of the application of performance evaluation to software process improvement and identifies complementary tools to the normative models presented today.

Keywords: software process assessment, software process improvement, decision, performance measurement, CMMI, SPICE.

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 04/04/2011 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 17/07/2012 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência Leonardo Ensslin, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Campus Universitário – Trindade, Caixa Postal 476, CEP 88040-900, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil Luiz Carlos Mesquita Scheid, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Brasil Sandra Rolim Ensslin, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Campus Universitário – Trindade, Caixa Postal 476, CEP 88040-900, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil Rogerio Tadeu de Oliveira Lacerda, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração da UNISUL, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil, Email: rogerlacerda@gmail.com http://lattes.cnpq.br/7209487473702675

Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2012 All rights reserved.

474 Ensslin, L. , Scheid, L. C. M., Ensslin, S. R., Lacerda, R. T. O.

1.

INTRODUCTION

Software process improvement (SPI) and software process assessment (SPA) have received special attention from government, researchers and industries (Staples et al., 2007; Coleman et al., 2008; Habra et al., 2008; Niazi et al., 2010). Published works certify the economy provided by the improvement in software quality (Pitterman, 2000).

Since the 1980s several models have been developed with this intention. The most used by software organizations are CMMI and SPICE (Kuilboer et al., 2000). The CMM and CMMI models were developed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) of Canergie Mellon University and SPICE by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Despite the importance and the interest, when we looked for statistics about the number of software organizations that have adopted one of the models, we have noticed that few have done so. Lack of adoption can be seen by examining the SEI CMMI appraisal data for the years 2002–2006, in which period just 1581 CMMI appraisals were reported to the SEI (Coleman et al., 2008).

Why are these models not being adopted as expected?

The proposed models are based on a base processes activity (BPA) set. These activities are pre-defined by models (Yoo et al., 2006). Following the rationalist paradigm, the models determine which processes the organization should execute (Roy, 1993). They suggest the order in which the process areas must be assessed and improved with regard to performance. Finally, they determine how to consider the current stage of process capacity or the adoption of a practice.

Looking for an adaptation, SPICE (ISO/IEC 15.504) was developed using the software continuous assessment and performance improvement process. The continuous models present a path to organizations to prioritize the process areas to be improved in accordance with their business plans (Sheard et al., 1999). CMMI has followed the changes and it has two models: (1) continuous and (2) by stages. Work developed by researchers has been published with proposals to facilitate some of the difficulties in the models’ adoption, for example: (a) how to identify the barriers in an organization from the perspective of software assessment and improvement processes and the determination of critical success factors (Staples et al., 2007; Niazi et al., 2010) and (b) how the judgment about the current stage of an activity or process may or may not have credibility (lee et al., 2001; Niazi et al., 2009).

In order to address this weakness, this work presents the use of the methodology Multi-criteria Decision Aiding – Constructivist (MCDA-C) (de Moraes et al., 2010; Ensslin et al., 2010), as an alternative for software organizations, for adoption in process assessment and improvement, through the option of the constructivist approach, which recognizes the need of expansion of a decision-maker’s knowledge about his/her specific decision context (Lacerda et al., 2011a), in contrast with normative models which believe they have an optimum solution to any context.

The relevance of this research is supported by the opportunity of using the MCDA-C in information technology project management to aid CMMI projects (Lacerda et al., 2011b).

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Software process assessment and improvement using Multicriteria Decision Aiding Constructivist 475 Thus, the specific objectives of the research are: (i) to present a performance measurement methodology and to generate a better understanding of the objectives of process improvement in an organization; and (ii) to present a case study in order to illustrate the proposed methodology for assessing and creating decision opportunities in process improvement programmes.

In the next section, a short description is given of the CMMI and SPICE models.

In Section 3, the methodological procedures used in this research are described, with a case study applying the MCDA-C presented in Section 4 and, finally, considerations and conclusions are provided in Section 5 2.

SPICE AND CMMI MODELS

This section highlights two normative models used to improve processes in software development: SPICE and CMMI. 2.1.

SPICE

In January 1993, ISO/IEC JTC1 approved starting work with the objective of elaborating an international pattern for SPA. In 1988, the technical report ISO/IEC TR 15.504 was published. The project was named SPICE. It had three main objectives:  to develop initial documents to the pattern of SPA (called technical reports);  to organize the industry initiatives regarding the use of the new pattern;  to promote the technology transfer of SPA inside the software industry.

The model proposed for ISO/TEC 15.504 defines the processes and the basic practices to be adopted by the software organization.

The process dimension is assessed with regard to its existence and its adequacy (ISO/IEC15504-3, 1996 p.8). First, the organization tries to implement the base practices of the process and subsequently it tries to look for performance improvements until the completely adequate level is reached. This assessment has an internal proposal, that is, it has no purpose of certification or to achieve external recognition. Processes are grouped into five categories: (1) the supplier–customer category comprising processes that cause direct impact on the customer, operation and use, such as the transition of software from the development to the production environments; (2) the engineering category comprising processes for software specification, building or maintenance, and documentation; (3) the project category, comprising processes concentrating on base practices for project management (activities, effort and term determination, and resources) or services to attend the customer; (4) the support category consisting of processes that support other processes of a project; and; (5) the organization category consisting of processes that establish business objectives in the organization and about software development processes, products, and resources (tangible and intangible). As an example, the base practice of the process identify the customer’s necessities belongs to the supplier–customer category (ISO/IEC15504-2, 1996 p.19). The objective of this process is to manage the union of the process and to meet the customers’ requirements

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aiming to better understand what will satisfy their expectations. The base practices are (a) ascertain the customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; requirements and obtain orders, (b) obtain an understanding of the customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; expectations, and (c) keep the customers informed about the status of requirements and orders.

Another dimension of the assessment concerns process establishment. It is expressed in capacity levels and generic practices, which are grouped with common characteristics. There are six levels of capacity numbered from zero to five. In level 0, Not Executed, there are no common characteristics and in general there are faults in the execution of base practices. The products resulting from the process are not easily identified. In level 1, Executed Informally, the base practices of the process are usually executed but their performance is not planned or followed. In level 2,Planned and Followed, the performance of base practices is planned and followed, the performance agreed is verified and the products resulting from the work are achieved through patterns. In level 3,Well-defined, the base practices are executed in a well-defined process and documented from the pattern specially adapted for software organizations.

Level 4,Controlled Quantitatively, has metrics to analyse and measure the performance, there are processes that allow performance improvement, and the created quality of products is known in a quantitative way. Level 5, Continuous Improvement, is based on the business objectives of the organization. In this level, the quantitative objectives of effectiveness and efficiency are established for the processes that are continuously improved with regard to performance, always comparing them with the goals (objectives) previously established.

The capacity level is measured through the judgment of generic practice adequacy, which has the following scale values: not adequate, partially adequate, largely adequate, and completely adequate. A capacity level is reached when the generic practices are evaluated as completely adequate. The complete definition of generic practices can be found in the document ISO/IEC15504-2 (1996).

2.2.

CMMI

The CMMI, presented in 2000 by SEI, are continuous and staged models, assured by SEI to be compatible with SPICE. Software organizations should choose one or other of the models, and also the disciplines that will be part of the model for the assessment and improvement of the software process (Staples et al., 2008).

The measurement scale of the continuous model is called the capacity dimension (competence to execute a determined process) (Staples et al., 2007). Associated with the capacity level of a process area are the generic practices used to achieve performance improvement, similar to ISO/IEC 15.504. Each stage of the model has the objective of measuring the performance of one group of process areas (PAs) considered by a software organization to be critical to achieve a determined level of maturity (Herbsleb et al., 1996). They are grouped by common characteristics and are characterized by the focus on assessment: institutionalization or implementation (NIAZI et al., 2005a).

Implementation is characterized by having a PA, but not all in the software organization execute their activities as requested. A PA is established when the software organization, as one, executes its activities in a standard way. The level of maturity varies between 1 and 5.

In the continuous model, the organization should pre-determine the PA to be assessed in order to improve performance (SEI, 2006). The processes are grouped into

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Software process assessment and improvement using Multicriteria Decision Aiding Constructivist 477 four categories as summarized by Huang et al. (2006): (1) process management, that has practices related to definition, planning, organization, liberation, implementation, observation, control, verification, measurement, and improvement; (2) project management, that deals with the activities related to planning, observation and control of projects; (3) engineering, covering the development and maintenance of practices that are shared by disciplines of software system engineering; and (4) support, involving the practices that support the development and maintenance of products. Each process has specific goals and practices in deciding on the process implementation, together with generic goals and practices to verify the establishment of a software organization process. For instance, the process requirement development, from the process engineering category, has the proposal of producing and analysing customers’ requirements, products and components of products to be developed. It has as specific goals: the development of customers’ requirements, the development of requested products and the analysis and validation of requirements. The generic goals are: achieve the specific goals and institutionalize a managed process, a defined process, a quantitative management process, and an optimized process. Finally, as an example of specific practices, the specific goal customer requirement development has to (a) collect the needs of the customers, (b) extract the necessities, and (c) transform the customer’s needs, their expectations, restrictions and interfaces to the customers’ requirements. The document CMMI (2006) has a detailed description of each component and examples of the uses of continuous models.

In the staged rather than the continuous model, the PAs are organized by maturity levels to support and propose a process improvement guide. The level of maturity of a software organization is a way to presuppose the future performance related to one set of PAs (Yoo et al., 2006). For example, when an organization achieves level 2 – managed, it is possible to presuppose that in a software development project, the team will be repeating specific practices already institutionalized by reference to project management, because PAs – as requirement management, project planning, project control and attendance, metrics and results analysis, quality guarantee, and configuration management – are disciplines from project management, and all in the organization know them and practice them in daily project work. The maturity level can be considered as a step in performance improvement. Related to the market, benchmarking shows the evolution stage of the software organization. There are five maturity levels: initial, managed, defined, quantitatively managed, and optimizing. As in the continuous model, the components of the staged model are: PA, specific practices and goals, and generic practices and goals. The difference from the continuous model is that, in the staged model, the generic practices are grouped into four common characteristics (Huang et al., 2006). The common characteristics do not receive grades in the assessment process, they only group generic practices and goals. The generic goals are established to verify if the implementation and the institutionalization of each process area are effective, repetitive and lasting.

3.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This section is divided into three sub-sections. The first presents the methodological framing, the second the intervention instrument adopted and the third resumes the procedures of the method executed in this research.

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3.1.

Methodological framing

In order to justify the intervention instrument as a proper method in this research, there is a need to understand the means that science has to meet challenges (Tasca et al., 2010). These ways of dealing with problems are decision-aiding approaches adopted by the researcher or consultant when finding solutions to organizational problems. Each approach carries with it a set of assumptions that affects the way that management is understood, developed and implemented during the decision-making process (ROY, 1993).

Thus, the approaches and their work assumptions are world views that act as filters in the eyes of researchers and consultants, making them see specific things and ignore others in the contexts in which they operate (Melão et al., 2000).

To see the benefits occasioned by SPI, the decision approach should demonstrate certain properties. These properties are closely connected with the world view adopted by the researcher or consultant working on process improvement.

Each of these perspectives carries with it a set of assumptions that directly affects the modus operandi with the methodologies of process management that are developed and implemented in organizations, because they act as lenses through which certain properties are observed and others disregarded (Melão et al., 2000; Brunswik et al., 2001; Karlsson, 2008).

For an understanding of these approaches, Roy (1993) categorizes three ways to deal with problems in the decision-making process: (i) the path of realism, (ii) the axiomatic (prescriptive) path and (iii) the method of constructivism (Roy, 1993; Tsoukias, 2008).

In the realist approach, the decision-maker is considered to be a rational human being and he trusts the model to represent reality (Roy, 1993).

The axiomatic methods aim, from the discourse of the decision-maker, to identify deductive logic to identify the values and preferences of the decision-maker to build a model. Thus, this approach generates knowledge for the facilitator to understand the situation and prescribe solutions (Keeney, 1992).

The constructivist approach aims to generate knowledge in decision-making during the construction of the model, so that the decision-maker can understand the consequences of the current situation for his/her values and the evolution caused by his/her decisions for his/her strategic objectives (Roy, 1993; Tsoukias, 2008).

Affiliated with the constructivist paradigm (Lacerda et al., 2011a), the intervention instrument set in this paper is the Multi-Criteria Decision Aiding Methodology – Constructivist (MCDA-C).

3.2.

MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION AIDING – CONSTRUCTIVIST (MCDA-C) The MCDA was cited as an important decision-making context more than two centuries ago (Lacerda et al., 2011b). The consolidation of the method as a scientific instrument occurred in the 1990s, through the work of researchers such as Roy (1993), Keeney (1992), Landry (1995), Bana e Costa et al. (1999), among others.

The MCDA-C is a branch of the MCDA, as a way to aid decision-makers in complex, conflicting, uncertain contexts, where the decision-makers want to improve

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Software process assessment and improvement using Multicriteria Decision Aiding Constructivist 479 their understanding of the situation and no alternatives exist at the beginning of the process, but should be developed (Ensslin et al., 2000; de Moraes et al., 2010; Ensslin et al., 2010; ZamcopĂŠ et al., 2010; Azevedo et al., 2011; Della Bruna JR et al., 2011; Lacerda et al., 2011a; Lacerda et al., 2011b; Azevedo et al., 2012; DA ROSA et al., 2012).

Bearing in mind the scientific contribution of this paper, Table 1 draws core differences between realist and constructivist approaches.

Decision-aiding paradigms

Paradigm description

Decision-maker P1 = Uniqueness, values and Identity preferences

P2 = Limited Knowledge

Decision-makersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; need to improve their understanding of the decision consequences

P3 = Social Entity

To favour stakeholders with interests in the decision to submit their interests to the decision

P4 = Recursive Participatory Learning

P5 = Principles of Measurement

How the realist approach performs (CMMI and SPICE) Once the model is universal, it does not take into account particular goals, resources or competences In the realist approach, the decision-maker is a rational human being and he trusts the model to represent reality This concern is not taken into account in the realist approach

The realism approach relies on the existence of universal The dynamic mathematical or recursive process of economic models to participantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s learning explain which processes should be managed The CMMI and SPICE approaches use a boolean scale to measure the reach for Properties of ordinal each practice scales, interval, and (perform or not ratio perform the practice) and the approaches does not have a compensation system for the practices

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How the constructivist approach performs (MCDA-C) Criteria for evaluating best practices must be contextualized and developed in each case Approaches need to expand the understanding of decision-makers about their contexts

Recognizes that process assessment is influenced by social participants in SPI Recognition that the learning process is cyclical and that the organization needs a mechanism to incorporate such knowledge in the organizational culture The attractiveness to each decision-maker of improving each level of ordinal scale is not linear and the compensation rates for each criterion depend on the reference levels of the ordinal scales

480 Ensslin, L. , Scheid, L. C. M., Ensslin, S. R., Lacerda, R. T. O.

P6 = Legitimacy and Validation

The path of realism is Transparency of based on the participation, assumption of the recognition of the generation of usefulness of the knowledge from knowledge generated experiments that need and the scientific to be determined status of the objectively, i.e. construction of the without the knowledge used interference of human perception

Recognition by the decision-maker, knowledge built by the decision-aiding process was useful to understand the consequences of SPI for strategic objectives as well as having scientific support for corporate use

Table 1: Paradigms of decision aiding and how the approaches perform. Source: Adapted from Lacerda et al. (2011b; 2011a) 3.3.

Procedures of the MCDA-C

The construction of the model of performance measurement following the MCDA-C methodology is divided into three phases: (i) structuring, (ii) evaluation, and (iii) recommendations (Bana E Costa et al., 1999) as presented in Figure 1 and described in this sub-section.

FIGURE 1: The MCDA-C phases. Source: De Moraes et al. (2010) 3.3.1. Step 1: Contextualization The Structuring Phase aims to achieve a broad understanding of the problem to be discussed. To achieve such a goal, the stakeholders are identified, so that it becomes clear whose perception of the context is important and for whom knowledge about the context should be improved.

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Software process assessment and improvement using Multicriteria Decision Aiding Constructivist 481

3.3.2. Step 2: For process improvement: a study case The decision-maker, with the facilitator’s help, defines a label for the problem that describes the focus of the main decision-maker’s concerns. The facilitator then encourages the decision-maker to talk about the context and, by interpreting the interviews, the primary elements of evaluation (PEE) are identified (Lacerda et al., 2011b). Thus, the understanding of each PEE is expanded by the construction of the objective associated with it. For each PEE, a concept representing the decision-maker’s choice of preference direction is built, as well as its psychological opposite pole (Eden et al., 1992).

With the concepts built, means–ends relationship maps are constructed. In the cognitive map, the clusters of concepts are identified (Eden et al., 1985). Each cluster in the cognitive map has an equivalent point of view in the hierarchical structure of value.

3.3.3. Step 3: Construction of descriptors The hierarchical structure of value represents the dimension called fundamental points of view (FPsV) or criteria. Thus, it is necessary to use the information in the cognitive maps to build ordinal scales in the hierarchical structure of value, named descriptors, in order to measure the range of what is measured (Bana e Costa et al., 1999). In order to establish the basis for comparing the performance among descriptors, the decision-maker must identify the reference levels ‘neutral’ and ‘good’ (Lacerda et al., 2011a).

3.3.4. Step 4: Independence analysis The MCDA-C uses a compensatory model to build the global evaluation model.

This model needs the compensation rates used in the integration to be constant. Thus, the criteria must be independent. The ordinal and cardinal independency analysis is conducted in this phase (Lacerda et al., 2011b).

3.3.5. Step 5: Construction of values functions and identification of compensation rates The next step in the MCDA-C methodology is the transformation of the ordinal scales into value functions. This transformation requires the decision-makers to describe the different levels of attractiveness for all the levels of the ordinal scale. Integration is achieved by associating the compensation rates with the increase in performance when improving from the ‘neutral’ reference level to the ‘good’ reference level for each descriptor (Lacerda et al., 2011b).

3.3.6. Step 6: Identification of impact profile of alternatives With the multi-criteria model, it is possible to measure the performance of the alternatives. The models built by the MCDA-C methodology make an explicit evaluation possible in the cardinal and graphical forms, facilitating the understanding of the strong as well as the weak points of the alternatives evaluated (Lacerda et al.,

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482 Ensslin, L. , Scheid, L. C. M., Ensslin, S. R., Lacerda, R. T. O.

2011b).

3.3.7. Step 7: Sensitivity analysis The model allows for the development of a sensitivity analysis of the impact of alternatives in the scales, in the attractiveness difference in the cardinal scales as well as in the compensation rates (Lacerda et al., 2011b).

3.3.8. Step 8: Formulation of recommendations The knowledge generated by the MCDA-C allows the decision-makers to visualize where the performance of the alternatives is ‘good’, ‘normal’ or ‘poor’. The levels of the ordinal scales allow the identification of actions to improve performance.

Mixing this element with the global evaluation obtained in the previous step, it is possible to create alternatives and assess their impact in the context (Lacerda et al., 2011b). This process is called the recommendation stage.

4.

CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH FOR PROCESS IMPROVEMENT: A CASE STUDY The next sections will present a study case using the MCDA-C in order to assess and create improvement actions in the processes of a software company.

4.1.

Step 1: Contextualization

The work of NIAZI et al. (2005b) presented an empirical study of critical factors of success for an SPI model adoption, based on published literature and research undertaken with software organizations. Senior management commitment, staff involvement and team training appeared as the main critical success factors.

In the multi-criteria methodology of decision aid, the decision-maker (a person or a group of people) is asked to participate in all problem descriptions. The interaction among the decision-maker, facilitator (the person who will facilitate and aid the decision process) and procedures will occur throughout the decision process (Roy, 1993; Barthélemy et al., 2002). In MCDA-C, in asking how SPI and SPA works, it is necessary to define that the players in the subsystem consisted of decision-makers (people who have the maximum responsibility to make decisions), actors (people involved in a passive way), representatives (people who represent the decision-maker when he/she is absent) and the facilitator (Lacerda et al., 2011b).

The research commenced with meetings with the decision-makers of a software company based in Santa Catarina State, Brazil, in order to contextualize the problem.

The company wanted to have a method to measure performance and create process improvement action plans in the light of the strategic objectives of its managers.

The interview resulted in the establishment of a problem focus, with definitions of: 

Problem label: assessing and creating process improvement action plans in the light of the strategic objectives of the company.

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Software process assessment and improvement using Multicriteria Decision Aiding Constructivist 483     

Decision-maker: operations director.

Relevant stakeholders: others directors and project managers.

Those directly affected by decisions: employees.

Those indirectly affected by decisions: customers.

Facilitators: researchers.

4.2.

Step 2: Hierarchical structure of value

One of the problems of the decision-makers in an organization is the identification and prioritization of the areas of process which should be assessed and improved (Huang et al., 2006; Trkman, 2010).

Using MCDA-C, the improvement of opportunities will be identified by the players in the decision process, which, in an interactive form, initially identifies the primary elements of evaluation (PEsE). The PEsE are identified during meetings where the players freely mention their values, concerns, problems, actions, everything related to the process that they want to improve (Bana e Costa et al., 1999).

Afterwards, the built concepts direct the actions, the PEsE, and associations with a psychological opposite (Eden et al., 1992), so that the concepts have two separate poles by “...”, read as “instead of”.

Table 2 shows a sub-set of the PEsE and concepts built in this study case.

PEE Common 0 technology 1 Independence 0 2 Technology 0 planning 3 Same 1 technology 6

Concept Have projects with same technology ... each project with different technology Define technology for the project ... allow third party dictation Define the technology in advance ... be defined only at beginning of project Having projects with the same technology ... do not decrease the learning curve and hinder the generation and accumulation of knowledge

Productivity 2 object oriented (OO)

Having OO productivity tools like the others ... lose competitiveness relative to the market (price and time)

No 2 automated tools

Having automated tools ... effort to allow repetitive work, increasing the possibility of errors in software products

0

Technology 4 dictated by third parties

Define technology for the project ... technology dictated by third parties

1

Timing 4 of technology definition

Define the technology in advance... do not allow the programming team to prepare for the project (training, adjustments in the process)

0

1

Table 2: Sub-set of PEsE and concepts of the case study. Source: Authors.

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484 Ensslin, L. , Scheid, L. C. M., Ensslin, S. R., Lacerda, R. T. O.

4.3.

Step 3: Construction of descriptors

The next step using MCDA-C is to build cognitive maps (Eden et al., 1992). The map structure is formed by means concepts and end concepts, related by influence connections (Montibeller et al., 2007). Figure 2 presents an example based on PEsE and concepts built in previous examples. The top of the map shows the concern area of technology definition. Original concepts are numerated and are centralized in the map.

The concepts built towards the end are achieved through the question: ‘Why is this concept important?’. The concepts built towards the means are achieved through the question: ‘How could you achieve such a concept?’.

In order to group together the knots with strong connections, called intracomponents, a cluster is formed. In the example below, Figure 2, two clusters of three are highlighted. The third cluster (hidden in the figure) is about object-oriented tools, as can express the concept 20.

Technology Definition

20 - ....

Improve productivity (hour/function point) resulting from projects ...

Have low productivity

1 – have projects with same technology ... each project with different technology

Develop a marketing plan to promote the technology used internally ...

The customer does not know the technology used

3 – define the technology in advance ... only defined at beginning of the project

Participate in events (courses, lectures, etc.) aligned with objectives ...

Do not prospect new technologies

2 – define technology for the project ... allow third party dictation

Have people and processes prepared ...

Have no facilities prepared

Develop partnership with TI universities...

Have no strategic partnerships

Sell the technology area ...

The market does not recognize the area

Have a method of technology absorption...

Have no explicit knowledge

Have a technology team that studies and defines ...

Have no technology defined internally

Are following tendencies ...

Be surprised by innovations

FIGURE 2: Concept hierarchy map. Source: Authors.

The cognitive map built from each area of the decision-makers’ concerns has a set of candidates from the fundamental point of view (FPV) (Lacerda et al., 2011a).

These FPsV will be represented in a tree structure. Figure 3 shows the derived structure of the previous example. The global point of view technology definition is decomposed into three areas of interest: (1) Standard technology, (2) technology time definition and (3) OO tools. The interest area standard technology, as an example, has the candidates

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Software process assessment and improvement using Multicriteria Decision Aiding Constructivist 485 for FPV promote technology used internally and technology area concept. At this point of the MCDA-C methodology use, the problem is already structured. The next steps will present the preparation of the assessment of potential actions.

Technology definition

Standard Technology standard

Divulgate technology used internally

Technology time definition

Technology area concept

Events participation

University partnership

OO Tools

Technology method absorption

Technology team

FIGURE 3: FPV candidates structure. Source: Authors.

Through the MCDA-C methodology a multi-criteria model is built for assessment of potential actions and improvements using descriptors. The descriptor has the function of giving a better understanding of the decision-makerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concern and the value function measures the difference in attractiveness among levels of descriptors (Bana e Costa et al., 1999). The descriptor should be measurable, operational (easy to define and measure data to be collected) and understandable (Keeney, 1992; Keeney, 1996).

Promote technology used internally Kit technology for demos

Kit technology used internally

Kit technology prospected

Kit technology trends

How much kit is used internally

How much kit technology is prospected

How much kit technology trends are used

5

5 or more

5 or more

4

4

4

3

3

3

2

2

2

1

1

1

FIGURE 4: Descriptors. Source: Authors.

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Good level Neutral level

486 Ensslin, L. , Scheid, L. C. M., Ensslin, S. R., Lacerda, R. T. O.

In order to build the descriptors, the facilitators used all the concepts related to the respective cluster. Figure 4 presents three descriptors for the measure promote technology used internally point of view.

4.4.

Step 4: Independence analysis

In this case study, all the criteria were analysed to check the independence of preferences, according to the details of Lacerda et al. (2011a).

4.5.

Step 5: Construction of values functions and identification of compensation rates There are several methods for building the value function. In this article, it a semantic judgement method, MACBETH, will be presented (Bana e Costa et al., 1997; Bana e Costa et al., 2005). MACBETH uses the judgment of attractiveness difference between two levels of an ordinal scale. Table 3 presents the value function of the descriptor kit technology used internally.

Descriptor: How much kit technology is used internally Impact Level

Reference Level

Description

N5 N4

GOOD

N3 N2

NEUTRAL

N1

Value Function 5 kits used

133

4 kits used

100

3 kits used

66

2 kits used

0

1 kit or none used

-16

Table 3: Value Function for the descriptor kit technology used internally. Source: Authors.

When we submit a potential action for assessment in the multi-criteria model, it is rarely the best in relation to the criteria analysed (Lacerda et al., 2011b), making it difficult to identify the most attractive work in the fundamental form. Consequently, the compensatory model has arisen aiming to integrate several dimensions in one measure, without mischaracterizing the multi-criteria model. The compensation rate is the way to aggregate these assessment dimensions. The preliminary action mentioned here is the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;status quoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of the process or action to be assessed. This assessment will represent to the decision-maker how much improvement is expected after the action is implemented.

Figure 5 presents the compensation rates achieved by the comparison method pair-to-pair. As an example, the achievement of compensation rates of criteria (a) kit technology used internally (55%), (b) kit technology prospected (30%), and (c) kit technology tendency (15%) are shown in the lower part of Figure 5.

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Software process assessment and improvement using Multicriteria Decision Aiding Constructivist 487

FIGURE 5: Hierarchical structure of value with compensation rates. Source: Authors.

First, it is necessary to order the criteria by preference. To do this, as Figure 6 shows, an ordering matrix was used. It was elaborated with fictitious actions to assess the preference and questions for the decision-maker: Among the fictitious actions, action 1, by which it is possible to build only 4 technology kits used internally, action 2, by which it is possible to build only 4 prospected technology kits, or action 3, by which it is possible to build only 4 technology tendency kits, which is your preference? See Figure 6. The decision-maker answered that the fictitious action 1 was preferred to the others.

The green line represents this preference graphically. The good level is preferred to the neutral level. These judgments are put inside an ordering matrix (see Table 4), where the value 1 is attributed to the line kit internally used technology and columns kit technology prospected and kit technology tendency. Subsequently, other combinations among the fictitious actions are tested achieving the preference order of analysis criteria. Following the use of the weighted version of the MACBETH software, used in a similar way to that when determining the function value, the attractiveness of going from one impact level to another is judged. Table 5 shows the result of this judgment, using the semantic categories (C0 – indifferent, C1 – very weak, C2 – weak, C3 – moderate, C4 – strong, C5 – very strong, and C6 – extreme). To facilitate the decisionmaker’s judgment, for instance, the decision-maker can be asked whether: once kit technology is used internally, is it better than the kit technology prospected and kit

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488 Ensslin, L. , Scheid, L. C. M., Ensslin, S. R., Lacerda, R. T. O.

technology tendency? What is the loss in attractiveness in changing kit technology used internally for kit technology prospected? For this example, the decision-maker answered that the loss of attractiveness is strong (C4).

Kit technology used internally

Have 4 kits

Ter 2 kits

Good

Kit technology prospected

Have 4 kits

Kit technology tendency

Have 4 kits

Good

Have 2 kits

Have 2 kits Neutral

Good

Neutral

Neutral Fictitious action 1 Fictitious action 2 Fictitious action 3

FIGURE 6: Performance of fictitious actions 1, 2 and 3 in sub-criteria of criterion kit technology demonstration. Source: Authors.

Kit technology used internally Kit technology internally

used

Kit technology prospected

Kit technology prospected 1

Kit technology tendency

T Total

1

2

1

1

Kit technology tendency

0

Order

1 ยบ.

2 ยบ.

3 ยบ.

Table 4: Preference ordering matrix of criterion kit technology demonstration. Source: Authors.

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Software process assessment and improvement using Multicriteria Decision Aiding Constructivist 489

Kit Kit Kit technology technology technology used prospected tendency internally Kit technology used internally

C4

Kit technology prospected

Neutral

Rate

C5

C6

55%

C1

C5

30%

C1

15%

Kit technology tendency Neutral

Table 5: Semantic judgment matrix of decision-maker and compensation rates obtained from sub-criterion kit technology demonstration. Source: Authors.

A global assessment of a potential action a is calculated by:

Where: •

V(a) is global assessment of a potential action a belonging to A;

•

A is the set of all possible actions;

•

a is the action to be measured;

• Wj is the compensation rates for the criterion j, which allow the transformation of a partial unit of value related to each PVFj in the global unit value, to the range determined good and neutral; • (VFPVj(a)) is the indicator that determines the local points (attractiveness) of the action a in the PVFj for j = 1, 2, ..., m ; •

4.6.

m is the number of points of view of the model.

Step 6: Identification of impact profile of alternatives

The global assessment is presented in Table 6. Note that the first column presents the PVFs and its descriptors. The second column the compensation rates, as

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490 Ensslin, L. , Scheid, L. C. M., Ensslin, S. R., Lacerda, R. T. O.

Figure 5. The following 5 columns show the value functions of the descriptors. The last column has the value of global action calculated by function V(a). Consequently, as with the decision-maker’s judgment, the potential ‘status quo’ action, the processes related to the objective technology definition have a global value of 28 points. Now, each of the actions can have its impact calculated and so the value of each process improvement in the future can be known, after its implementation.

Fundamental Viewpoint/Elementary or Descriptor

Compensation rate

Value Function N1

N2

N3

N4

N5

Technology Definition Standard technology Communicate technology used internally Kit technology demonstration Kit technology used internally Kit technology prospected Kit technology tendency Presentation of set to customer Technology Area Concept Published works

28.7 43%

2,76

60%

-15.8

58% 55% 30% 15% 42%

46% 54%

Technology Time Definition

22%

Participation in events

16%

Innovations prospected

-16.7 -75.0 -50.0 -57.3

.0 .0 .0 .0

70% 30%

-33.6 -73.2

.0 .0

-60.0 -50.0

.0 .0

29% 32%

0.0

0.0

55%

0.0

00

TI method/technical/process team

45%

-200.0

.0

WEB/OO Tools

6

0 6.5 0 9.1

6

1 00

5

33 1

00 5

25 1

00 7

50 1

00

28

24% 35%

1 00

6

33 1

00

30

14.2 1 66.7 1 -75.0 1 0.0 1 -57.3 30.6 1 66.5 1 0.0 38.3

Partnership with IES Technology team Technology team (hardware and software)

Technology absorption method

0 6.7 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 1.3

40%

Presentation of work in events

Events

Global Action

-100.0 -21.7

.0 .0

0 0.0 0 5.0 5 00.0

6

1 10.0 0 00.0 0 00.0 0 4.6

1

1 00

7

40 1

00 1

25

42.0 1 60.0 1 0.0

1 37

50.0 55.0 100.0

1

2 00

1

0.0 5

00 5

1 00

30

0.0 1 54.6

Table 6: Global assessment of current situation for the case study. Source: Authors.

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Software process assessment and improvement using Multicriteria Decision Aiding Constructivist 491 4.7.

Steps 7 and 8: Sensitivity analysis and formulation of recommendations The developed knowledge from the decision-aiding process has help the managers to measure, on a cardinal scale, the contribution that process improvement actions may make to the strategic objectives of the decision-makers. As can be observed in Table 6, the global measurement was 28 points for the current situation of the studied company. With this knowledge, the decision-makers started a new procedure to sort the improvement requests and improve the current situation.

A common problem of normative models is to create alternatives before knowing the necessary actions in the specific decision context. The presented methodology is first concerned with understanding and explaining the decision-makerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s objectives in an ordinal way.

After that, the model built from the MCDA-C methodology helps the decisionmakers to focus on creating process improvement actions, once all the concerns with the descriptors in the model have been expressed. The technical and expert teams could check each descriptor and determine the possibilities in order to improve each descriptor, using the current resources (Keeney, 1996).

This activity could elicit many process improvement opportunities, making it difficult to determine which action is more likely to improve the context globally. In this case, it is necessary to use the cardinal evaluation to measure the global contribution of each action.

In the case study, two sets of project actions were created. One project focused on communication to collaborate on technology more efficiently and another aimed to improve the technical definition velocity. Table 7 shows the impact of the two projects on global objectives and highlights the preference of the decision-makers to fund the communication project before the velocity project.

Fundamental Viewpoint/Elementary or Descriptor

Compensation rate

Technology Definition

Current Situation

Communication

Velocity

Project

Project

28.7

47

38

Standard Technology

43%

2,76

46

2,76

Communicate technology used internally

60%

-15.8

20

-15.8

Kit technology demonstration

58%

14.2

77

14.2

Kit technology used internally

55%

66.7

100

66.7

Kit technology prospected

30%

-75.0

50

-75.0

Kit technology tendency

15%

0.0

50

0.0

42%

-57.3

-57.3

-57.3

40%

30.6

84

30.6

Published works

46%

66.5

66.5

66.5

Presentation of work in events

54%

0.0

100

0.0

Technology Time Definition

22%

38.3

38.3

82

Participation in events

15%

42.0

42.0

42.0

70%

60.0

60.0

60.0

Presentation of set to customer Technology area concept

Events

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492 Ensslin, L. , Scheid, L. C. M., Ensslin, S. R., Lacerda, R. T. O.

Fundamental Viewpoint/Elementary or Descriptor

Compensation rate

Innovations prospected

Current Situation

Communication

Velocity

Project

Project

30%

0.0

0.0

0.0

Partnership with IES

29%

50.0

50.0

100

Technology team

32%

55.0

55.0

145

Technology team (hardware e software)

55%

100.0

100.0

100.0

TI method/technical/process team

45%

0.0

0.0

200

24%

0.0

0.0

0.0

35%

54.6

54.6

54.6

Technology Absorption method WEB/OO Tools

Table 7: Assessment of two improvement projects of the case study. Source: Authors.

The next stage of MCDA-C is to verify how robust the projects are in the face of the model changes. This procedure is named sensitivity analysis and details can be obtained from Bana e Costa (1999).

5.

CONCLUSIONS

This article summed up the components and assessment methods of two CMMI and SPICE models, the most used by software organizations.

Even with support, these models are not adopted on a large scale. When we researched the published work related to SPI and SPA, the attempt to solve the model weaknesses with palliative solutions was noted.

The MCDA-C is presented as an alternative to SPI and SPA and has as the advantage of being supported by a constructivist paradigm. In this methodology, the problem is structured with the players and takes into account concerns about the context. Consequently, the results of the improvements will address the specific objectives of the decision-makers. Instead of process players prioritizing which BPA should be first, through an interactive process they will structure the problem in accordance with their perceptions and objectives.

As the first specific objective of this research, Section 3 ‘RESEARCH METHODOLOGY’ explained the methodological framing of this research and explored the differences between normative approaches, such as CMMI and SPICE, and the constructivist approaches. Beyond that, a performance measurement methodology to generate a better understanding about the objectives of process improvement in a specific organization was presented.

In order to address the second specific objective, a case study was presented in Section 4 ‘CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH FOR PROCESS IMPROVEMENT: A CASE STUDY’ to illustrate how the proposed methodology can assess and create decision opportunities in IT process improvement programmes.

The MCDA-C methodology has shown its importance in supporting IT project management and other strategic contexts. However, it is recommended that it be applied in other contexts and organizations to observe its generality.

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Software process assessment and improvement using Multicriteria Decision Aiding Constructivist 493 It is important to highlight that the models generated in each situation are specific to the context and the method utilized by this paper may not always be a feasible approach, especially within the context of repetitive decision-making situations where the time required to make decisions is often crucial.

6.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank the Proof-Reading-Service.com by the review the English version of this paper as well as to thank the considerations of the referees, who improved this work.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec 2012, pp.497-514 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752012000300004

VALUE CREATION FROM ORGANIZATIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY IN A GOVERNMENT AGENCY Warlei Agnelo de Oliveira University Center UNA, Minas Gerais, Brazil Cristiana Fernandes De Muylder University FUMEC /FACE, Minas Gerais, Brazil _____________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT This paper aims to analyze, through a case study based on a construct of the work of Thomas and Mulally (2008), called Researching the Value of Project Management, the relations of the constructs of this conceptual model and to show how they interfere with the organizational values, possibly in programs conducted by a government agency, from the perspective of the senior management directly involved. The analysis of information collected indicated that project management has brought value to the organization, but not all components of the conceptual model used were perceived. Additionally, differences between respondents from outside and inside of this department become evident, indicating a difference in stakeholders´ interests. Finally, from the perspective of institutional isomorphism, we searched for evidence of an effort to increase the organization's management maturity in project management, indicating by documents the mimetic and coercive isomorphism to ensure the achievement of goals and financial efficiency of the projects analyzed.

Keywords: Project Management, Strategy, Organizational value, Government.

Isomorphism.

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 26/08/2010 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 13/06/2012 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência Warlei Agnelo De Oliveira, Centro Universitário UNA, Professor do Centro Universitário UNA nos cursos de graduação em Engenharia Civil e Tecnólogos em Gestão Ambiental e Logística. Engenheiro Assessor da Secretaria de Transportes e Obras Públicas do Estado de Minas Gerais. Mestre em administração pela Faculdade Novos Horizontes, especializado em gestão de projetos pela Fundação Getúlio Vargas, graduado em Engenharia Civil pela Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Endereço: Rua Lindolfo Caetano, 90 – Bairro Calafate - Belo Horizonte – MG - Brasil, CEP 30190-051 – Telefone (31) 3377-2493 – Email: warlei.oliveira@prof.una.br / warlei@gmail.com Cristiana Fernandes de Muylder, Universidade FUMEC /FACE Professora e pesquisadora do Mestrado e Doutorado de Administração e do Mestrado de Administração de Sistemas de Informação e Gestão do Conhecimento da Universidade FUMEC. Doutora e Mestre em Economia Aplicada pela Universidade Federal de Viçosa. Especialista em Planejamento estratégico e sistemas de informação – PUCMinas. Endereço: Av. Afonso Pena 3880 – 1º. Andar – Bairro Cruzeiro - Belo Horizonte – MG - CEP 30310-009 – Telefone (31) 3260-5232 – Email: cristiana.muylder@fumec.br

Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2012 All rights reserved.

498 Oliveira, W. A. de, De Muylder, C.F.

1

INTRODUCTION

The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines project as "a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result " and project management as "the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet their requirements" ( PMI, 2008).

Even if conceptually, the use of project management is related to the proper performance of goals and concepts of business strategy to corroborate this necessity.

However, there are problems in the acceptance of project management, especially among senior executives in organizations.

This difficulty was found in practice by Thomas, Delisle and Jugdev (2002), in a survey of 933 people, including project managers, consultants and American executives, in which the main question of the first phase of the research was "Why is it difficult to sell project management to senior executives? ". The study showed, among other conclusions, that this difficulty is often due to cognitive gaps between the project stakeholders.

This article summarizes a research that aimed to revisit the topic in the literature "Project management and organizational value measurement " through a case study from the perspective of the Brazilian public administration, and then built on the Thomas and Mullaly (2008) conceptual model and the relationships between the constructs of this model in the Department of Highways of the State of Minas Gerais DER / MG - demonstrated by two main programs managed from the perspective of the senior management involved how these programs possibly interfere with the organizational values. Particularly, the article intent is: to identify the dimensions and components and variables of each component of the constructs of the model of Thomas and Mullaly (2008), identifying the most perceived dimensions of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;valueâ&#x20AC;? construct and to analyze possible influences of context and implementation in the perceived values.

2

2.1

DEVELOPMENT

Project management and organizational structure

Ansoff (1993) defines three basic characteristics of an "innovation plan": temporality, specific beginning dates and ending dates and no binding to the business units, which is similar to the characteristics of a project proposed for several authors in Kerzner (2002, p. 17), Cleland and Ireland (2002, p. 5) and PMI (2008), the latter stating the projects "... are often used as a means of achieving the strategic plan of an organization."

Thus, Kerzner (2002, p. 22-23) says that since the 1990s, the organizations have decided to implement project management, mostly not by choice, but by necessity.

So, the project management is best suited to organizational structures called "matrix" and "projectized." The concept is already well established and can be seen from studies of Galbraith (1971), Larson and Gobeli (1987), Kerzner (2001), Archibald and Prado (2007, p. 100) and PMI (2008, p.28).

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Organizational value

The attempt to measure the organizational value initiatives has been in a range of disciplines for a long time (Thomas & Mullaly, 2008, p. 10), and there is no consensus on the concept of a defined organizational value, as well as the components that build it.

Figueiredo (2003) demonstrated this effort, dividing the organizational performance measurement systems (OPMS) in three distinct chronological phases: the first between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries, the second between the beginning of the twentieth century and the beginning of the 1980s and the third this decade to the present day.

The first phase summarize today's primary accounting practices and the development of the first management systems and production control. In the second phase the performance measurement incorporated to the planning and control of organizations was observed, taking as references the studies of authors such as Frederick Taylor and Henry Gantt with a focus on manpower and production time, besides several techniques, emphasizing the development of Tableau de bord and "Du Pont Pyramid" (Neely, 2004, p. 148, 162), operational processes represented by Deming and Shewhart) and Scenario planning (Netto, 2007).

Finally, the third stage, according to Netto (2007), was a criticism of previous and similar models and it is based on intangible assets, not totally financial. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is the greatest representative of this new model. However, still based on the financial dimension, we have the economic value added (EVA), from Stern Stewart & Co., created in 1990s.

Starting wtih bias models, also based on intangible assets, we can quote the work of Keegan, Eiler and Jones (1989), who proposed before the 1992 Kaplan and Norton work, a performance assessment array, reflecting the need of balancing the measurement of organizational indicators, Fitzgerald et al. (1991) (which includes a competitive perspective), Brown (1996) (Macro Process Model Organization of the.) and Neely (2004), who described the Strategic Measurement and Reporting Technique (SMART), that use internal efficiency and external effectiveness measures of the organization.

Regarding the public sector, Kaplan and Norton (2004, p. 9) indicate a BSC model for the public sector, which differentiates in the original model. According to the authors, public and non profit entities "[...] should define their social impact and their goals differently." But fundamentally, their success criteria are the performance of a mission accomplishment.

More specifically, as to the value of project management in the organization, we can list Ibbs and Reginato (2002), who correlated project management maturity level (measured by Berkeley´s Model) and indicators such as ROI (Return on Investment), CPI (Cost Performance Index) and SPI (Schedule Performance Index), Bryde (2003), who built the model to evaluate the performance of project management and, indirectly, revealed the value of project management, Eskerod and Riis (2009), in multiple case studies of public and private Canadian and German, Crawford and Helm (2009) in case studies of public organizations in Australia.

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Given the inadequacies of the current OPMS, with limitations and disabilities for measuring the value of organizational initiatives, Thomas and Mullaly (2008, p. 23) suggested, from studies of Hackman and Wageman1 (1995) and Hills et al.2 (2003), that the studies devoted to measuring the value of project management in organizations should respond to three types of questions to be detailed in the next section.

2.3

The model of Thomas and Mullaly (2008)

Corroborating to the various attempts to measure the organizational value seen in the previous section, the project management simply joins a long line of other initiatives that also engage to prove their value to their organizations if the value and impacts on the organization are not clear and widely defined. (Thomas and Mullaly, 2008, p. 1).

In this effort to prove that the value of project management can create value to the work of organizations, PMI began in April 2005 and published in 2008 a study to identify and quantify this value, called Researching the Value of Project Management.

The work contains 65 case studies of organizations in various categories throughout the world. One of the revelations of this study shows that project management practices are highly correlated with satisfying results of the project, success in achieving the project goals and success in project outcomes.

Thomas and Mullaly (2008) guiding conceptual model was designed in 20053 as Figure .

Figure 1 - Conceptual model of Thomas and Mullaly Source: Thomas and Mullaly (2008) 1

Hackman, J. R.; Wageman, R. (1995). Total quality management: Empirical, conceptual and practical issues. Administrative Sciences Quarterly, Vol. 40, n. 2, p. 309-342.

2 HILLS, F. J. L.; JOVER, A. V.; MOLINA Fernandez, L. M. (2003). Factors Affecting the relationship Between total quality management and organizational performance. International Journal of Quality Management and Reliability, v. 20, n. 2.

3 THOMAS, J., Mullaly, M. (2005) What's the benefit? Challenges in Demonstrating the value of project management. PMI Congress. Toronto, Canada.

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This model proposes that the choice for the implementation of project management within an organization will be influenced by any direction of the organization's business - focus, strategic direction and vision of itself as an entity - and the environment in which the organization operates, which, in turn, is influenced by its line of business, its customers, its economic context and the types of projects usually managed (PMI, 2008a, p. 24).

From the perspective of the analysis of the three constructs, the model attempts to make the understanding of how project management can create value to the work of an organization (Thomas and Mullaly, 2008, emphasis added): a)

Organizational Context - To what degree does the organization " do the right things" in the context of project management that is appropriate to itself and the types of projects managed?

b) Implementation project management - To what degree does a working model of established project management influence the delivery of projects? They are more efficient, more effective and better able to deliver more reliable projects? Did the process improvement of project management enable the organization to improve the strategic focus and differentiate their services on the market? c)

The type of value considered by the organization that produces project management - To what degree do the capabilities of project management actually impact the organizational goals, such as cost reduction, efficiency, or increase revenue? What is the return on investment for the organization in training in project management in place?

Among the many findings of multiple case studies organized and characterized by Thomas and Mullaly (2008) , it was noticed that the values that the project management conveys to the organization are determined by its context and its way of implementation.

2.4

Project management in the public sector and its relation with the institutional isomorphism

The management of projects and programs in the public sector are being recognized in the governmental initiatives of various countries, in most cases associated with an increased public scrutiny and the need for quality of public spending (Crawford & Helm, 2009).

Such initiatives may be associated with the movement of New Public Management (NPM), and the significance embodied in the British government, which promised to "reduce costs and at the same time, promote improvements in government operations" (Caiden4, 1998 cited by Crawford and Helm, 2009, our translation). Since then, Abrucio (1997) describes the evolution of British public management model and Bresser Pereira (1997) cites some British programs focused on managerialism and other similar reforms in Sweden, New Zealand and Australia. Nowadays, Yasin et al (2009)

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Caiden, N (2008). The new generation of budget reform. In: G. B. Peters and D. J. Savoie (Ed.), Taking stock: Assessing public sector Reforms (Pp. 252-284). Montreal, Canada: Canadian Centre for Management Development, McGill-Queen's University Press.

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present studies showing that NPM emphasizes a systematic use of strategic planning, programming, budgeting, risk management, accountability and services and activities geared to the population (output orientation).

However, there is a controversy regarding to the effectiveness of new management models, explained by new institutionalism and managerial trends and simplified transfers of private management practices to the public sector, indicated by Paula (2007, p. 90-91). The COCOPS - Coordinating Cohesion - is in the sector of the Future Public, in a review of 520 studies on NPM reforms seen in Europe, revealed that these do not provide solutions that work well in all circumstances and that government is not always successful. The research shows that 51% (average) of the reforms analyzed in 866 “results to the population” (or outcomes), “services to the population” (or outputs) and processes of “transformation of resources into outputs” (or process), on average, 51% were improved or worsened and the rest was simply maintained (Cocops, 2011).

The classic text of Powell and DiMaggio (2005), the greatest representatives of the new institutional theory, warning that organizational innovations spread across organizations, does not necessarily mean that it improves their performance, but provides legitimacy "[...] to demonstrate that organizations are at least trying to improve their working conditions" against their peers in an organizational field or society.

Another phenomenon noted by the authors is the homogenization of these practices in a given organizational field, "causing them to become more similar to each other," reducing the diversity in the field. So to explain this homogenization, DiMaggio and Powell (2005) identify three mechanisms that induce isomorphic change: the coercive, the mimetic and normative. The coercive isomorphism "[...] the result of pressures of formal and informal pressures exerted by other organizations on which they depend and by cultural expectations of society in which organizations operate" (DiMaggio and Powell, 2005, p. 77).

When organizations have problems with unclear answers, taking as a model other organizations is a response to uncertainty (DiMaggio and Powell, 2005, p. 78). Thus, the uncertainty encourages imitation of patterns and management models, characterizing the mimetic isomorphism. The authors emphasize that such an isomorphism can be spread by powerful organizational models and new management practices developed by consulting firms (DiMaggio and Powell, 2005, p. 79), for example.

Finally, normative isomorphism stems primarily from professionalization of the organizational field through formal education and legitimization of the knowledge base produced by universities, institutions or professional associations (DiMaggio and Powell, 2005, p.79-80).

3

METHODOLOGY

As for the approach, this work is characterized as a descriptive and qualitative case study, because, by its justification, it contains at its core a replication of a conceptual model of Thomas and Mullaly (2008) to create organizational value through the project management and their causal relationships at the unit of analysis observed.

Yin (2001) states that the case study contributes to understanding the unique phenomena of the individual, organizational, social and political issues and that this is JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 497-514

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the strategy chosen when examining contemporary events, but when you can not handle relevant behaviors. Completing Yin, TriviĂąos (1987, p. 111), states that a descriptive study exactly describes the facts and phenomena of a certain reality.

The basic strategy used in this case study was the theoretical proposition of the model of Thomas and Mullaly (2008) and its two correlations indicated in item 2.3 of this article. According to Yin (2001, p. 133), the theoretical propositions on case studies help to organize the same set and alternative explanations to be examined.

The unit of analysis was the DER / MG, subject to the State Secretariat of Transportation and Public Works - SETOP, which managed and executed the two â&#x20AC;&#x153;Structural projects" or "Structural programs" that mobilize the material and human unit of analysis, called ProAcesso and Pro-MG. The ProAcesso is part of a set of actions of the Minas Gerais State Government to improve the infrastructure in all regions of the state, whose strategic objective is to increase the accessibility of the population of small municipalities to basic social services and markets (MINAS GERAIS, 2009, p. 269). On the other hand,the Pro-MG Program aims to reduce transportation costs, to expand access to markets of mining production, at the provision of an efficient, adequate and safe road network, and to overcome bottlenecks and improve the quality of transport infrastructure, to expand the competitiveness of the mining economy and the development of the regions of low economic activity (MINAS GERAIS, 2009a, p. 174).

Both projects mentioned above have great weight in the DER / MG, exceeding more than 50% of expenditure committed to investments in 2008 and over 76% of the credit provided for investment for 2009, shown in the budget of the Minas Gerais State Government.

The subjects were divided into four groups, with people that at least for the past two years have been directly involved in at least one of two programs, with power to decide on the programs: a) senior management of the DER / MG (directors); b) top management SETOP (undersecretaries and secretary); c) executive and associate managers, and d) representatives of outside bodies to the DER / MG and SETOP with direct influence on projects.

The study was divided into two groups: either respondent stakeholders internal to DER / MG working directly in this department, and respondents or stakeholders external to the DER / MG who do not work directly in this department.

One peculiarity is that some of the respondents held senior management positions and, at the same time, they are managers or assistant managers of a program.

As for the research technique, the main semi-structured questionnaire was chosen and applied mainly by the interaction with the respondent. Yin (2001, p.112) states that interviews are essential sources of information.

In order to increase the reliability of the construct analyzed, we used the triangulation technique proposed by Yin (2001). One reason for that was that the source of information on some variables of the model was best interpreted by the evidence, which were captured through questionnaires applied to secondary representatives of the

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operational part of the analyzed projects and document analysis in a time horizon (two years).

All of this information was obtained based on the variables which presented an analysis of the main components of the three constructs from Thomas and Mullalyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s conceptual model (2008). It must be emphasized that not all variables that were introduced in the original study suit the type of organization, since this study was conducted in different kinds of organizations and countries, in various contexts.

Thus, for each variable adjusted in DER / MG question was developed, which has a connection to a component of the conceptual model of Mullaly and Thomas (2008) which, in turn, binds to a dimension and finally to a construct. Table contains the number of questions in the questionnaire divided by construct, dimension and component.

Table 1 - Summary of questions in the questionnaire divided by the model of Thomas and Mullaly (2008) Construct

Dimension

Culture Context People Organization Implementation Training Alignment

Benefits realized

Value

Consistent practices

Component Positive attitudes in PM Conflict avoiders Innovations Not focus on customer Experience in PM Seniority PM Authority PMO targeted deliveries PMO directed the methodological support Duration Deliveries PM Alignment Organizational alignment Strategic alignment Growth and reputation Corporate Culture Improved HR and life quality New services and staff retention Good practice for PM Complexity of project approval

Business results

Impact of project management culture and the overall result of the organization Desire for better management tools Desire to support a Project Office Satisfaction Desire for change Customer Satisfaction Total questions in the questionnaire related to the model Note: Project Management (PM) Source: Research data JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 497-514

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Number of questions 2 1 1 2 2 5 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 8 1 2 1 1 5 2 49

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505

The questionnaires were then transcribed and processed using the program PASW Statistics 18 (old Social Package for the Social Sciences - SPSS) and the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Due to the small number of respondents, the survey was limited to a preliminary analysis of data, which according to Malhotra (2006), includes the frequency distribution, cross tabulations and testing of hypotheses, without the analysis of measures of central tendency or location or other descriptive statistics elements.

As the research is framed in a descriptive case study, the data that could not be tabulated were analyzed in the aspects of accuracy, completeness, attention to outliers and trends of the researcher (Maxwell, 1996).

4

RESULTS

The survey identified all the component variables of the model of Thomas and Mullaly (2008) that could be applied in the case. The following was observed to the construct context the following observations5:  The vast experience of working in public organizations of the absolute majority of respondents belonging to the state government and, in turn, the lack of experience in private organizations demonstrates the existence of a strong public career of these respondents as in Table 1.

Table 1- Distribution of respondents according to the total working time in the organization Answers Between 5 and 10 years Over 20 years Total Source: Research data.

Stakeholder External Internal 1 1 3 3 4 4

Total 2 6 8

 The respondents have a reasonable knowledge of the topic of "Project Management", although the majority confuses the concepts of certification standards in project management (PMBoK) with the organization that provides certification (PMI/IPMA) and their own certification (PMP) as  Table 2 and Table 3.

5

NOTE: Due to the limited number of pages for submission to the journal, the authors inserted the tables with the most relevant results.

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506 Oliveira, W. A. de, De Muylder, C.F.

Table 2- Distribution of respondents according to the variable knowledge in project management certifications Stakeholder Answers Total External Internal Yes 3 3 6 No 1 1 2 Total 4 4 8 Source: Research data.

Table 3- List of responses to the question 4a of the questionnaire Answers Frequency PMBoK 2 PMP 2 Know but can not remember the name 2 Do not know 2 IPMA 1 PMI 1 Total 8 Note: Only two respondents indicated correctly certified PMP and IPMA, and one respondent indicated two.

Source: Research data. ď&#x201A;ˇ The high willingness of the organization to the challenges imposed by the government's

strategy

(variable

entrepreneurship)

in

an

environment

encouragement to low-risk, as Table 4 and ď&#x201A;ˇ Table 5.

Table 4- Distribution of respondents according to the variable entrepreneurship Stakeholder Answers Total External Internal Null 0 1 1 Very low 1 0 1 High 3 3 6 Total 4 4 8 Source: Research data.

Table 5- Distribution of respondents according to the variable encouragement to risk Stakeholder Answers Total External Internal Very low 2 2 4 Average 1 1 2 High 1 1 2 JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 497-514

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of

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Total Source: Research data.

8

4

4

The following observations of construct implementation are highlighted:  Surprised that most respondents have experienced some type of training in project management, although of short duration (less than 1 week), as Table 6.

Table 6- Distribution of respondents according to the variable average duration of the courses Stakeholder Answers Total External Internal No courses 1 1 2 Less than 1 week 2 1 3 Between 1 week and 1 month 1 1 2 Between 1 and 3 months 0 1 1 Total 4 4 8 Source: Research data.  The lack of clarity regarding the real purpose of the ProAcesso and Pro-MG Project Management Offices that are delivering the goals and objectives of the project, not project management methodologies, as Table 7 and Table 8.

Table 7- Distribution of respondents according to the variable commitment of PMOs projects analyzed for delivery of projects Stakeholder Answers Total External Internal Average 1 0 1 High 2 4 6 Very High 1 0 1 Total 4 4 8 Source: Research data.

Table 8- Distribution of respondents according to the variable involvement of the projects analyzed for PMOs of project management methodologies Stakeholder Answers Total External Internal Average 1 2 3 High 2 2 4 Very High 1 0 1 Total 4 4 8 Source: Research data.  The idea that project managers do not have the necessary authority can be explained by the adverse organizational structure found in research, the absence of incentives for those who have this function and the lack of a career in project management, as evident in Table 9.

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508 Oliveira, W. A. de, De Muylder, C.F.

Table 9- Distribution of respondents according to the variable degree of authority the project manager Stakeholder Answers Total External Internal Average 3 3 6 High 1 1 2 Total 4 4 8 Source: Research data.

The construct value draw attention to the following:  A high desire to replicate the structures of Project Management Offices. Although the results do not show unanimous satisfaction, respondents considered that there are important structures for the conduct of strategic projects, as Table 10.

Table 10- Distribution of respondents according to the variable perceived need for most of the other structures of similar design offices in the organization Answers Average High Very High Total Source: Research data.

Stakeholder External Internal 1 0 3 2 0 2 4 4

Total 1 5 2 8

 The desire for change, more specifically by the respondents placed internally to DER / MG than externally, as Table 11.  The high perception of the alignment of all the projects analyzed in the Government strategy, embodied in the program in 2009 called "State for Results", as Table 13.

Note in Tables 12, 13 and 16 large differences in satisfaction between internal and external respondents, where none of all the values that can bring project management were perceived.

Table 11 - Values perceived - Dimension “satisfaction” Component

Variable

Support for a Project Office Desire for change Desire for change

Perceived need for more office structures like other projects in the organization Need for training in Project Management Need for improvement of organizational processes Perception of the degree of internal customer Customer Satisfaction satisfaction Perception of the degree of external customer Customer Satisfaction satisfaction * Not for the respondents perceived externally Source: Research data.

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Total 7 6* 7 7 7

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Table 12 - Values perceived - Dimension “consistent practices” Component

Variable

Total

Good practice for Satisfaction with project management GP Good practice for Satisfaction with the process of project planning GP Good practice for Satisfaction in the final quality delivery of projects GP Good practice for Satisfaction with the physical implementation GP (construction) projects Good practice for Satisfaction with the controls of the projects GP Good practice for Clarity in decision-making intentions of managers GP * Not for the respondents perceived externally Source: Research data.

7 5 5* 6* 6* 7

Table 13 - Values perceived - “organizational alignment” dimension Component

Variable

Total

Alignment GP

Clarity of objectives, goals and results of projects

7

Organizational alignment

Alignment of projects to organizational strategy

8

Source: Research data.

Table 14 - Values perceived - Dimension “result in business” Component

Variable

Total

Impact of project management culture and the overall result of the organization

Impact on organizational culture

6

Impact of project management culture and the overall result of the organization

Impact on the organization's processes

5

Source: Research data.

Table 15 - Values perceived - “benefits realized” dimension Component

Variable

Strategic alignment Production of good quality services Growth and reputation External reputation of the organization Corporate Culture Reduction of rework * Not for the respondents perceived externally Source: Research data.

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Total 7 7 6*

510 Oliveira, W. A. de, De Muylder, C.F.

Finally, Chart 1 summarizes the results of all dimensions of perceived value, in ascending order: Chart 1 - Summary of variables in relation to the perceived value dimensions of project management Number of Percentage of Dimension Variables perceived variables perception Business results 2 2 100% Consistent practices 9 6 67% Benefits realized 6 4 67% Satisfaction 9 5 56% Organizational 4 2 50% alignment Source: Research data.

The top management then observed that project management in DER/MG had brought positive results to the business of the department, which concentrates on the construction, conservation and maintenance of state highways.

However, in relation to other value dimensions, there was not total acceptance of the variables, but most of them were positively perceived, except the "organizational alignment", value dimension which had 50% of perceived variables.

From the perspective of institutional isomorphism, it is a fact that the project management at the strategic level of the state government of Minas Gerais from 2004 to 2010 results from a process of mimetic isomorphism, replicated from the private sector coming from a large consulting firm, as described in Vilhena et al, 2006, p. 79.

It was perceived that, through coercive isomorphism, in the expectation of better results of the structure projects and enforcing contracts to receive funding (for specific program ProAcesso), project management offices were created for the management of specific projects analyzed, as evidenced by DER/MG Ordinance 1862, of March 7, 2005, creating this unit for purposes of accountability for contracts with the Interamerican Development Bank - IDB, among other responsibilities.

The failure to achieve goals, which led to differences in satisfaction between internal and external respondents, may have produced ambiguous goals, which would address the temporary harmony between the parties, but at the end of an evaluative period, there was a dissatisfaction in relation to external stakeholders to the DER / MG, as evidenced in Table 12, supporting an explanation for one of the assumptions made

by DiMaggio and Powell (2005), where the conflicting situations on goals are suppressed due to the interest of harmony between the parties.

Finally, there were some inconsistencies between the analysis of documentary evidence and what was answered in the questionnaires and the theoretical framework, including: a)

The very functional organizational structure of the DER / MG, with the lack of a structured and stimulating career for project managers and respondents recognition of a low desire for structural change, incompatible with models of

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maturity in project management aimed at a more focused organizational structure and projectized matrix structures and incentives for careers in project management. b)

5

The existence of few tools, documents and software directly related to management of projects and, whenever they exist, most were created by the coercive forces arising from contractual obligations with lending agencies and with their own state government, which created a central office project management which has powers to release funds by preparing project status reports (called status report), which were originally developed by the consulting firm.

CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND LIMITATIONS

This research examined the relationships of the constructs of the model of Thomas and Mullaly (2008) and showed how they interfere with the values for the two possible aggregate principal structuring programs, called ProAcesso and Pro-MG, both developed by DER / MG. Based on these findings from the construct, it was found that the context in which project management was implemented, in a highly functional and low training and guidance to projects, as well as its form of implementation binding, it may have contributed to only one of the five dimensions of organizational value, which was well perceived.

Moreover, significant differences became evident in some dimensions of the model studied among respondents outside the DER / MG and internal to this department, indicating the difference of interests and point of view of the stakeholders.

Finally, evidence was collected from the organization's efforts to increase project management maturity level, which evaluated from the perspective of institutional isomorphism, may be the result of coercion exerted within and outside government to ensure the achievement of goals and financial efficiency of the projects analyzed. Such coercion may have contributed to a lower compliance value of project management.

The deployment per se as a management practice project management led to some organizational values to the DER / MG, but the inclusion of this practice to achieve the goals is not sufficient due government complex context in which this department is inserted. The high degree of bureaucratic regulation of this department and the context in which it is inserted generates a conflict with organizational initiatives.

The main limitations of this study are the relevance of the work of Thomas and Mullaly (2008) that has not produced many secondary works, the literature on organizational value creation from project management is still low and the case study that limited the search to the department, which does not allow generalizations.

It is recommended that future studies about organizational value creation from project management improve and deepen the knowledge of the subject, by replicating the methodology of research in other institutions, especially governments, and with increasing diversification of the number of responders, in order to be statistically significant.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp.515-540 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752012000300005

DETERMINANTS OF THE CHOICE OF MARKETING CHANNELS BY CORPORATE CLIENTS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SECTOR Guilherme Soares Adriana Bruscato Bortoluzzo Henrique Machado Barros Insper Institute of Education and Research, Sao Paulo, Brazil

_____________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT Based on a survey of 505 corporate clients from the information technology industry, this study uses a logit statistical model to analyze whether such factors as loyalty, trust, client importance, intimacy between customer and supplier and the cost of changing suppliers may affect the choice of the marketing channel used by the client. The results show that the greater intimacy between a supplier and a corporate client is a determining factor for the client’s preference for being served by the manufacturer rather than an intermediary.

In contrast, clients’ perception of their own importance to the supplier is not very relevant to their preference for being served directly by the manufacturer, and the other factors were not identified as (statistically important) determinants of the choice of the marketing channel. These results suggest that the real advantage of the direct sales channel over the indirect sales channel lies in its ability to strengthen the clientmanufacturer relationship, thereby contributing to the development of solutions that better serve the needs of corporate clients.

Keywords: Marketing channels, Buyer-supplier relationship, business-to-business (B2B), Information technology

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 29/08/2011 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 15/08/2012 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência Guilherme Soares, Graduado em Ciências da Computação pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (PUC-MG) e Mestre em Administração pelo Insper; gerente comercial de empresa multinacional do setor de tecnologia da informação. Insper Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa Rua Quatá, 300 – Vila Olímpia São Paulo, SP – Brasil - 04546-042 Phone: 55-11-4504-2781 Fax: 55-11-4504-2350 E-mail: gsoarescam@gmail.com Adriana Bruscato Bortoluzzo , DSc em Estatística pela Universidade de São Paulo (USP); professora assistente do Insper Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa Rua Quatá, 300 – Vila Olímpia São Paulo, SP – Brasil E-mail: adrianab@insper.edu.br Henrique Machado Barros, PhD em Administração pela University of Warwick (Inglaterra); professor assistente do .

Insper Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa Rua Quatá, 300 – Vila Olímpia São Paulo, SP – Brasil E-mail: henriquemb@insper.edu.br

Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2012 All rights reserved.

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1. INTRODUCTION The generalist nature of Information technology (IT), which economists refer to as a general-purpose technology (Helpman & Trajtenberg, 1998), has contributed to unprecedented changes for the business world and society as a whole (Brynjolfsson & Saunders, 2010). With the increasing transformation of digital media (Acker, Gröne & Schröder, 2012), these changes appear to be far from ending. As a way to understand part of the impact of IT on organizations, some scientific papers have already investigated the way in which companies manage information technology (e.g., Rodrigues, Maccari & Simões, 2009; Simões, Rodrigues, Maccari & Pereira, 2011) and analyzed the impact of IT on functional areas (e.g., marketing - Khauaja & Campomar, 2007) and organizational performance (e.g., Mahmood, 1994; Maçada, Becker & Lunardi, 2005). However, little is known regarding the relational dynamics in which organizations involve themselves to provide or gain access to information technology.

Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap by analyzing how attributes of the supplier, client and their relationship affect the decisions of corporate clients in their choice between marketing channels to gain access to IT products.

Marketing or distribution channels have been considered for some time as economically relevant interorganizational arrangements, not only to directly involved organizations, but also to society (e.g., Reve & Stern, 1979). The competitive dynamic in many markets has led companies to pay more attention to channel management as a means to achieve competitive advantages (Cônsoli & Neves, 2008). As stated by Swift (2001), the greater intensity of competition and the emergence of new consumption patterns have induced many companies to redefine the value proposition that they offer to their clients. This behavior has been reflected in the evolution of research conducted during recent decades, and interest in the topic of 'marketing channels' has been increasing (Wang, Bradford, Weitz & Xu, 2008). The increasing attention devoted by the marketing literature to this subject is expected. Given that the marketing process is essentially characterized by an act of exchange and that the marketing channel is just the vehicle by which this exchange occurs (Gordon, 2003; Kotler, 2006), understanding how the agents of this relationship react to attributes of the channels or determining the antecedents that induce the choice of a particular channel is central to advancing our knowledge regarding this relationship (Sharma, Tzokas, Saren & Kyziridis, 1999; Sharma & Mehrotra, 2007).

The evolution of relationships between marketing channel agents is mostly due to the evolution of information technology and communication, which have allowed the development of new tools to bring suppliers and buyers closer and to make new exchange relationships viable (Liu, Wang & Chan, 2004). The result has been an increase in the number of companies (i.e., IT manufacturers) that adopt multi-channel strategies, i.e., that act in more than one marketing channel simultaneously (for example, having their own sales team and simultaneously, using independent intermediaries to market their products) (Wind & Mahajan, 2002). These structural forms are also called plural (or hybrid) forms, i.e., manufacturers that perform a particular activity on their own (in this case, the sale of goods and associated services) and, simultaneously, subcontract that activity to the market (Heide & John, 1992).

For many years, the analysis of this method of governance has been based on the theoretical constructs of transaction costs economics (TCE) developed by Williamson (1979). One of the assumptions of this theoretical model is that exchanges between the parties depend on a contract to oversee the relationship, and because the contract is

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unable to cover all contingencies, sometimes the transaction costs will be sufficiently high to justify the internalization of the activity (vertical integration). However, buyersupplier relationships are not always governed by contract; for example, it is not unusual that relationships of this kind are maintained and guided by relational exchange (Macneil, 1980; 2000). Thus, given TCE’s incapacity to explain relational governance, many scientific studies based on social exchange theory (SET) have emerged to explain transactions between companies (Dwyer, Schurr & Oh, 1987). As noted by Lambe, Wittmann and Speakman (2001), SET is particularly useful to explain the business-tobusiness (B2B) exchanges because it focuses on the quality of the relationship between the involved parties in addition to contractual issues.

However, most studies on the structure and management of channels have analyzed the relationship from the supplier’s point of view, i.e., the factors deciding whether suppliers choose one or another method (or both) to distribute their products.

Additionally, much about the literature regarding channels is related to the business-toconsumer (B2C) context, i.e., to the consumer market rather than the corporate market.

The literature regarding marketing channels in the corporate (B2B) market is less significant than the literature regarding the consumer market. Furthermore, the marketing literature has studied the effects of the attributes of agents and relationships on the continuance of these relationships, but less emphasis has been placed on exploring much how these attributes effectively affect the client’s decision to prefer one channel to another (Rosenbloom, 2007). The present study fills in this gap by identifying the determinants of the choice of the marketing channel used by corporate clients.

The study is based on the assumption, which has been empirically documented in the literature, that marketing channels can serve buyers’ needs in different ways (Shipley, Egan & Edgett, 1991). Likewise, the present study is similar to studies on buyer’s perception and how it influences the buyer’s decision (e.g., Ulaga, Sharma & Krishnan, 2002). Particularly, the present study analyzes how corporate clients’ perceptions about various aspects affect their decision of the choice of channel through which they will be served. These aspects are the following: their loyalty to the supplier, the trust they have in the supplier, the importance they are given by the supplier, the intimacy that they can develop with the supplier and the cost to change suppliers.

Therefore, a survey of corporate clients from the information technology sector was conducted. The final sample included approximately 500 companies, and data were analyzed by statistical methods to ensure the validity of the constructs (i.e., principal component analysis) and to understand the impact of these constructs on the corporate client’s decision of being served directly by the supplier or intermediaries (i.e., the logit model). The results revealed that the main determinant of these clients’ preference for a channel is the intimacy level established in the relationship, and that, in this case, it was favorable to the manufacturer’s own sales force channel.

The next section of this article reviews the literature that motivated the present research and the formulation of the hypothesis tested in this study. Then, the methodology is presented in detail. The subsequent section describes and discusses the results. Finally, conclusions are presented.

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2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES 2.1. The Information technology Sector Information technology (IT) can be defined as "the set of non-human resources dedicated to the storage, processing and communication of information, and the way in which these resources are organized into a system capable to perform a set of tasks" (Bakopoulos, 1985, p. 7). Its elements include hardware, software and adjacent services (Duarte & Castello Branco, 2001; Rodrigues Filho & Ludmer, 2005).

According to the IDC1 data, the decade from 2000 to 2010 was very prosperous for Brazil, and, according to the same source, the Brazilian IT market should continue to grow at twice the global average. For the Brazilian IT market in general, the IDC expects growth of 8.8% in 2012 compared to the previous year. The hardware segment is expected to grow by 7.2%, software 11.4%, services 11.1% and Telecom 7.2%. The IDC also estimates that there are almost 15,000 sales channels in the Brazilian information technology segment representing 199 IT manufacturers.

The IT department has a key role in both the design of the future operations of these IT companies and in implementing their strategies and achieving greater competitiveness (Venkatesan, Kumar & Ravishanker, 2007). Since the industrial revolution, technology has been considered a major factor of increased productivity and welfare (Helpman & Trajtenberg, 1998). According to Brynjolfsson & Saunders (2010), the IT sector is characterized by intense competition and consolidation because it has advantages related to learning, is strongly affected by globalization and experiences pressure for cost rationalization and a reduction in the life cycle of technology and products. For example, in the mid-1980s, the life cycle of a product was, on average, one year. A similar analysis carried out in 1999 observed a shrinking on this cycle to an average of three months (Curry & Kenney, 1999). Given these competitive and technological dynamics, companies in this sector have to frequently address price and margin reductions. To compensate for low margins, companies seek to increase their sales to achieve economies of scale (Gabrielsson, Kirpalani & Luostarinen, 2002). In the corporate segment, one of the actions adopted by IT equipment manufacturers in their attempts to scale up has been the use of multiple marketing channels (Dutta, Bergen, Heide & John, 1995; Merrilees & Fenech, 2007).

2.2. Marketing channels The focus of the present study is on computer products (hardware), which are categorized as tangible assets associated with services. Examples of computer products include printing and imaging products, such as printers and scanners; access products such as desktops (desktop computers) and laptops (mobile computers) and enterprise products such as servers. These products are categorized as tangible assets associated with services because the products consist of a tangible asset associated with one or more services. Consequently, the greater the complexity of these products, the more

1

The International Data Corporation (IDC) is a market intelligence, consulting and conference company in the Information Technology and Telecommunications sectors. In Brazil, the IDC has followed the market since 1990 (http://www.added.com.br/noticia/mercado-nacional-de-ti-tem-previsao-positiva-para2012.html, accessed on July 2nd 2012).

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their sales depends upon the quality and availability of services for the client (Kotler, 2006).

Manufacturers use different marketing channels so that these products can reach corporate clients. Marketing channels are characterized by a set of interdependent organizations involved in the process of making a product or service of a company available for consumption or use (Coughlan, Anderson, Stern & El-Ansary, 2001), i.e., the marketing channel is the contractual organization that the company operates to achieve its distribution goal (Rosenbloom, 2002). Because decisions regarding distribution are more costly to change than decisions regarding prices and even advertising, the formatting of marketing channels reflects the long-term commitment of a company to the market, and the efficient and effective use of these channels has proven to be an important component of companies’ competitive strategy (Rangan, 1987; Sharma & Mehrotra, 2007).

Marketing channels may present different configurations, but, in general, they can be grouped in two ways: i) direct distribution to clients without the use of intermediaries (i.e., wholesalers/ retailers); and ii) indirect distribution, which assumes the sale to some intermediary/representative who will subsequently sell the product (Coughlan et al., 2001). The direct sales team is formed by employees of the supplier that perform pre-sales services, the sale itself and after-sales services. The main difference between the manufacturer’s own team and intermediaries is the lack of an employment relationship with the manufacturer in the former case. Another difference between direct distribution and intermediaries is exclusivity regarding the manufacturer, which limits the products portfolio of the direct sales force. In addition, supervision and monitoring by the manufacturer of its own sales team are much more intense than the supervision and monitoring of sales representatives (i.e., intermediaries). The greater ease of monitoring by manufacturers leads them to prefer the use of their own sales team. Nevertheless, the market discipline imposed on intermediaries (i.e., their survival depends on their performance) partly mitigates the problems of control and monitoring (Dutta et al., 1995).

Sales representatives (i.e., intermediaries) are responsible both for representing the supplier to the client and the client to the supplier, i.e., they are sales specialists. In general, representatives are not exclusive. In other words, representatives represent multiple manufacturers offering related products, i.e., they represent multiple manufacturers to multiple buyers. Representatives have historically behaved as distributors not only of assets, bus also of services (Anderson & Weitz, 1989; Dutta et al., 1995; Stem & El-Ansary, 1982). The profile of the sales representatives varies according to the portfolio of products offered. In general, in the industrial market, representatives are engineers with some experience and a technical profile. In the marketing of products to the final consumer, the commercial component is predominant (Corey, Cespedes & Rangan, 1989).

Additionally, the hybrid (or mixed) sales structure, also referred to as a “multichannel” structure, consists of the simultaneous use of two groups (Coughlan et al., 2001). The growth of this hybrid structure occurs mainly because companies need to adapt their products and services to the needs of their target audience (Kotler, 2006), and this is no different in the corporate market (Rosenbloom, 2007). As noted by Sharma and Mehrotra (2007), using more than one channel increases the exposure of consumers to manufacturer offers and facilitates consumer access to those deals.

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However, operating with two marketing channels simultaneously is not a trivial task for the manufacturer because conflicts may exist between the channels due to the interest in both of these channels by the same buyers. To mitigate these conflicts, channels were developed to meet the needs of specific customers and are typically segmented by their sizes (Wiertz, de Ruyter, Keen & Streukens, 2004). However, marketing channels originally have distinct purposes. The use of intermediaries, for example, generates gains in efficiency through their specialization in activities that the direct sales force is not directly concerned with (e.g., inventory and transportation). In contrast, an emphasis on efficiency may compromise the effectiveness of manufacturersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; offers that do not fully meet the needs of customers (Gordon, 2003).

Indeed, evidence exists that marketing channels have different attributes according to consumer perception. Shipley, Egan and Edgett (1991), for example, concluded that the direct sales force of a manufacturer has a potential advantage in terms of product (i.e., specifications setting and technical knowledge) and price (i.e., negotiating flexibility) when compared to independent channels (i.e., intermediaries). In contrast, according to the authors, these intermediate channels have an advantage in developing relationships. They also discovered that almost half (48.2%) of the buyers exhibited no preference for repurchasing using either channel. However, the vast majority of buyers that exhibited a preference for a specific channel showed interest in buying directly from the manufacturer rather than the intermediary (44.7% vs. 7.2%).

According to the authors, the reason for the difference is that the buyersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; purchase choice is mainly driven by economic motivations, in which the direct sales channel performs better than intermediaries. These results raise questions about the importance of relationships in the choice of the channel by the corporate client.

Despite the efforts of Shipley et al. (2001) to understand how the channels differ in several aspects in the perception of corporate clients, they did not analyze whether these differences, individually, make buyers prefer one channel to another. In addition, considering that their results suggest that the purchasing decision is mainly affected by economic motivation, a gap exists in our understanding of how other attributes may affect the buyer's decision by either channel. As Jain, Benyoucef and Deshmukh (2009) observed, the selection of the supplier is a major purchasing decision; therefore, according to the authors, initiatives that promote greater understanding regarding how this selection may be affected are welcome. However, as observed by Katsikeas, Paparoidamis and Katsikea (2004), research efforts rarely identify how the channels are perceived in the buyer ´s selection criteria. Similarly, although many studies have examined the collaborative relationships between supplier and buyer, little is known about how attributes of the buyer, the supplier and the buyer-supplier relationship affect the choice of the service channel by the buyer; the present study aims to fill this knowledge gap.

2.3. Buyer-supplier Relationship In the last two decades, the corporate or B2B relationship has been studied in the industrial marketing literature. This literature generally divides the corporate relationship into two main groups: transactional (or discrete) and collaborative relationships. The transactional relationship is characterized by low interdependence, short-term commitment, trading conditions prescribed in contracts (terms and conditions), few communication channels, low level of confidence and low asset specificity. In contrast, the collaborative relationship is characterized by strong

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interdependence, high levels of trust and commitment, continuity for long periods, high transaction costs with terms and conditions strictly specified and high asset specificity (Macneil, 2000).

According to Bunduchi (2008), the transactional relationship can be categorized by economic exchanges of goods and services between the parties whereas the collaborative nature of inter-organizational relationships depends on the logic of the transaction cost economics associated with the need for trust and interdependence between the parties, as contemplated by the SET. That is, the transactional relationship has been studied mainly from the perspective of TCE, whereas relational exchanges are studied, even if implicitly, based on the theory of social exchanges (e.g., Lambe, Wittmann & Speakman, 2001; Morgan & Hunt, 1994). Recently, a new theoretical model has been discussed in the marketing literature that particularly emphasizes the need to address the areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s theoretical propositions based on a logic dominated by services (service-dominant logic) (Vargo & Lusch, 2004). This initiative is somewhat developed in relation to trade between companies (e.g., Paulin & Ferguson, 2010; Sheth & Sharma, 2008), but is still incipient. Thus, the present study will be based on more developed theories of transaction cost and social exchange to substantiate the arguments proposed.

TCE has as its main premise that companies will internalize the activities for which the costs of transacting in the market are high, i.e., when transaction costs are high, the governance structure of the relationships will be more efficient if the activity has been vertically integrated. According to this theory, higher transaction costs are derived from the inability of certain contracts to contemplate all future contingencies and, as a result, specific investments in the buyer-supplier relationship are subjected to opportunistic behavior by one of the parties (Williamson, 1986). In the specific case of marketing channels, the decision would be between a company having its own sales force or outsourcing this function to the market, i.e., delegating the distribution and marketing of products to intermediaries. Although transaction cost theory treats this decision as binary (i.e., make or buy), it recognizes the existence of hybrid structures of governance, such as plural forms in which companies use both alternatives, i.e., provide their own sales force and also utilize intermediaries (Williamson, 2002). This hybrid form benefits from the use of information regarding the costs and profitability of internal channels to assist in negotiations with independent channels and promotes greater motivation for the improvement of the performance of internal channels when facing threats of increased use of the market by the company. Similarly, such a structure allows the development of internal supply channels as hold-up safeguards of independent suppliers (Williamson, 1991).

While this theoretical model is instructional in explaining why the supplier establishes one or another channel (or both), it is not very enlightening regarding the buyerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision. Similarly, this model assumes that buyer-supplier relationships only occur due to the existence of a contract. However, buyer-supplier relationships are not always governed by a contract or guided by transactional relationships. Thus, given the inability of TCE to explain the relational governance, many scientific studies have emerged based on the social exchange theory to explain the collaborative relationship between buyer and supplier (Claro & Claro, 2010). The basic premise of SET is that agents enter into and maintain relationships because they have an expectation that they will benefit from them (Blau, 1964). According to Lambe et al. (2001), SET postulates that exchange interactions involve both economic and social results. Although economic

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rewards are important, social rewards (e.g., satisfaction) are also important, and both are simultaneously analyzed and compared to an alternative (Homans, 1958). This judgment about the rewards depends on the perception of the involved parties. In cases where the buyer is involved, the judgment should be guided both by their own attributes and by the attributes of the supplier and the attributes of their relationship (Palmatier, 2008). This study does not intend to be exhaustive and, therefore, merely investigated factors commonly cited in the literature as influences on the relationship: loyalty (Liu, Su, Li & Liu, 2010), trust (Palmatier, 2008), importance (Bunduchi, 2008), intimacy (RomĂĄn & MartĂ­n, 2008) and switching costs (Dutta et al., 1995).

2.4. Research hypotheses Buyerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attributes One of the most discussed elements in marketing literature is loyalty. Loyalty is a deep commitment to the consistent repurchasing of a product/service in the future, thus causing repeated purchasing of the same brand or set of brands without concern for situational influences and marketing efforts that have the potential to cause changes in behavior. Thus, loyalty is characterized mainly by a repurchasing commitment in a manner that is consistent and not concerned about situational factors (Olivier, 1999; Vidal, 2012). Reichheld (1996) believes that loyalty should be treated as a process of value creation and notes that loyalty is intrinsically linked with value creation. Loyalty measures whether a company has offered superior value or not: either customers return to buy more from the same supplier or they buy from another supplier. As a result, loyalty promotes a series of "economic effects" such as an increase in revenues and market share, improved quality, improved productivity and greater efficiency in customer service (Flint, Blocker & Boutin Jr., 2011; Liu et al., 2010).

When sales channels (direct or indirect) are considered, the range of offerings presented by the channel with intermediaries (i.e., indirect) can give additional value to the client through higher subsidies for their decision on what they will acquire. In other words, the corporate client may compare different value propositions being offered by different manufacturers. In contrast, when being served directly by the manufacturer, the client may have more conditions to receive concessions during negotiation (Shipley et al., 1991). In addition, by becoming loyal to a manufacturer, it is expected that the client demands a closer relationship given that the company-client link is already consolidated, thereby resulting in a perception of a lower variation in value compared to alternatives offered by competitors. Thus, in a multi-channel context, it is expected that the corporate client prefers to buy directly from the manufacturer rather than third-party representatives; therefore, the following hypothesis is formulated: Hypothesis 1: The greater the loyalty shown by a client, the higher the probability of this client being served by direct sales channels.

Supplier attributes Another recurrent factor in the literature on channel relationship is trust. Trust is present in interpersonal relations and is defined as the desire of an agent to increase their vulnerability to the actions of another agent. The same can be applied to relationships between organizations (Moorman, Deshpande & Zaltman, 1993).

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Anderson and Narus (1990) defined trust as the belief that a company will carry out actions that will bring added value to the company and will tend not to take emergent actions that result in value destruction. Trust is seen as a key ingredient to a successful relationship (Dwyer, Schurr & Oh, 1987; Morgan & Hunt, 1994).

Some studies (e.g., Palmatier, 2008) note that trust is strongly linked to the perception of values such as honesty and integrity in the other party and contributes to the stability of the relationship, i.e., trust is essential to relationships between clients and suppliers (Bunduchi, 2008; Claro & Claro, 2004; Doney, Cannon & Mullen, 1998; Galford & Drapeau, 2002). The companies that most value trust are the most interested in maintaining long-term and more stable relationships. If trust is built on partnership, opportunistic behavior is less likely to occur given that partners will envision the longterm implications of such behavior rather than seeing only the short-term return (Gassenheimer, Hunter, & Siguaw, 2007). That is, the behavioral repertoire is more directed at cooperation than opportunism (Hill, 1990). As a second role, trust may also be considered as a substitute for hierarchical governance. The idea is to meet organizational goals between companies constituting the partnership when the propertybased control (authority) is not strategically or economically viable (Paulin & Ferguson, 2010). The existence of trust or normative governance provides an environment in which related parties can work together, even in the presence of uncertainty (Roy, Sivakumar & Wilkinson, 2004).

Thus, the trust that a client places in their supplier will make the client more receptive to accepting the value proposition of the supplier, eventually without questioning its accuracy. Therefore, when an offer is presented to the client through multiple channels (direct or indirect), the client understands that the service mediated by an independent representative may be limited when compared to the service provided by the manufacturer, even if the client has some trust in the intermediary. In the direct relationship with the supplier, the client must perceive a more favorable scenario by the supplierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interest in more effectively resolving any obstacle that hinders the supply of the product to the client. This is expected because, in the indirect service mode, the intermediary company may have some restriction on service because situations exist whose nature precludes direct interference of the intermediate. Another factor that favors greater trust in the manufacturer's portfolio consists in the knowledge the manufacturer has about the offered products. Therefore, in a context where the buyer can opt for one or another channel: Hypothesis 2: The greater the trust placed by the client in the supplier, the higher the probability of being served by direct sales channels.

The strengthening of the relationship may represent the value that suppliers give to clients, i.e., the importance given to the relationship. This is a key point in establishing a good relationship between the parties. Exclusivity provides credibility, making the client-supplier relationship much closer and providing not only immediate but also future returns (Churchill, 1996). The importance that the provider gives to the client is associated with the clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long-term investment in the relationship (Kotler, 2006). This greater importance given to the client provides the client with the needed security to make more important purchases from this supplier (Patterson & Dawes, 1999). Clientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; perception of their own importance to the supplier also provides them

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more safety regarding not being subjected to hostile behavior by the supplier (Gassenheimer, Hunter, & Siguaw, 2007).

Both manufacturers and intermediaries can demonstrate the importance of the clients. The manufacturer, however, is responsible for serving a more extensive number of clients than the representative intermediary because, in theory, the manufacturer’s customer portfolio includes all customers of all the sales channels and, hence, the proportional attention paid to each client will be smaller. Moreover, the manufacturer has a limited ability to fully serve all the clients. As a result, the manufacturer should focus on the most important or strategic clients and answer them directly, leaving the remaining clients to be served by intermediaries. In contrast, independent representatives (i.e., intermediaries) can serve customers more homogeneously.

However, even noting these differences, what the client supposedly wants is to be given priority of service by the manufacturer (Shipley et al., 1991; Katsikeas et al., 2004).

Therefore, given an intention to purchase a product, the customer will prefer to be served by the manufacturer rather than third-party sales representatives. Thus, in evaluating the importance of the client when faced with a multi-channel structure, the following hypothesis is formulated: Hypothesis 3: The greater the importance to the supplier perceived by the client, the higher the probability of being served by direct sales channels.

Attributes of the dyad Another critical factor in the relationship between channels is the intimacy established between supplier and clients. Companies that are close to their clients succeed when they become experts in their clients’ business and in the creation of solutions. These companies differentiate themselves through deep customer knowledge.

As a result, these clients establish, on a continuous basis, a certain dependence. Murillo and Annabi (2002) claim that intimacy focuses on capitalizing on clients’ needs to improve their satisfaction and thus increases purchasing behavior. Treacy and Wiersema (1993) show that intimacy with the client is achieved by the accurate segmentation of the market and the offering of appropriate products. Therefore, combining customer information and process flexibility becomes important for these suppliers. Wiersema (1996) further develops the question of intimacy by demonstrating that the successful implementation of the relationship strategy depends on a culture that supports not only joint effort but also emphasis on learning. According to the author, this intimacy strategy requires characteristics such as sensitivity to new opportunities, company willingness to serve the many needs of clients, joint effort aiming at cooperation among employees and among functional subsystems, learning the needs of the customers and the structuring of transactions to improve results. Therefore, developing intimacy is an option for creating competitive advantage by the supplier (Román & Martín, 2008).

The intermediary channel tends to have a smaller client portfolio than the manufacturer and, therefore, the ability of the former to serve and thus create conditions to establish a closer contact with clients is greater than that of the latter. However, clients tend to notice that intimacy with the supplier increases the closer they are to the main source of the object of exchange, i.e., the manufacturer (Merrilees & Fenech, 2007). Thus, despite the advantage that third-party representatives have in establishing this relationship characteristic, in the perception of corporate clients, intimacy will exist when they are served by the manufacturer. In summary, the greater the intimacy that JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 515-540

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clients have with the supplier, the closer they will be to the manufacturer. Therefore, we present the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 4: The greater the intimacy between client and supplier, the higher the probability of being served by direct sales channels.

Last but not least, the relationship management of marketing channels may be affected by the bargaining power of the supplier. In other words, if the relationship between client and supplier is ruled by the inability of the client to switch suppliers, then negative effects on the relationship can be experienced (Dutta et al., 1995). The concept of switching cost represents the difficulty imposed by a possible replacement of a supplier when the party responsible for the customer relationship cannot be easily replaced (Hamel & Prahalad, 1994); i.e., the client gets stuck with a sales representative, and the main problems are sunk investments (sunk costs).

The creation of switching costs can be a strategic option for the supplier.

Switching costs create barriers for the entry of new competitors, and therefore, clients are unable to pit suppliers against supplier (Porter, 1986). Sengupta, Krapfel and Pusateri (1997) showed that switching costs causes certain inertia that induces customers to remain in relationships with their current suppliers. Following the same line of argument, Dutta et al. (1995) supports the notion that customers who invest significantly in the relationship with their supplierâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s representatives have a potential onus related to the lack of efficiency by the entry of a substitute/additional vendor. The authors show that these client companies attempt to request more guarantees from the solution providers.

Therefore, in the context of the switching costs of the supplier, clients will prefer to buy from the same vendor after they have invested in the relationship with this supplier to purchase products. Changing manufacturers has a high cost to clients because, in this case, they would have to adapt the portfolio of another manufacturer to their needs. When switching to another sales intermediary but retaining the same manufacturer, the associated costs are only connected to the sales process itself. Thus, it is expected that clients prefer a direct relationship with the manufacturer rather than using a third-party intermediary. So, it is expected that high switching costs are positively related to the preference of selecting a direct channel with the manufacturer rather than a third-party channel, as indicated in the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 5: The higher the switching costs incurred by a customer, the higher the probability of being served by direct sales channels.

3. METHODOLOGY 3.1. Data Collection and Sample The IT sector was chosen as the context for the research because corporate clients of this sector have access to both direct and indirect channels (Roccato, 2008).

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To test the hypotheses formulated in the previous section, a survey of the perceptions of corporate clients of information technology (IT) equipment, i.e., a database originated from information on industry associations, generating a list of approximately 3,000 companies that purchased IT products or services in 2008. The respondent of each company was selected based on whether they had permission to recommend or approve purchasing decisions.

Before administering the questionnaire, preliminary interviews were conducted with key people related to IT sales channels to validate whether the questions used in the questionnaire were adequate to capture the phenomenon of interest. The questionnaire was then sent electronically to each respondent, and follow-ups were conducted to stimulate a response. The return rate of the requests to answer the questionnaire was 32%, resulting in an initial sample of 1,088 companies. Given the presence of missing values (i.e., no response) and invalid answers, the sample was reduced to 678 observations. However, the regression was based on 505 companies that had complete information for all variables of interest.

100% 90% 80% 70% 60%

23%

11%

17%

39%

36%

33%

From 100 to 500 employees (medium firms)

50% 40% 30% 20% 10%

44%

More than 500 employees (large firms)

51%

48% Up to 99 employees (micro and small firms)

0% Direto com Fabricante Direct sales

Representante Sales reps Independente

Total Overall

Source: Elaborated by the authors.

Figure 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Distribution of the number of employees in the sampled companies by type of channel Figure 1 shows the distribution of companies in the sample by size, as represented by the number of employees. Approximately half of the sample belongs to the micro and small companies group, 2/3 to the medium-sized companies group and 1/3 to the large companies group. Nevertheless, large companies have a greater propensity to obtain direct service rather than service via an intermediary, whereas micro, small and medium-sized companies are more frequently served via an intermediary rather than directly serviced.

Table 1 shows the distribution of sectors for the sampled companies. The main representatives are companies engaged in manufacturing, digital industry, service companies and the financial industry (79% of participants). Important points were also observed regarding the type of service. First, the financial market is served directly by the manufacturer twice as frequently than by independent representatives. This can be explained by the fact that these companies are generally large or strategic, and it is important for manufacturers to directly meet this demand rather than including an external mediator in the relationship. In the sector of service providers, the reverse occurs. The main reason may be the heterogeneity of service companies, which are medium-sized companies or companies located outside large capitals, and therefore they justify being served by external channels.

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Table 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Distribution of the sector of the sampled companies by type of channel Sales Sector Overall Direct sales Representative Manufacturing

29.0%

31.0%

27.0%

Digital Industry

25.0%

25.0%

26.0%

Services

13.0%

10.0%

15.0%

Financial Services

12.0%

16.0%

8.0%

Telecommunications

8.0%

7.0%

10.0%

Transportation

4.0%

6.0%

2.0%

Government

3.0%

0.5%

4.0%

Chemical and petrochemical

1.0%

1.0%

0.5%

Agriculture

1.0%

0.5%

1.5%

Others

4.0%

3.0%

6.0%

Source: Elaborated by the authors.

Figure 2 illustrates the distribution of companies by volume of expenses for IT. The category of lower volume of investments is most commonly served by representatives. In contrast, the major investor categories are more often served by the manufacturer, which can be justified by the preference of manufacturers to invest directly in major sales accounts.

100% 90%

13%

80% 70%

41%

50% 30%

43%

Acima de > 1,000 1000 500 to a De 500 1,000 1000

44%

20% 10%

10% 23%

29%

60% 40%

8% 16%

35% 13%

24%

0% DiretoDirect com Fabricante sales

Representante Sales reps Independente

Total Overall

toa De100 100 500 500 Menor < 100que 100

Note: Legend expressed in thousands of US dollars.

Source: Elaborated by the authors.

Figure 2 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Distribution of the IT expenses of the sampled companies by type of channel 3.2. Variables The dependent variable was generated using an approach similar to that adopted in the work of Dutta et al. (1995), and therefore, its construction was derived from the

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following question in the questionnaire: "What is the primary marketing channel used by your company?" To this question, two possible answers were offered: a) Manufacturer’s direct sales force or b) Third-party sales channel. Therefore, the dependent variable, 'Type of Channel' is discrete and dichotomous (dummy), indicating whether the client's primary service model is the direct sales force of the manufacturer or an independent sales representative (i.e., intermediary). It is worth noting that the customer has the option of being served by both channels, direct and indirect, and that the response identifies the primary sales channel.

The relationship attributes (i.e., independent variables) identified in the literature review were analyzed based on an existing questionnaire whose items are considered valid and reliable by others (Sengupta et al., 1997, Roy et al., 2004; Rosenbloom, 2007).

These items were measured on a Likert scale. To confirm the quality of the scale used, reliability tests and analysis of the principal components were carried out and will be explained below.

Loyalty – This attribute was represented as a behavior that can be measured by the amount of repurchasing, i.e., the intention that the client has to purchase products or services of a particular category from the same supplier. In the present study, loyalty was treated as a construct resulting from four items, and all four were measured using a five-point Likert scale characterized by the following options: strongly disagree, partially disagree, neither agree nor disagree, partially agree, totally agree. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.77, indicating high internal consistency of the items related to the loyalty construct.

Trust – This attribute was analyzed by a proxy that identified the perception that the customer had in relation to their trust in the supplier. The questionnaire used the following question to generate the proxy trust: "Is your supplier reliable?" The measurement was structured using a five-point Likert scale (the scale was similar to that used for the loyalty attribute).

Importance – This attribute was characterized by how clients interpret the importance given to them by the suppliers and was measured as a construct of three items (all measured using a five-point Likert scale). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.69, confirming the high internal consistency of these items.

Intimacy – This attribute was measured using a construct of six items, which aimed to evaluate the closeness of the relationship between client and supplier. All items were measured using a ten-point Likert scale, where "1", referred to the inexistence of a relationship between the parties and the maximum value, and "10" represented an excellent or solid relationship. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.92, indicating high internal consistency of the items measuring the intimacy construct.

Switching cost – This attribute was measured by three items that sought to capture the significance of additional costs incurred in switching the customer's current supplier to any other. The same criteria were used for all items using a five-point Likert scale, which contained similar options to those shown for loyalty, trust and importance.

The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.65.

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Table 2 – Principal component analysis Questionnaire items

Weights (explanation %: 60%)

Loyalty - New purchase or renewal of the product or the supplier’s contract

0.53

- Recommendation of the supplier to a colleague

0.50

- Purchase of another IT product or service from the supplier

0.50

- Increased share of IT purchases from the supplier in the next two years

0.47 (explanation %: 62%)

Importance - Cares about the client’s success

0.57

- Frees the client’s time

0.58

- The supplier respects the client’s company

0.58 (explanation %: 72%)

Intimacy - Develops strong relationships with the client’s organization

0.42

- Helps to select the best solution according to the client's needs

0.42

- A general relationship exists between the client and the supplier

0.31

- Keeps the client informed of new products and technologies

0.41

- Looks for alternatives to add value to the client

0.44

- Knows the client’s industry

0.43

Switching cost

(explanation %: 65%)

- Changing the suppliers involves significant costs

0.57

- The supplier's products are unique and no comparable supplier exists

0.58

- Dealing with this company is easier than switching to another supplier

0.58

Source: Elaborated by the authors.

To ensure the reliability of the constructs, the results of a principal component analysis were used (Table 2). The principal component analysis was used to combine

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the set of items that measure each of the constructs into a single variable, i.e., an index that is a linear combination of the items, the weights of which are shown in Table 2.

Thus, standard indices are used with the regression model to represent each of the constructs of interest (loyalty, importance, intimacy and switching cost) rather than using each questionnaire item separately, which would make the testing of the hypotheses proposed in the present study unfeasible. These indices were obtained according to the data dependency structure and in such a way that they would retain as much information as possible, i.e., in the way that would explain most of the total variability (Reis, 2001).

It is important to note that the weights of the items that measure the same construct are similar in the index composition, which causes the items to have approximately the same importance in the measurement of constructs. In addition, the percentage of variability explained by each of the indices (Table 2) is considered suitable because it represents at least 60% of the total variability of the items that measure the construct (Anderson, Tatham & Black, 2005).

Control variables were used to ensure adequate specificity of the model as follows: after-sales (Vavra & Pruden, 1995), product type (Williamson, 1986), number of employees (Palmatier, 2008), IT expenses (Bendapudi & Berry, 1997), respondentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s job (Carlson & Zmud, 1999), level of customization / modularity of the product (Schilling, 2000), experience using the product (Bolton & Lemon, 1999), and corporate client sector (Palmatier, 2008). The latter was clustered according to the following categories: government, financial services, digital industry, agriculture, services, telecommunications, transportation, manufacturing and other industries.

3.3. Statistical model To effectively observe the effects of the determinants on the choice of the supplier channel by the client, a statistical analysis based on the Logistic regression model, or Logit, was performed. This modeling technique aims to discriminate between two groups of observations within a sample to obtain the probability that an observation belongs to a certain set, depending on the behavior of the independent variables (Hair Jr., Anderson, Tatham & Black, 1998). In the present study, the estimators will indicate by how much the probability of a corporate client being served by an independent sales representative channel (i.e., intermediary) varies according to the variation of the explanatory variables.

4. RESULTS Table 3 shows the descriptive analysis of the items used to measure the constructs of interest for the total sample by service channel.

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Table 3 – Descriptive analysis of the items used to measure the constructs

Questionnaire item

Direct sales (n=338)

Sales Representative (n=340)

Loyalty - New purchase or renewal of the product or contract with the supplier 4.45 (0.59) 4.26 (0.75) - Recommendation of the supplier to a colleague 4.44 (0.56) 4.34 (0.73) - Purchase of another IT product or service from the supplier 4.35 (0.64) 4.15 (0.78) - Increased share of IT purchases from the supplier 4.13 (0.72) 3.93 (0.83) in the next two years Trust - Is your supplier reliable?

4.60 (0.54) 4.47 (0.73) Importance - Cares about the client’s success 4.32 (0.69) 3.95 (0.89) - Frees the client’s time 4.23 (0.71) 4.00 (0.87) - The supplier respects the client’s company 4.26 (0.69) 4.18 (0.81) Intimacy - Develops strong relationships with the client’s organization 8.28 (1.38) 7.29 (2.13) - Helps to select the best solution according to the 8.35 (1.35) 7.42 (2.02) client's needs - A general relationship exists between the client and the supplier 7.69 (1.95) 7.29 (1.83) - Keeps the client informed of new products and technologies 8.30 (1.46) 7.36 (2.21) - Looks for alternatives to add value to the client 8.29 (1.43) 7.31 (2.02) - Knows the client’s industry 8.32 (1.41) 7.46 (2.06) Switching cost - Changing suppliers involves significant costs 4.14 (0.81) 3.78 (1.12) - The supplier's products are unique and no 4.02 (0.96) 3.37 (1.19) comparable supplier exists - Dealing with this company is easier than switching 4.18 (0.74) 3.98 (0.99) to another supplier Note: The table lists averages, and the standard errors are shown in parentheses.

Source: Elaborated by the authors.

Based on Table 3, the averages of all items used in the questionnaire are higher for direct service by the manufacturer than for service by an independent channel. Thus the results are generally consistent with what would be expected given the preference for direct service, especially because all of the hypotheses imply a higher likelihood for the company to choose to be served by direct sales channels.

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To test these hypotheses, we must consider the statistical significance of the results, assuming a certain level of significance. Thus, this study applies regression analysis to capture the effects of the factors more robustly. It is worth noting that to obtain a better fit of the model, the standardized indices constructed earlier as determinants of the choice of the channel will be used, each index representing a construct of interest: loyalty, trust, importance, intimacy and switching costs.

Table 4 – Determinants of the choice of the marketing channel (sales representative channel) Standard Variable Hypothesis Coefficient error Explanatory variables Loyalty H1 - 0.006 0.100 Trust H2 0.119 0.221 Importance H3 - 0.206* 0.110 Intimacy H4 - 0.284** 0.120 Switching cost H5 0.163 0.113 Control variables After-sales

- 0.070

0.090

Type of product (corporate) Number of employees (100 to 499)b Number of employees (more than 500)b IT expenses (100,000 to 499,000 dollars)c IT expenses (500,000 to 1 million dollars)c IT expenses (more than 1 million dollars)c Respondent’s job (executive)d

- 0.212 0.074 - 0.803** - 0.879**

0.311 0.284 0.351 0.342

- 1.178**

0.390

- 1.247** - 1.276**

0.512 0.253

Product customization levele Experience in using the productf Constant Sector dummies

- 0.132** 0.118 3.058** Yes

0.120 0.111 1.952

a

Pseudo R2 0.1986 2 Statistic 89.43 p-value < 0.001 Number of observations 505 a Notes: *p < 0.10; **p < 0.05. Reference category 'product access'; breference category 'up to 99 employees'; creference category 'Up to 100 dollars'; dreference category 'staff'; e reference category 'inexistent'; freference category 'minimum'.

Source: Elaborated by the authors.

This article estimated a binomial logit regression to identify factors that affect the client’s service preference between direct service by the manufacturer and service by an independent sales representative (dichotomous decision). Table 4 shows the

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results of the binomial logit regression. The model consists of five explanatory variables that represent the five factors that determine the types of service discussed in this study (loyalty, trust, importance of the customer, intimacy and supplier switching costs) as well as eight control variables (after-sales, product type, number of employees, client IT expense, respondent´s job, product modularity, use of the product and client’s industry sector).

Table 4 shows that the importance of the client has, even if marginal, an impact on the service model used. The results indicate that the greater the importance given to the client by the supplier, the higher the probability of the client being served directly by the manufacturer, given that the estimated coefficient is negative. On average, a onepoint increase in the importance factor reduces the odds of the client being served by an intermediary representative by 19%, i.e., the results are supportive of the corporate customer’s preference for direct service. This reinforces the idea that the client believes him or herself to be the most important among all clients. Thus, clients’ real interest is to be served according to their expectations, regardless of how manufacturers control their list of priorities. In this case, all other variables remaining constant, the client will prefer to be on the manufacturer’s list of direct clients. Therefore, there is no influence of third parties on the relationship.

The determinant factor intimacy presents a more (statistically) significant result.

This means that the intimacy level between buyer and supplier affects the choice of the marketing channel, and the sign of the coefficient is consistent with the expectations, i.e., the higher the intimacy between buyer and supplier, the more the corporate client will prefer to negotiate directly with the manufacturer. Thus, the results are consistent with the hypothesis 4, indicating a preference for direct sales by the corporate client. In summary, it is confirmed that a one-point increase in the intimacy factor reduces the chances of the client being served by a representative intermediary by, on average, 25%.

Therefore, these results indicate that the ability of intermediaries i) to develop strong relationships with clients, ii) to help clients select the best solution according to their needs, iii) to keep clients informed of new products and technologies, iv) to seek alternatives that add value to clients' businesses and v) to know the customers' industries are much more limited than the abilities of manufacturers in these respects.

It is possible that the manufacturers have more knowledge to suit the needs of clients than do intermediaries. In addition, the results suggest that corporate clients expect the ability to closely relate with the manufacturer. Although clients occasionally recognize the limitations that manufacturers have in providing services throughout the Brazilian territory, they disregard this limitation when asked about their preferences for the service model. Furthermore, it is possible that manufacturers focus most of their relationship efforts on clients with whom they have direct contact, leaving intermediaries to serve the remaining clients. This should reduce the client portfolio with which the manufacturers have direct contact and therefore allow them to develop more intimacy with clients than do the intermediaries.

Regarding loyalty, the negative coefficient for this variable is aligned with preference expectations by the client. However, its statistical insignificance means that the effect of loyalty on the choice of the channel adopted is marginal. Although loyal customers may prefer, under equal terms, the same supplier when compared to the competition (Oliver, 1999), this appears irrelevant to the choice of the channel. When providing direct services, manufacturers may be better positioned to give concessions

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for their products. However, intermediary representatives, although not capable of offering the same concessions, may offer the same products that their loyal clients prefer. Therefore, even if it is not possible to reject hypothesis 1, the results suggest that loyal clients remain loyal regardless of the channel used to serve them.

Although the coefficients of the factors trust and switching cost show positive signs, which would be contrary to the formulated hypotheses two and five, respectively, they are statistically insignificant, i.e., they do not impact the choice of the type of channel. Regarding the customer's trust in the supplier, the positive coefficient has proven not to be aligned with the expectations for direct sales. Therefore, although the client sees the manufacturer as the greatest source of knowledge about the products and understands that direct services provided by the manufacturer may be better in solving potential problems, when clients develop trust in their representative intermediary, the corporate client will have no interest in being served directly by the manufacturer.

Results for the determinant switching cost do not reject hypothesis 5, which indicates a higher probability of the client being served by the manufacturer. The expectation was that an increase in switching costs would reduce the odds of the client wanting to be served by a representative intermediary. However, the results obtained were the opposite of those expected. It is possible that in situations where the switching costs of the supplier are high, clients begin to question their relationship with the supplier. Even if clients have unanticipated additional costs in the short term, they are more inclined to seek less costly alternatives in the long term to extricate themselves from the situation of entrapment with the current supplier. However, given the statistical insignificance of the coefficient, this study concludes that the effects of switching cost do not interfere in the choice of the channel.

In general, the theory suggests that the creation of competitive advantage by companies depends in part on the ability of these companies to adequately manage the channels through which customers are served (Taylor, Kim, Ko, Kim & Park, 2008).

Therefore, companies should not treat the transaction as an isolated phenomenon, but rather as a relational phenomenon in which supplier and buyer are engaged in a social exchange that involves personal satisfaction, not only economic incentives (Dwyer et al., 1987). Thus, it is expected that several attributes of the relationship are responsible for the success of a marketing channel (Bendapudi & Berry, 1997; Bolton & Lemon, 1999; Bunduchi, 2008; Rosenbloom, 2002). However, heretofore the development/appearance of many attributes has been considered independent of the channel; i.e., the development/appearance of a given attribute would not be potentiated/mitigated by the characteristics of the channel.

The results of this study show that the particularities of a given attribute may be more favorable for the service provided by a given channel. In particular, it was observed that a greater sense of importance by the corporate client leads to a higher probability of being served directly by the product manufacturer. In the same way, and with stronger statistical significance, corporate clients who perceive a greater intimacy with the supplier are more likely to be served directly. These results may be reflections of the manufacturersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; own channel strategy of directly serving clients with the highest purchasing potential, leaving the other clients to be served by intermediaries (Palmatier, 2008; Shipley et al., 1991). Indeed, the control variables reinforce this aspect because the most important clients (both in terms of the number of employees and in purchase volume) are more likely to be served directly. Similarly, clients who experience greater customization of products are those most likely to be served directly by the

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manufacturer, which may reinforce the perception of intimacy that the customer develops.

5. CONCLUSIONS The use of intermediaries to market and distribute products generates benefits concerning the division of tasks and economies of scale. Conversely, adoption of intermediaries generates costs associated with the intermediary (Payne & Frow, 2004).

As marketing channels are increasingly characterized by the simultaneous presence of intermediaries and the direct sales force of the manufacturer, and meeting the clients’ expectations becomes crucial to the survival and sustainable differentiation of companies, it is important to understand which factors induce corporate clients to choose a particular channel. However, we wanted to know which factors are the most relevant to the choice of marketing channel by the corporate client. To answer this question, the present study conducted a survey of 505 corporate clients of the Brazilian IT market. Based on the logit statistical model, this research investigated whether the factors loyalty, trust, importance of the customer, intimacy between client and supplier, and switching costs of suppliers may affect the choice of the marketing channel by the client.

The results revealed that the customer-supplier intimacy level is the main determinant of the choice of corporate clients to be served by a direct sales channel. In turn, clients’ perception of their own importance to the supplier is hardly relevant to their preference for being served directly by the manufacturer; the remaining factors were not identified (statistically) as determinants of the choice of marketing channels.

The present study contributes to our theoretical understanding by showing that the development of relationship attributes may influence the choice of the channel, but a channel may not always be the first option for the client’s choice. Particularly, the survey results indicate that the real relational advantage of the direct sales channel over the sales representative channel lies in its ability to make the buyer-manufacturer relationship closer (i.e., more intimate), thereby contributing to the development of solutions that better serve the needs of corporate clients. In contrast, the contribution of this research to practice is to draw the suppliers’ attention to the limits of their efforts to develop certain aspects of their relationship with clients (corporate). Although the value proposal offered to clients depends on the relationship that is established in the channels, the characteristics of these channels must be understood before defining what efforts will be used to improve the relationship.

As usual the present study is not free from limitations. Just as the constructs (although valid) may not perfectly capture the phenomena they represent, the analysis was based on the assumption that the corporate client chooses only one marketing channel, even if further alternatives exist. Thus, future studies should seek to explore not only other determinants (and their antecedents) for the choice of corporate clients but also the creation of more options to allow further investigation of the impact of those determinants on the simultaneous use of marketing channels by the corporate client.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp.541-562 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752012000300006

IMPROVING LOGISTICS SERVICES THROUGH TECHNOLOGY USED IN FLEET MANAGEMENT

THE

Mauro Vivaldini Silvio R. I. Pires Methodist University of Piracicaba – UNIMEP, Brazil Fernando Bernardi de Souza São Paulo State University Júlio de Mesquita Filho– UNESP, Brazil _____________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT Outsourcing logistics has established itself in the area of the LSP (Logistics Service Provider), which offers a range of services to its customers. In this line, transportation is characterized as one of the most important services, and therefore efficient fleet management is essential for establishing a high level of customer service. With advances in technology and vehicle tracking systems, this approach of management has gained new possibilities for the improvement of logistics services. By studying the specific case of an LSP, this paper investigates the use of these technologies in the management of their business and services. The results indicate that the LSP seeks to increase its services and to streamline information in order to respond to customer needs in real time. It is also evident in this case under study that the combination of the technology available together with the fleet management system has become a distinguishing feature for this LSP, one which increases their skills and important information for both customers and business.

Keywords: Logistic service provider, fleet management, logistics service.

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 30/12/2010 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 10/07/2012 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência Mauro Vivaldini, Universidade Metodista de Piracicaba – UNIMEP MSc in Business Administration and a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from UNIMEP, where he works as a lecturer in the areas of Logistics and Supply Chain.

Postgraduate Program in Management Assistant Professor Rua Pedro Cereser 165 - Res Paineiras Itupeva – SP – Brazil - CEP 13295.000 (11) 9616.7595 // (11) 4496-4614 // (11) 3687.2830 E-mail: mavivald@unimep.br // mvivaldini@vianetbr.com.br Silvio R. I. Pires, Production Engineer UFSCar and MSc and Ph.D. in Production Engineering from USP. Has over 25 years’ experience in Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain Management. He is a full professor at UNIMEP and a visiting professor at FGV. Methodist University of Piracicaba – UNIMEP Postgraduate Program in Management Professor, Rodovia do Açúcar, km 156 Piracicaba – SP – Brazil – CEP 13.400-911 (19) 3124-1515 // (16) 97832714 E-mail: sripires@unimep.br Fernando Bernardi de Souza, Mechanical Production Engineer from the University of São Paulo (1994), MSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of São Paulo (1997) and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of São Paulo (2001). Assistant Professor at Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho– UNESP Department of Production Engineering Av. Eng Luiz Edmundo C. Coube, s/n Bauru – SP – Brazil – CEP 17033-360 (14) 3103.6122 // (14) 9119.0261 E-mail: fbernardi@feb.unesp.br

Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2012 All rights reserved.

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1

INTRODUCTION

This so-called digital age, full of real-time information, enables companies to be aware of consumer needs and the requirements of various groups of people, or even those of other companies, by better understanding the means to offer products and services and also contributing to their management models. Specifically, the combination of these new technologies in Supply Chain Management (SCM) has provided important advances in the methods used by companies. One example has been the adoption of systems such as VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) and CPFR (Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment) which are significantly representative of the use of technology and their relationship with the concepts of demand management and their relationship with the elements within the chain (Ramanathan; Gunasekaran; Subramanian, 2011).

However, an important point in the supply chain is how logistics services are managed, whether made through internal management or even by logistics service providers. Whether one or the other managerial model is adopted, transportation management stands out, not only because of the operating cost it represents, but also because it directly affects the level of service intended to maintain with suppliers and customers. In this line of digital evolution, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has introduced several tools that help in the management of transportation, such as routing systems, freight and fleet management, cargo and vehicle tracking (Marchet; Perego; Perotti, 2009).

Within this context, this article aims to describe the features of tracking systems and fleet management applications that transportation companies can provide to promote and improve services in meeting the deliveries made by Logistics Service Providers (LSP). For this, the authors have analyzed the transportation operations of a large LSP in Brazil. Focusing on how the information from the tracking and freight system relates to the management of service customer level and discussing whether these managerial tools contribute both to the operation and to the relationship with the customer.

In this sense, one relevant research factor is to demonstrate the synergy between fleet management and monitoring, since the incorporation of different devices created through the advancement of voice and data communication systems via mobile or satellite have transformed the methods of monitoring and managing of transportation and delivery operations (See, 2007).

In addition, the observation, made by Perego, Perotti and Mangiaracina (2011), based on a review of published studies over the past 15 years about information technology applied to logistics and transportation, that studies assessing the use of technology to support transportation management are rare. That fact awards relative importance to this current study, not only due to its contribution to the literature, but also to businesses, by addressing the issue from practical experiences.

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2. METHODOLOGY The study began through a data collection plan described by Yin (2010), which mentions that the formulation of propositions and variables helps to limit and direct the focus of the study. This initiative also assists in the data collection of empirical research; it reflects a set of questions which can be applied and by means of the responses or observations made in the field the questions generate information, hypotheses and propositions or new variables. Therefore, during the first phase of this research a theoretical review of Logistics Service Providers (LSP) and tracking systems and fleet management was carried out. The aim was to understand the role of the LSP in the market, how they work with their clients and how they master new services through the application of technological tools used for fleet management and tracking. Based on the theoretical review, the variables were drawn from the research, as presented in section 4, which guide and restrict the search to its main focus: to investigate how information tracking and freight control systems in an LSP relate to the management level in customer service. Figure 1 illustrates how the methodology of this study was organized.

Figure 1 - Basic Structure for the Search management and monitoring System SistemaFleet de gestão e monitoramento de frota Fase 1 1 Phase

LSP PSL

Fase 22 Phase

Gestão e and Management Monitoring Monitoramento

Research Variáveis devariables pesquisa

Fieldde study Estudo campo Case analysis Análise do caso

Logistics Services Serviços logísticos

Source: Elaborated by the authors In the second phase, during the period of May 2009 to March 2010, the field research was carried out. The intention was to obtain a practical view of the tracking system and fleet management applied by transportation professionals from an LSP and two of its service providers (one in management and the other in fleet tracking). The selection of these companies was made for convenience because they possessed critical data for the purpose of this research (Collis; Hussey, 2010).

The manager responsible for the LSP and two technicians responsible for the other two technology companies directly participated in this research. Other professionals involved in routine operations and transportation within the LSP were consulted and observed, as they were able to provide data on the suitability of the tools, both in the creation of real-time information and in the preparation of managerial reports.

During five years of field studies on logistics, the authors analyzed the LSP, the object of this study, by observing the methods of service management practiced in serving customers. During this period they followed the implementation of the fleet management system and the management of deliveries made to customers, thus gathering information and data about the functionality of these systems. As an example

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of such functionalities, we can mention the conversion of monitoring data as an instrument used for management, which can give an alert on a late delivery, on speed, on a product fault or damage, or on a truck break down, etc.

In addition to information obtained by observations and records of conversations, other data were collected through semi-structured interviews, the script of which was based on the variables of the research presented in Section 4. Data were analyzed in depth, according to the technique of within-case analysis (Eisenhardt, 1989). At this stage, the information transcription stages, codification of concepts and interpretation of results were carried out in detail. The long period of research and interaction with the LSP and technology companies also assisted the authors in understanding the different processes, their purposes and the benefits derived from their use.

3. LITERATURE REVIEW In order to analyze the importance of the application of information systems to the management of the fleet used by the LSP, the study presents a theoretical view on logistics outsourcing, characterizing the role and importance of the LSP, as well as an overview of the fleet management and monitoring system used.

3.1. The Logistics Service Provider (LSP) This section discusses the vision of outsourced logistics services, understanding the role of the LSP and how the theory describes its activities in order to maintain and master new services.

3.1.1 The outsourced logistics service Characterized by several organizational differences, outsourcing is consolidated in various industries and does not differ in the provision of logistics services. Initially, the management of logistics processes was more focused on storage and transportation, without paying much attention to the strategic processes of the supply chain (Novaes, 2002). According to Lonsdale and Cox (2000), outsourcing has occurred more frequently in support activities than in those activities related to the primary chain. In the case of an LSP, they may assume primary activities or not, but still remain directly involved in the client's business.

Svensson (2003) believes that companies are reducing the number of subcontractors and increasingly focusing activities on a single subcontractor. This increases their dependence on the supply chain and on the chances of having an LSP with a larger sphere of activities being performed for any company or supply chain (SC). This reflects the thinking of McIvor (2003), where he suggested that outsourcing should take into consideration the ability of the contractor to integrate the activities and the contracted sub-activities. However, according to Berglund et al. (1999), there are two main influences that lead firms to outsource: the size of the demand and the size of the chain.

From an adaptation of the topics suggested by Bolumole (2001) and Jaafar and Rafiq (2005), a summary of the motivations and reasons for a company to outsource their logistics services, as well as the possible reasons why they decide on a partner, follows: JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 541-562

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- To focus efforts on their own business and find new markets; - To reduce logistics costs and avoid investments in assets which are not related to their core business; - To have a complex supply chain due to a fragmented supplier base; - To increase product return; - To coordinate logistics activities with a more global view; - To improve and monitor services and logistics activities levels; - To have greater flexibility and efficiency in logistics operations; - To have access to new information communication technologies (ICT) and logistical expertise.

For Dornier et al. (2000), the services provided by Third-Party Logistics companies (3PL) fall into a model that combines both physical (i.e., warehousing and transportation) and managerial services. As the complexity and need for customization of different companies increase the integrated nature of logistics, the number of specific companies that offer their services have also increased. However, for the aforementioned authors, logistics services are divided into four different types: basic services, which do not require significant coordination; physical contractual logistics services, allowing the outsourcing of some of the physical services while the company still maintains control of management; management contractual logistics services, which subcontract the management of a existing warehouse or fleet transportation; and finally, integrated contractual logistics, which incorporates physical services and managerial roles under the logistics operator.

From the simplest form of outsourcing to the most sophisticated, the acquisition of logistics services is a complex activity, because it is the purchase of a process, very different, however, from the purchase of goods and components. What an LSP provides is a series of transactions that require more sophisticated interfaces and monitoring from the contracting party. A successful outsourcing is one where all the parties involved have a clear understanding of the objectives, purposes, expectations and skills required (Bolumole, 2001). On the hand, Ayers (2001) believes that the LSP is an instrument of partnership within the SC through the knowledge and infrastructure that it possesses.

For Ballou (2001), instead of completely having their own and total logistics capacity and maintaining a large logistics organizational structure, some companies choose to share their logistics capabilities with other companies or contract out their logistics activities in order to have their services performed by companies that specialize in providing such activities, called third-parties.

The initial trend of outsourcing logistics processes, which contribute to the formation of the LSP, arose from the lack of expertise in the processes of distribution, concentrated primarily in transportation and storage activities, i.e. the so-called basic functions of logistics. Later, companies that outsourced in order to obtain the benefits and to facilitate the integration of their SC realized that these services could be understood as part of the chain. Those organizations that outsourced for operational reasons, or as a way to reduce costs, restricted the involvement of the LSP to only that of the basic functions of logistics (Bolumole, 2001; Christopher; Towill, 2001).

Therefore, the degree of outsourcing varies and outsourced activities differ greatly

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depending on their scope and complexity, ranging from the simplest to the most sophisticated logistics solutions (Stefansson, 2005).

3.1.2 The market for logistics services and its importance Logistics is a key element for the development of systems within the SC and companies using an LSP are acquiring a key element in the development of its SC (Rafele, 2004). Svenson (2003) points out that the tendency of companies is to subcontract a greater number of activities in the downstream flow and less in the upstream, thus maintaining a greater reliance on processes related to the former Data presented by Jaafar and Rafiq (2005) point to about 4% of services being contracted upstream and 52% downstream.

Regardless of their performance in the logistics flows, the LSP is gaining ground by leaving the client more dependent, as research has indicated a reduction in logistics assets as one of the main factors which have led to the outsourcing of these services. Then, naturally, the company that fails to invest in these assets will tend to have greater difficulty assuming these operations and not contracting them, to the extent that, although the most important services are still transportation and storage, many others have also been incorporated by the LSP, with the intention of serving their clients, mainly to strengthen the services and add value to their SC (Langley, 2012).

For Simchi-Levi et al. (2003), the process of logistics outsourcing offers both advantages and disadvantages. The big disadvantage is the loss of control of a specific function by the contracting party. However, the benefits are: - Focusing on core strengths. The use of an LSP allows the contracting party to focus on core competencies.

- Providing technological flexibility. As technology advances, the LSP tends to update its resources, which are part of its business; however, for some companies, this requires investments which are not always available.

- Other flexibilities, which make available other options for delivery services that the LSP is able to offer.

Vaidyanathan (2005) reports that the LSP, with its knowledge of SCs and global relations, is a strategic option for providing innovative solutions in logistics, in inventory control and in the demand management, by finding the best allocation levels, multimodal transportation, storage, offering ICT, global coverage and also by acting on behalf of manufacturing and service industries. Companies tend to gain competitiveness when they have a tailored logistics service.

Chapman et al. (2003) see the logistics sector as a classic example of the birth and development of a new and relevant service, which no longer only focuses on transportation services and tends to meet all the logistical needs of a client. This viewpoint demonstrates the flexibility that the LSP has in the market for the possibility of offering services. Generally, the LSP functions as an extension to the relationship with oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s customer, achieving greater understanding and greater reliability in the operational process and in those services provided to it. Therefore, the LSP gains confidence and increases its range of service options, thus building up a broader portfolio of activities.

The LSP may be entering a fourth phase, whose evolution of collaborative concepts throughout the SC, as well as their vision of using chain management as a

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distinguishing feature and competitive advantage, has resulted in the LSP incorporating new attributes. This, combined with the use of technological tools, means that the LSP differs from just being a mere executor for a chain integrating agent (Langley; Allen, 2005; Lieb; Bentz, 2005). Halld贸rsson and Skj酶tt-Larsen (2004) consider that the LSP must have the ability to create proficiency for its customers, creating a partnership in logistics solutions, as well as having the ability to learn from its customers. Therefore, every new client or change of client will have its own learning curve, creating new skills and proficiencies for the LSP. Hoek (2001) states that the LSP will have significant opportunities to expand their services, since their actions are already directed towards the SC, tending towards both the functional areas, through its traditional services, as well as within the production and marketing activities. The author also points out that with the expansion of integration processes within the SC, the market will become more dependent on the LSP. Alternatively, Langley and Allen (2005) highlight the importance of the relationship between the LSP and the client as a way to expand their services. The authors highlight the expectation for the LSP so that it is more dynamic in providing technology and operational solutions, such as the receipt of service requests, product traceability, and control in the delivery process as a customer need.

3.2. Fleet management monitoring systems The intention here is to provide a conceptual basis for monitoring systems and fleet management, which are functionally different. Fleet management focuses on providing the company with a means to manage its assets through control of the different variables involved in the process. Monitoring has as its objective, the exact product location, tying in with other variables related to the performance of the assets and the professional staff involved.

3.2.1 Fleet monitoring For See (2007), the current logistics systems require real-time monitoring and interaction with fleet vehicles in order to achieve high utilization and rapid responses to customer needs. The technology needed to support real-time logistics requires mobile communication, GPS (Global Positioning System) and GIS (Geographical Information Systems), combined with information systems. According to Rodrigues (2009), this technological tool is called AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location), which is the combination of the positioning and communication system, allowing the position of the vehicle to be known while performing operations associated with this information. In a simplistic manner, which covers: - Acquisition of data: Embedded devices acquire data on the state of the vehicle or data provided by the driver. The geographical position is usually data generated from GPS receivers embedded within the vehicle. The position can also be established by means of radio frequency, with the assistance of its own antennas, or by calling network positioning with the support of mobile phone operators; - Communications:

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These are technologies for the reception and transmission of data between a central base and a vehicle. This communication can be by satellite, radio frequency or cellular mobile phone services, such as GSM (Global System for Mobiles); - Information management: These are systems that perform information management, supporting processes associated with the journey of the vehicle. In short, it manages the sending and receiving of data.

The position information is sent to a module (computers / servers) which is stored, creating a record of positioning and vehicle information. In turn, the server compiles the information and produces the information according to the customer's needs. The client, once in possession of this information, can create its own database and extract from it whatever is convenient for his management.

In the same vein, See (2007) calls the set of equipment needed for fleet management and information, RTFMS (Real-Time Fleet Management System). It consists of three major components: a system for logistics information service (LIS Logistics Information Service), a data terminal in the vehicle (MDT - Mobile Data Terminal) and infrastructure to support the communication system.

The Magazine Log-Web (2009) summarizes the application of this fleet management technology in two modules: Tracking and Monitoring. The tracked vehicles can be located in real time via coordinates and this provides the communication interface with the central monitoring station and, by means of monitoring, physical information may be obtained, such as times of opening doors, starting and ending of route, stoppages etc.

3.2.2 Fleet management The information submitted in this topic is based on several fleet management sites (Angels-Brasil; Assiste; Elogfretes; Fleet; Produsoft; Sigmax; Sythex; 2010). Their concepts have been adapted by the authors and the main points presented by the companies that sell this type of product are summarized.

These systems are seen as a tool for operational control and fleet management for various types of operations, e.g., distribution, vehicle rentals, passenger transportation, and etc. Its purpose is to generate information that will help in decisions related to the fleet and the professionals involved in the various processes and operations.

The systems are flexible and adaptable to different types of ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning) available in the market, enabling and facilitating the integration of applications already installed in the existing structure of the company, for example, cost structuring, purchasing, control of employees, assets, etc. Table 1 presents the main controls and reports generated by the fleet management system. This information can be used by companies in real time.

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Improving logistics services through the technology used in fleet management

Table 1 - Fleet management controls and reports Control

Reports

Assets (vehicles, equipment, tires, etc)

Individual assessment of equipment

Legal obligations

Assessment of equipment groups

Staff performance assessment (drivers)

Equipment performance

Maintenance (Planned maintenance)

Min and max fuel consumption averages

Tires

Exceptions vision (out of the average)

Fuel

Cost and performance parameters

Warranties

Preventative maintenance to be carried out

Services performance

Corrective maintenance

Requisition of parts

Actual cost assessment per piece of equipment

Purchasing and application of parts

Km/tire and per piece of equipment etc.

Costs per branch, per vehicle etc.

Records of tires and equipment

Parts and inventory

General records

Source: Elaborated by the authors

The system can maintain a secure access procedure, limiting information and inputs according to the company requirements. Many reports may only be generated by management, or by the corporate area, for example. This is applied in an interactive form with the user so that they can filter out whatever they want or what they deem to be important. In the same manner data inputs can be made with the system. To sort this process, the system is divided into modules that perform and control different tasks and information: - Vehicles: registration of vehicles and other equipment, hour meters and odometers, insurance, documentation, traffic tickets, accidents and other events, fleet age, etc.

- Tires: tire registration, movement, shipping and receiving of re-treads, evaluation of the tire retread performance, number of retreads, statistics, etc; - Fuel and lubricants: average consumption and identification of abnormalities.

Integration with electronic fuelling system, CTF (Control Total Fleet) type which is a fully automated fuel supply system that aims to streamline and optimize fuel supply; - Suppliers (purchases): registration, classification and specialty. Record of purchases, records and evaluation, quotation system, past records, etc; - Fleet production: record of travels, production by vehicle, driver, routes, customers.

Integration with highway "no-stop" toll type systems, and with customers.

- Preventive and corrective maintenance: plans for predefined maintenance with warning for stoppage times. Generation of service orders and integration with storeroom, purchasing and parts control; - Employees: registration of drivers, operators, mechanics, salesmen, etc. Control of documentation, traffic tickets, accidents, records , productivity, etc;

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- Warehouse: registration of products, inventory, integrated control with different business units, average costs, maximum and minimum stock, etc; - Costs: direct and indirect costs. It makes the apportionment of indirect costs and appoints the costs per unit as they occur.

In order to better illustrate what the system is and how the integration occurs with users, here are some examples of tables and graphs that the system provides: - Cost planning and cost center: the structure types of existing cost centers within the organizations; - Fleet Costs (managerial): allows analyzing by type of expenditure costs at the level of detail desired, as shown in Figure 2: Figure 2 - Example report (graphs of fleet costs)

Source: Provided by the company Produsoft - Cost per period: analysis of the cost per vehicle for the various events that it experiences; - Average age of the fleet: visualize the year of manufacture, manufacturers and models.

- Simulation of tire purchase: allows the quotations for the purchase of tires. In addition to helping to visualize the performance of the tire according to its application within the vehicle (cost/km); - Analysis of the performance of tire retread: evaluates the cost per kilometer travelled by the retread and its application in the fleet; - Participation of tire brands: overview of the total fleet with its share of each brand of tire; - Defect statistics: allows the evaluation of what has compromised the fleet and its operation;

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- Fleet availability: the system displays the fleet availability as a percentage of the fleets based on workload, idle time and time stopped for maintenance; - Record by supplier visualizes spending according to work orders for each supplier, by period, by detail like applied parts, price, invoice, etc; - Driver's license points and traffic ticket amounts: indicates driver's points by type of traffic infraction that was committed, and the records that describe the amounts spent on traffic tickets.

Finally, the system has different configurations and can be shaped for many types of applications. The intention of this section was to clarify and illustrate how it works by understanding the practical application of the analysis presented in the case study.

4. RESEARCH VARIABLES Based on the theory presented, in this section the variables (named V1, V2 etc.), which guided the field search, will be discussed. The intention is to allow for a better tracking system and fleet management adopted by the LSP and then, according to these variables, to provide a focus on the aspects related to the improvement of logistics services offered by a LSP to its customers from the adoption of these tools. Therefore, the variables give more emphasis on the ways in which technology tends to be characterized as the possible distinguishing feature in LSP for those logistics services provided.

V1-Generating greater service reliability: With information being generated in real time, it is possible to meet different customer requests, such as locating a delivery, show if there have been failures and generate mitigation actions in advance. The monitoring related to the management of available data allows to view the performance of the contracted service, as well as their own fleet and delivery team (Chapman, 2003; Marchet; Perego; Perotti, 2009).

V2-Making the client more dependent on the LSP: By investing in fleet technologies creating information relative to delivery and customer service provided, it is assumed that the LSP incorporates an apparatus of solutions that would be difficult for the client to undertake (Simchi-Levi et al, 2003, Mcivor, 2003; Langley, 2012).

V3- Favoring the integration with the client: To provide customer information in real time, or generate reports to inform them on the status of their deliveries and any other occurrences, is a distinguishing feature, because this integrates the services provided with that of the client's business (Langley; Allen, 2005; LIEB; Bentz, 2005).

V4 - Fleet and delivery information management qualifies an LSP: Having technology does not mean the ability to respond to the needs of or improve customer services. The LSP needs to generate reliable information that complements and streamlines its management, transforming it into a distinguishing feature capable of

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providing operational results. This attribute perceived by the customer is what qualifies the LSP in winning or expanding its services (Langley; Allen, 2005) 5. CASE STUDY Aiming to analyze how these technological tools relate to the fleet management and how monitoring can contribute to the LSP services; the study analyzed how an operator transforms information into an instrument of operations management.

5.1. The Operator (LSP) The operator is a company dedicated to logistics in the food sector, serving large networks of fast food outlets, restaurants, hotels and hospitals in Brazil. All customer services are carried out with its own fleet.

The point-to-point delivery schedule is performed via software routing, organized by type of business, customer, region, date and delivery times. For example, if a large food-service network has sufficient volume to organize exclusive routes, the routing will be carried out according to the pre-established delivery frequency and the date and time. When this exclusivity is not possible, the routes are organized by region, meeting the corresponding customer's schedule, also in compliance with the dates and times agreed upon with each customer.

Bearing in mind that all contracted requirements for their clients must meet the agreed delivery times, the level of accuracy for the delivered products and cold quality (for frozen and chilled products there is a specific temperature range to be maintained), having information regarding how the route and delivery are being performed becomes crucial in order to meet the objectives negotiated with each client.

During this follow-up carried out by the LSP, the fulfillment of the agreed level of service is an important factor for the sales outlet to maintain a minimum inventory as well as the necessity for quality products.

The LSP uses a tracking system combined with management software oriented to the management of fleet and routing information. This system communicates with the LSP ERP and obtains the necessary information to make operational and managerial reports. The operational reports consist of modules that allow data inputs generated by the delivery operation and fleet utilization, for example, the information about the temperature of a product delivered indicated by a client, or a mechanical problem in the vehicle reported by the driver. To collect this information, a cellular phone device PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) or Handhelds (Palmtops) types with Bluetooth receive information from the ERP and inputs from operators, drivers and sale outlets.

Management reports are generated from a combination of information that is collected from the tracking system and the information sent by the PDA, serving the various analyses needed to manage the operation and delivery services. The inputs from this data supply the fleet management system, thus generating the necessary information for its managers.

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5.2. Utilizing information on fleet management and services This section analyses how the LSP uses technology and the information generated for management and fleet monitoring and management services.

As shown in Figure 3, the analysis is based on 3 parts: Figure 3 - Use of information systems for vehicle tracking Monitoring Monitoramento Veículos Vehicles Motorista Rota

Drivers

Routes

Combined Service Serviço Agregado Localiza entrega Delivery location Comunicação Gera relatórios AvaliaCommunications dirigibilidade Problemas do veículo

Generating reports

Assesses drivability

Services Management Gestão dos Serviços Performance entrega Deliveryda performance Performance da rota Routing performance Velocidade Erros da entrega Speed Temperatura de entrega Delivery errors Reclamações Informações de relatórios

Source: Elaborated by the authors

Vehicle problems

Delivery temperature

Complaints (1) Monitoring: allows to track where the vehicle is, the behavior of their staff and if the route is being carried out according to plan, as follows: Reports Information

- Vehicles: the GPS location system demonstrates where the vehicle is located.

Through this position the positioning rules can be established according to the route that must be followed, such as stops and points of product delivery or collections. This monitoring also allows to create alerts when certain rules are not being followed; - Driver: defining the route and the variables that must be obeyed by the driver; it is possible to monitor if the professional is following the set route, time and pre-defined stops. The system can also monitor their drivability, like maximum speed, sudden braking, engine revs, consumption etc; - Route: with defined routes and tracking system, monitoring points and times are created to permit to follow whether the route is being carried out according to plan.

Figure 4 illustrates a screen shot guidance for operators / managers with some real time information.

Figure 4 - Example of a vehicle monitoring screen

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(2) Combined Service: through the monitoring of information, combined activities that complement, streamline and monitor the operation, are described as follows: - Locates and limits delivery and stop offs points. All product deliveries or pick-ups shall be construed as an individual route. This is defined with all possible variables relative to stops for delivery, fuelling stops, rest etc. After all these processes are concluded , it creates monitoring points that warn when there should be a stop or delivery or fueling and other variables related to the travel; - Communication with drivers: by connecting the PDA to the communication system (via telephone or SMS), the system manages to establish real-time communication with the driver, providing him with notes and information and obtaining from him the events along the travel and the route; - Delivery reports: through the PDA, a data electronic form that should be completed by the driver and the delivery point is created, allowing to monitor the delivery and characteristics that can be evaluated, such as the temperature of product delivery during unloading; - Driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drivability: it can follow up the driver in real time, monitoring if he meets the pre-set speeds, and if he follows the defined roadmap and their respective stopping points and if he drives in compliance with procedures that aid in the performance of the vehicle and the average consumption. There is also, upon completion of the route, i.e., the return of the driver, a report that shows all the deviations from the route, whether related to speed, driver drivability or even non-compliance of stopping points; - Indication of vehicle and equipment problems: It is possible to visualize if stoppages occur due to a technical problem, if the product temperature is within the established standards, if the doors were opened at unauthorized points, etc; 3) Management Services: with the information generated through monitoring and the combined services, it is possible to extract a lot of information and reports that become management tools, such as: - Delivery point performance: based on the time of arrival and departure of the vehicle, the unloading time at the delivery point is obtained and consequently its performance.

With this information, it is possible to work with the client on the impacts that this has on costs and on services, especially when it is tied to various route deliveries, as any delays at the initial delivery points will impact on the following: - Route Performance: with the appointed times set for the route and deliveries, it is possible to assess whether the route taken is compatible with the planned. This facilitates adjustments and therefore improves the delivery service and the time of arrival at the point of delivery or collection; - Driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s speed and drivability: it provides the driver's behavior relative to the speed and drivability by route. With this information, a record for each driver is created, which can be evaluated with more elements in a less subjective manner. And it also allows punitive and corrective actions (whenever necessary) upon their arrival, i.e. during the final accounting for that route; - Information on errors and delivery time: it is possible, in real time, to see whether there was any occurrence in delivery enabling immediate corrective actions to be taken that do not cause losses to the client. This information also feeds the performance data related to the efficiency for that delivery, the types of errors and delays, the

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professionals involved with the error and, as a result, there is the creation of a plan with corrective actions in order to correct processes and professionals; - Delivery temperature: it is crucial in the food industry, especially in restaurant networks, hospitals and fast food chains, which is the case of the LSP currently under study. In this case, there are two temperatures to be assessed. The first refers to the vehicleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (cold compartment - trailer or trunk) which lets you know how the refrigeration equipment has performed, and how it was throughout the route for the quality of the temperature and creates assessment records, if needed. The other temperature to be evaluated is the delivery temperature, which can only be recorded directly in the PDA by the receiving managers. This information creates a database to generate performance records and temperature quality, for example, by delivery unit (sales point), by route, by type of vehicle etc; - Delivery and quality complaints: the delivery point may, by the PDA, record delivery failures, such as missing products or damage or even a factor of poor service (such as the driver's service, for example). With this information, it is possible to assess the types of complaints which are more frequent, if there are any complaints about the quality of products forwarding them directly to the manufacturer. If frequent complaints about a specific product appear, it is possible to act in a preventive manner by avoiding recalls or preventing such goods from being sent to new outlets; - Creation of Delivery Reports: with all this information, a delivery report can be generated which will be assessed daily by managers, enabling them to understand what happens on each route, each delivery and with each client, as the report already highlights abnormalities, or any deviation from established routines. Based on these reports, various information and analysis reports can be extracted, which enable and assist in decision-making processes related to new routes, the change of route or delivery time change at some point etc.

The LSP under study performs about 70 routes per day and the analysis of information is critical to decision-making processes such as: reassessment of routes; reevaluation of sales outlets; verification that the vehicle needs attention for maintenance, etc.

As the fleet management and monitoring systems work in an integrated manner with the company's ERP, the information generated by the PDAs is used by the fleet management system, such as: - Fuel consumption (km / l): considering the time of departure up to the time of arrival, the PDA collects information from the on-board vehicle computer and transmits it to the central, which forwards the same information to the fleet management, enabling access, in real time, of the fuel consumption of the vehicle; - Driver performance: points relating to the drivability in deviating from established standards, such as speeding, braking and acceleration, for example, going straight to the professionalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s record card in the fleet management. The fleet management system can generate a report of the performance of its professionals and it is possible to check whatever is abnormal. This is used frequently in the case of an accident or breakdown of the vehicle; - Anticipation of service order: once problems are perceived, whether by drivers or by the onboard computer, the PDA sends some information about the problem that, for the fleet management, becomes a work order that needs to be carried out by the workshop;

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- External fuelling and services: provided by the drivers, the service or fueling must be recorded in the PDA and is automatically transmitted to the fleet management system which updates all information relating to that vehicle.

5.3. Improvements and results obtained Based on the information collected during the interviews as well as the observations and explanations made by professionals of the fleet operations base, with regard to how they worked before the new system was implemented, Table 1 lists the improvements obtained with the fleet management system, highlighting the agility obtained with real-time information and the possibility to act quickly in correcting problems.

Table 1: Comparison of service improvements Before

After

Monitoring Based on the route taken the vehicle is monitored and is required to comply and remain within the Vehicle The vehicle is promptly located when required via pre-established boundaries (called a fence). If he phone or via monitoring. deviates from this, the system alerts the base for actions to be taken.

On - screen view alerts if the times and the routing are being met. Real-time alert for speeds out of Driver established ranges, or for unscheduled stoppages Contact via phone. Drivability and speed are or non-routine events. Analysis and corrective analyzed after he returns from route. measures implemented up on the return of the professional.

Route Monitoring performed with the driver via cell phone.

Monitoring during real time on a computer screen, with alerts and reports on unscheduled events.

Combined Service Appears in real time on a computer screen, Locating the delivery highlighting unscheduled deviations from the Made by contacting the driver when arriving at the established routes. The customer also has access point of sale (via phone call or text message), or via the information portal available exclusively for monitoring. this purpose.

The system tells you where the vehicle is, the Communication with the driver driver communicates via text message in case of According to the need or pre-established rules occurrences, or the driver calls directly if (inform when you get to the point of sale, inform necessary, i.e., the base can follow him and contact fault occurrence, etc.). is immediate (voice or text message).

Available on the PDA display, and sent in real Delivery Report time to the base where it can be viewed by the Printed and completed by the driver and the client management.

The report can be viewed in real time or printed Drivability out upon the return of the driver with immediate Available only after returning from route, after guidance and measures to be taken. Furthermore, extracting data from the on-board computer of the screen alerts occur when excesses occur (speed truck. above 80 km / h).

The breakdown is highlighted on the screen. If the problem is related to electronic issues, the system Vehicle problems can advise the operators, for example, of a fault in The driver warns via phone. the cooling system of the vehicle (for refrigerated trailers).

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Service management Delivery point performance After receiving the report, on the return route, the LSP professionals assessed if at the point of sale there was a delay in unloading.

Management Performance Only one day after the return from route was it possible to evaluate the performance of the route, time taken, average distances, errors, delays, etc.

The excessive time taken for unloading can be viewed immediately and the operation can act upon this occurrence relative to their intentions for releasing the vehicle for other deliveries.

In real time it is possible to see the delays and have a report on how the deliveries stand for that day, but also the consolidation of information from the route was streamlined with pre-established working times (e.g. from 0800 hrs. to 1800 hrs. per day).

Information about errors and complaints Complaints about delivery time, temperature, quality of products upon delivery, shortages and other occurrences, when named in the delivery report were analyzed by the LSP, at the first opportunity upon the return of the driver, and a second time in operational meetings where the assessment of relevant facts to measures to be taken (if necessary) were decided.

Now seen in real time and it is possible to act immediately and take action, either from monitoring information or from the PDA recordings (electronic delivery report).

Source: Elaborated by the authors According to comments from those managers interviewed, the success and ontime deliveries rates increased 2% and 3% respectively (2008 to March 2010). One cannot attribute this result solely to the implementation and improvements made in the fleet management system under study, as other initiatives were taken by the company, such as training of drivers, corrections in the selection and the loading of products in the warehouse, but it can be confirmed that it did make its contributions. However, aspects perceived by the interviewees as improvements can be pointed for directly reflecting on the level of service offered to the customer: - The findings made from the delivery results, for deviation occurrences, for average consumption, driver performance, etc., became much faster, allowing managers to have more reliable analyzes and for remedial measures to be taken much more quickly.

According to the background, the reports that came back only on the next day were analyzed, and, furthermore, did not see events happening at the time of delivery. This optimized the actions to be taken on eventual failures and advanced the consolidation of information for management meetings by at least a day: - It was possible to visualize the performance of partial deliveries during the day, to be able to monitor critical cases with greater accuracy, to demonstrate commitment to schedules and the importance of keeping to the established routes for the professionals; - Information such as average fuel consumption for a specific vehicle or even a driver, which used to depend on accounts made following the finalization of the route, has now become immediate. Consequently this makes the average fuel consumption of the fleet more reliable, for the categories of vehicles, as well as for the individual drivers, allowing actions and decisions to be taken on a vehicle or on a professional, such as sending a vehicle for maintenance or for warning a driver;

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- Greater integration with the customer by allowing access for points of sale and information about the vehicle that will make the delivery. This also strengthens the credibility of information examination, which is passed on by means of consolidated reports to the client, as the system has made it possible to deal with complex data manipulation, besides the ease of locating and communications for certain events and urgent needs; - The fast and reliable information about the location of the fleet assists with routing and in the better utilization of vehicles, facilitating the programming and stopover. In this regard, information from the various respondents indicate that the LSP has an average index of 95% fleet availability scheduled for the day, prior to the implementation of the system, this index did not exceed 90% (with the same aforementioned exceptions ).

6. CASE ANALYSIS BASED ON RESEARCH VARIABLES From the data relating to delivery, the system analyzed by the authors prepared the information for the routes on the PDA, which accompanies the driver and acts as a data collector during the operation. Thereafter the monitoring comes into operation, not only during deliveries en route, but also during the monitoring the delivery service. The data collected feed the fleet management system and the company database so that the operations management can assess the performance and take the necessary actions needed to correct problems or improve the process, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5 - Management and monitoring of the LSP fleet LSP PSL Operação de Delivery entrega

operation

Monitoring Monitoramento (frota e entrega)

(fleet and deliveries)

Fleet Gestão de frota e managementde informações desempenho

Clientao Serviço cliente

and performance

service

info

Entrega (Geração Delivery da informação)

Operation management Gestão da operação

( generation of information)

Source: Elaborated by the authors The LSP bases its information base (relative to delivery processes) on the data obtained by monitoring and fleet management. It is assumed that the intention was to improve the operational performance in the area of transportation as a whole through the standardization of delivery procedures performed by drivers. Consequently, the benefits from the changes and greater agility allowed quick access to information which became a distinguishing feature when made available to the customer.

On the other hand, the implementation process allowed the internal team to visualize and to track the movements of these deliveries always in real-time, demanding actions and solutions to be taken with agility and speed. So if and when necessary, the JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 541-562

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LSP provides rapid solutions, and is able to improve their index of delivery errors, resulting in a better service for the client. Therefore, it can be said that there is evidence on the variable V1, as the system presented can provide a higher reliability for those services offered by the LSP. The on time delivery h and error-free service are a relatively strong factor for obtaining customer loyalty and makes the customer ever more dependent. On the other hand, investments in the construction of these infrastructure systems, software and customizations, plus the time required (in the case studied, the technicians worked for about 3 years on the new system), are also an asset rather too complex and costly to be undertaken by the customer. For this specific case, this position supports the variable V2, because actions of this nature performed by the LSP make the customer become more dependent on their services.

Taking into consideration that the client interacts with the process, allowing them , at the time of delivery, the possibility to make considerations and complaints in respect to the service provided, the customer ability to actually have the confirmation of actual data recorded by the system itself, such as arrival time and temperature, and also to be able to access the portal by verifying the confirmation and expected arrival time of its delivery stimulates and promotes integration with the LSP. Therefore, regarding the delivery processes, the variable V3 is very much in evidence.

In turn, the whole apparatus designed for fleet management and delivery and the relationship created to improve customer service, considering the investments in technology and the development of solutions, support the variable V4 because they make the LSP more qualified and more prepared for the market.

Along these lines, actions such as those practiced by the LSP under study correspond to the comments made by Bolumole (2001) and Jaafar and Rafiq (2005) on why companies seek to outsource their services with an LSP. The results seem to indicate that the LSP seeks to obtain information on services and agility, such as monitoring deliveries and responding to the real-time needs of its customers. This position is also supported by Saura et al. (2008), which reinforce the idea that, by incorporating technological tools into their business, the LSP improves the quality of services offered to its customers.

7. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS With the expansion of the LSP market and the diversity of activities that have been established by such service providers, improving the services offered by them is important for the understanding of the business and to be aware of their customer needs.

In this respect, knowing how a delivery process occurred and having the resources to understand the level of service provided at each point of sale becomes a distinguishing feature in providing such services. Considering that it is common for the LSP to be questioned by customers about their current delivery status, the adoption of these technologies and management systems help and facilitate customer service. However, improvement of logistics services through information technology made by these agents cannot be evidenced only by this activity, it is necessary to move forward in other areas and processes, therefore opening opportunities for broader studies involving not only different types of operations, but also different types of LSPs.

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The study assesses the management system of an LSP through the application of technologies related to tracking and fleet management, with the intention of obtaining improvements in the services provided for its customers. Consequently, it is also possible to state that the fact that the LSP is provided with information regarding their vehicles and drivers may also favor the management of their own business. Therefore, the case exemplifies that the installation of systems or tracking information of the fleet it is not enough, that is, the crucial element is that they are integrated into the needs of the LSP, turning these technologies into management tools that perform and contribute to the services, according to customer requirements and their own business needs.

This study has discussed the features and how technology tools for fleet management and monitoring contribute to the services offered by the LSP, by means of the presentation of a case study, given the observation made by Perego, Mangiaracina and Perotti (2011) that this type of study in logistics literature is rare. However, the authors acknowledge its limitations for being a unique case, suggesting that further studies explore issues about the difficulties encountered by LSPs in projects of this nature, in the participation of clients in this type of development and in how these technologies relate to other LSPs in relation to their management.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp.563-584 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752012000300007

MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND INFLUENCES ON IT ARCHITECTURE DECISIONS: A CASE STUDY IN A TELECOM COMPANY

Chen Wen Hsing Cesar Alexandre de Souza University of São Paulo, Brazil _____________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT The study aims to analyze the IT architecture management practices associated with their degree of maturity and the influence of institutional and strategic factors on the decisions involved through a case study in a large telecom organization. The case study allowed us to identify practices that led the company to its current stage of maturity and identify practices that can lead the company to the next stage. The strategic influence was mentioned by most respondents and the institutional influence was present in decisions related to innovation and those dealing with a higher level of uncertainties.

Keywords: IT Architecture, Enterprise Architecture, Institutional Theory, Strategic Choice Theory.

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 20/07/2011 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 15/08/2012 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência

Chen Wen Hsing, holds a Bachelor degree in Computer Science from IME-USP and Master in Business Administration from FEA/USP. She is a consultant in the area of implementation of management systems and systems architecture.Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade (FEA/USP) Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Luciano Gualberto, 908 – Sala G175 E-mail: chenwh@usp.br Cesar Alexandre de Souza, holds a degree in Production Engineering from POLI-USP, and Master and PhD in Business Administration from FEA/USP. He is a professor in the administration department of FEA/USP. Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade (FEA/USP) Universidade de São Paulo Av. Prof. Luciano Gualberto, 908 – Sala G175 E-mail: calesou@usp.br Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2012 All rights reserved.

564 Hsing, C. W., Souza, C. A. de.

1. INTRODUCTION The development of information technology (IT) and its wide use in all sectors of the organizations and society require managers to continually rethink the strategy of how to use it properly in order to achieve the corporate goals.

For Ross, Weill and Robertson (2008), IT architecture (or enterprise architecture)1 is one of the basis for building a technology infrastructure and digitized business processes to enable the flexibility and agility necessary for the companies today. The authors define IT architecture as a set of policies and technical choices that reflect the needs for standardization and integration of technologies and information systems for the viabilization of the business strategies of the company.

With respect to the results arising from the correct construction and management of IT architecture, Kappelman (2010) presents the survey data from SIM - Enterprise Architecture Working Group (SIMEAWG) which involved more than 370 companies from various sectors, sizes and countries. This research identified the main goals and benefits of information technology (IT) architecture: improve the interoperability of information systems (IS), better use of IT, alignment between IT and business investments, more efficient use of IT resources and faster response to changes.

The decisions associated with the management of IT architecture are related to a larger set of IT decisions that can be classified into five categories (Weill & Ross, 2004): principles, architecture, infrastructure, applications and investments. The responsibilities for its implementation should be assigned to this set of IT decisions, which should be shared between the business and technical areas at the different levels of the organization, thus making up the IT governance model in the company.

Despite being initially associated with the IT area in the organizations, the decisions related to IT architecture then become, according to the context and needs described above, a fundamental element in the maintenance of corporate strategies.

Ross et al. (2008) found in case studies that companies with more developed architectures within a range of four stages of maturity (silos, standardized, optimized and modular) claimed to have greater success in achieving strategic goals and higher average return on invested capital.

All these factors are related to the decision-making in IT architecture and have gained prominence in the specialized media, especially with new methodologies for the development, deployment and integration of systems. Although the subjects IT governance and IT architecture rely on a reasonable number of published studies, most of them present normative models for their implementation, and few seek to analyze how the decision-making processes on IT architecture occur in the corporate reality (Radeke, 2010).

A considerable part of the IT research focuses on the design, deployment and use of artifacts that represent tangible solutions to real problems. Therefore, the search for theoretical principles in knowledge areas outside the scope of technology contributes to the theoretical and practical enrichment on the subject through the integration between the areas of IT knowledge and organizational studies.

1

The original definition of the term in Ross et al. (2008) is "enterprise architecture". However, in this paper we chose to use the term "IT architecture" to avoid confusion with other management areas and because it seems to be the preferred term for publications in Portuguese.

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The two areas will benefit from the integration and both can be understood as overlapping fields of study rather than mutually exclusive (Orlikowski & Barley, 2001).

This possibility is particularly interesting for the study of IT architecture decisions, which, as previously mentioned, should involve both technological and organizational aspects simultaneously and is a field in which there is a strong influence of reference market models and need for standardization.

A possibility for that is the neoinstitutionalist theory (Powell & DiMaggio, 1991), which emerged as a counterpoint to the organizational theories that treated managers and organizations as rational players. By including the institutional theory in IT studies, it is possible to develop a more comprehensive understanding about how technology is intertwined in interdependent social, economic and political networks (Orlikowski & Barley, 2001).

The purpose of this study is to analyze the IT architecture management practices associated with their degree of maturity and the influence of institutional and strategic factors on the decisions involved. The analysis used the model of Ross et al. (2008) for the maturity of the architecture management and the institutional and strategic choice theories as distinct lenses to observe the decisions made by managers. The empirical part of this study consists of a qualitative survey of exploratory and descriptive nature that uses the case study method, conducted in a company that formalized the IT architecture management.

Due to the confusion that exists in the definition of IT architecture and because it is a concept not yet stabilized (Hämäläinen, 2008; Radeke, 2010), this same lack of maturity is also reflected in studies on this subject. In addition, we conducted a search in Proquest database in July 2010, the data collection period, and later in July 2012, for studies related to the terms in English of information technology and architecture combined with the terms influence, factors or decision. There were no studies about influences on IT architecture or decisions on IT architecture, although there are studies on architecture, decisions or influences on management alone with goals and approaches very different from this paper.

Therefore, exploratory studies are important for raising new hypotheses, factors and variables. This paper has the following secondary goals, associated with the main goal and the case study: 1) Identify the stage of maturity of the IT architecture management in the organization studied; 2) identify management practices that can help the organization move forward in its stage of maturity of IT architecture; and 3) check if there is a prevalence of influences of institutional or strategic factors in the justifications given by the managers for the decisions on IT architecture considered important to the organization.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Information Technology Architecture For Radeke (2010), the term “IT architecture” does not have a universally accepted definition yet. The definitions found in the literature suggest several ideas associated with it: planning, governance, innovation, vision, principles, standardization, integration, policies and compliance with the business strategy (Zachman, 1997; Tapscott & Caston, 1995; Cullen & Leganza, 2006; Ross et al., 2008).

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Ross (2003) states that IT architecture is the logic of organization for applications, data and infrastructure technology that reflects the integration and standardization requirements of the company’s operating model, embodied in a set of policies and technical choices that intend to enable the business strategy of the company. According to the author, IT architecture covers four dimensions: business architecture, information architecture, application architecture and technology architecture. Cullen and Leganza (2006) complement this definition by stating that IT architecture is a function of planning, governance and innovation.

Business architecture is characterized by activities or tasks that comprise the major business processes identified by the holders of the processes (Ross et al., 2008).

Information architecture consists of a series of tools that adapt the resources to the information needs. It makes the connection between behavior, processes, specialized personnel and other aspects of the company such as administrative methods, organizational structure and physical space. Information architecture increases the possibility of data being used efficiently (Davenport, 1998).

According to Spewak (1992), application architecture is the definition of how applications will make data management and the provision of information to people who perform the business functions. The applications allow access to the data in the proper format at an acceptable cost. Finally, technology architecture is the definition of the types of technologies or platforms that will support the business in a data sharing environment. The technology platforms provide the means to collect data, transport, store, process and deliver to customers or users.

Currently, a great variety of approaches for the management of IT architecture is being studied, developed and applied by the industry and the academic community. The following can be mentioned, among others: enterprise architecture (EA), serviceoriented architecture (SOA), service-oriented enterprise architecture (SoEA), integration architecture and software architecture (SA). However, there is no consensus on the meaning of these approaches, that is, their concepts are not yet stabilized.

Therefore, there is no agreement about the relationship between them and there are discussions about the existence of overlaps such as the confusion as to whether SOA is part of enterprise architecture or the opposite. Likewise, there is no consensus on the definition of enterprise architecture or IT architecture (Hämäläinen, 2008). Figure 1 shows the various components of IT architecture used to compose the definition of architecture in this study.

As noted in the definition of Ross et al. (2008), the integration and standardization requirements of the company’s systems are essential aspects of IT architecture and compose the framework of motivations for adopting policies for their management. Thus, this research was based on the expectation that managers would associate IT architecture with integration and standardization in some of the architectural dimensions.

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Planning Governance Innovation

IT architecture or enterprise architecture Business architecture - Business processes

Integration and Standardization Requirements

Data or information architecture

Systems Architecture

Application architecture - Individual applications and interfaces Technology architecture - Infrastructure and technology standards

Software architecture

- Policies - Principles - Technical choices

Figure 1 - Definition of IT architecture in this study

Source: Prepared by the authors based on Cullen and Leganza (2006), Ross et al. (2008) and Hämäläinen (2008).

2.2 Management of Information Technology Architecture To better understand the management of IT architecture, it is possible to analyze it from the perspective of the stages of maturity. Ross et al. (2008) evaluated the strategies of architecture management of dozens of large companies in various countries around the world, classifying them into four stages of maturity regarding their level of development and control: 

Business silos architecture – The companies seek to maximize the needs of each business unit or functional needs independently, which causes a subdivision and the non-integration of the various initiatives of systems existing in the company.



Standardized technology architecture – It provides efficiency through the standardization and centralization of technology management.



Optimized core architecture – There is a standardization of data and processes in the company as a whole.



Business modularity architecture – The companies manage and reuse components freely according to the needs of business processes aiming to preserve the global standards and enable local differences.

Table 1 summarizes the discussion presented by Ross et al. (2008).

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Table 1 - Changes associated with each new stage Business Silo

Standardized Technology Common technical platforms

IT capacity

Local IT applications

Business goals

ROI of local businesses initiatives

Reduced IT costs

Funding priority

Individual applications

Shared infrastructure services

Main administrative capacity

Management of changes through technology

Who defines the applications

Design and update of standards: funding of common services Local business Leaders from leaders business and IT units

Key IT governance issues

Measure and communicate value

Establish local, regional and global responsibilities.

Local and IT Efficiency sectoral optimization Source: Adapted from Ross et al. (2008) Strategic implications

Optimized Core Processes or data shared across the enterprise Cost and quality of business operations Enterprise applications

Definition and measurement of core business processes Senior management and process leaders Align the project priorities with the architecture goals Operational efficiency of the business

Business Modularity Business process modules that can be coupled Promptness to sell: Strategic Agility Reusable business processes components Administration of reusable business processes

IT, business and industry leaders.

Define, assign and fund business modules.

Strategic Agility

In the research they conducted, Ross et al. (2008) found that only 6% of companies were in the fourth stage of maturity (modularity), while 34% were in the third stage (optimized core), 48% in the second stage (standardized) and 12% in the initial stage (silos). It was also found in the companies surveyed that those with more mature architecture claimed to have a greater success in achieving the strategic goals and higher average return on invested capital.

According to Ross et al. (2008), companies advance in the stages of maturity by changing their patterns of investments in IT and by implementing new IT architecture management practices, formalizing the organizational learning on how to leverage the IT capacities and adopt changes in the business processes. The evolution of the IT architecture management practices is shown in Table 2, which relates them to the stages of maturity.

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Management practices and influences on it architecture decisions: a case study in a telecom company

In the business silos stage, the resources are optimized locally to generate value.

As the standardization of technology occurs in the second stage, the formal processes of review and centralized decisions are needed.

In the third stage, with the standardization of data and processes, IT starts receiving a greater attention from the strategic and business areas, and there is a need for a greater participation of the executives and the creation of IT architecture teams in full time.

Finally, in the fourth stage, business modularity, the critical practices are focused on the communication of IT architecture goals and the evaluation of change initiatives supported by it.

Regarding the process of decision making of IT architecture, Pulkkinen (2006) points out that, although it is divided into four hierarchical dimensions (business, information, application and technology), it is not necessary that decisions occur sequentially (first define the business architecture and then the information, application and technology) because, for example, the technology architecture may allow changes in the business architecture. The author proposes to divide each one of the four dimensions into three levels of abstraction, also hierarchized: organization level, level of domain (representing business units, processes or departments), and level of individual information systems.

Table 2 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Evolution of IT architecture management practices IT architecture management practices Assessment of returns on IT investments Standardized methodology for IT projects Architects in project teams IT steering committee Process of exceptions to architecture Formal process of architectural compliance Architectural renewal process included in the IT budget Centralized funding of enterprise applications Centralized standard team Holders of general processes of the company Declaration of the guiding principles of enterprise architecture Commercial leadership in project teams Supervision of enterprise architecture by senior executives Managers of IT programs Central diagram of enterprise architecture

Business Silos X

Standardized Technology X

Optimized Core X

Business Modularity X

X

X

X

X

X X X

X X X

X X X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X X

X X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X X

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IT architecture management practices Post-implementation evaluation Formal process of technology research and process of adoption of new technologies Enterprise architecture team in fulltime

Business Silos

Standardized Technology

Optimized Core

Business Modularity X X

X

Source: Adapted from Ross et al. (2008) Finally, it is necessary to consider the existence of role models for the management of enterprise architecture. These models provide guidelines for the definition and implementation of the architecture and its management processes, which in principle can help make this process more secure and well defined.

2.3. Institutional Theory and Strategic Choice Theory The institutional theory and strategic choice theory were selected as a lens for analyzing the IT architecture decisions, since they reflect two contrasting human behavior, determinism and voluntarism, usually placed in opposing groups in various classifications of organizational theories (Oliver, 1997; DeSanctis & Poole, 1994; Vicente-Lorente & Zúñiga-Vicente, 2006).

They are also distinguished because one represents the socio-political behavior to obtain legitimacy and the other represents a rational behavior to obtain efficiency. (Mehta, 2005). For Zucker (1987), there are two definitions of the term “institutional” which may be “a rule-like, social fact quality of an organized pattern of action (exterior)” or an “embeddeding in formal structures, such as formal aspects of organizations that are not tied to particular actors or situations”.

DiMaggio and Powell (1983) identified three mechanisms of institutional influence: 

Coercive - Consists of formal or informal pressures made by other organizations due to dependency or cultural expectation.



Mimetic – Result from the use of a standard response adopted by companies to uncertainties. The use of management models is an example of this mechanism.



Normative – Associated with professionalization, such as the formal education legitimized by the university knowledge base and professional networks to disseminate models.

According to the strategic choice theory, the strategic factors would be the determinants of the choices that the holders of power within the organizations make in the course of strategic actions. Miles and Snow (1978) argue that the organizational behavior is only partially predetermined by the environmental conditions and that the choices of senior management are critical determinants of the organizational structure and processes. For Child (1997), the decision-making extends to the environment in which the organization operates, to the performance standards that must be evaluated in view of the economic pressures and to the design of the organizational structure itself.

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Although the business choices are many and complex, Miles and Snow (1978) propose that they can be viewed as responses to three groups of problems of organizational adaptation: 

Entrepreneurial problem – the management’s acceptance of a particular product and market domain through the allocation of resources



Engineering problem - involves the creation of a technical or organizational system that solves the entrepreneurial problem



Administrative problem – involves the reduction of the uncertainty of the organizational system to solve the entrepreneurial and engineering problems faced by the company.

Vicente-Lorente and Zúñiga-Vicente (2006, p. 95) present a form of comparison between the institutional and strategic perspectives, which differ in their assumptions on how the strategic change occurs. In the adaptive or strategic approach, the strategic change is a rational reaction of managers who implement new strategies when they notice misalignment between the organizational and environmental characteristics, while in the institutional or inertial perspective, the management has a more passive role in the process of transformation.

Another way to distinguish the two views, institutional and strategic, would be through the type of rationality used. Oliver (1997) makes a theoretical comparison between the institutional determinants based on resources. The strategic choice theory could be identified as economic rationality and the institutional theory would use the normative rationality.

To achieve the objectives of this study, the management practices of the organization of the case study were analyzed according to the theoretical reference of the IT architecture concept and its stages of maturity. The maturity levels of Ross et al. (2008) helped in the classification of the current situation of the company. With respect to the strategic and institutional influences on decisions, the institutional theory and the strategic choice theory were the basis for the categorization of the justifications used.

3. METHODOLOGY According to the classification of Vergara (1998), this research is qualitative of exploratory and descriptive nature. The exploratory research is used when there is little systematic knowledge accumulated and it is descriptive because it describes its characteristics. The sources used are the literature, the field survey and the case study conducted in a company that formalized the IT architecture management.

Usually, the case study is the preferred strategy when there are questions such as “how” and “why”, since, in this situation, the researcher has little control over the events and the focus is the current event within the context of the actual experience (Yin, 2003). According to Benbasat et al. (1987), case studies are appropriate to solve problems where the theory is in the early stages of formation and the players experience and the context of the action are the foci.

Thus, this method meets the objectives of this research, since the intention is to understand the process by which organizations decide on IT architecture and how the

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institutional and strategic factors influence this process. During the development of the study protocol, there was the explanation of the data collection process through the definition of the unit of analysis, the criterion for selecting the company, the respondents, the set of interviews, the preparation of the data analysis report and the validation process of the results.

With regard to the unit of analysis, Yin (2003) admits that case studies may involve more than one. In this case study, there will be two different units of analysis.

With respect to the objective of identifying and understanding the IT architecture management practices, the unit of analysis is the organization studied. To attain the goal of identifying the influences of institutional and strategic factors, there will be a subdivision in which the units of analysis will be the different decisions regarding architecture.

Benbasat et al. (1987) reinforces the need to present the context and the chain of evidence. The reader should be able to track the entire process, from the goals and research protocol to the data collected and results. Therefore, this paper will present the context in which the research was conducted, both regarding the organization and the data collection, and the steps that were followed, as well as the data collected, so that the reader can follow the chain of evidence.

The organization was selected for being a representative case of a company with private equity and that already has a formalized policy of IT architecture. The contact with the company was performed through the relationship network of the authors and it was considered appropriate to the study for being a large company, on a business sector heavily dependent on technology and information systems with its own IT department and quite structured.

The respondents were selected for being involved in any decision on IT architecture or for having access to the arguments used in the choices. We included managers from the IT and business areas, totaling seven people (four managers, two directors and the CIO).

The information was collected through interviews and document analysis that had two purposes: to collect general data on IT management and specific data on the decision-making process of IT architecture regarding the scope in which the respondent is involved. Data collection and interviews were conducted between the periods from March to May 2010 at the company headquarters in SĂŁo Paulo. The seven interviews lasted on average one hour and thirty minutes each and were conducted by one of the authors. In addition to the interviews, we consulted the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website and internal documents.

Two sets of semistructured interviews were used: one containing questions about the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s data, data from the IT area, data from the IT architecture of the organization (history and development, major changes, current components) and its management (IT governance process, architecture management practices adopted, senior management support, existing problems), applied only to the primary IT manager; and another containing questions about the justifications and obstacles found in decisions on IT architecture (related to the business, information, applications or technology dimensions) of which the respondent had participated or had knowledge, and it was applied to all respondents. The managers themselves chose the most important events according to their perception and after that we collected information about the decisions.

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For the analysis of data regarding the first and second secondary goal, we analyzed the history of the IT architecture management, important events that caused it to reach the current stage and actions that may potentially contribute to advancing to the next stage. The stages of maturity of the IT architecture of Ross et al. (2008) and its characteristic management practices also served as the basis for the analysis.

For the analysis of data relating to the third secondary objective, each one of the decisions cited in the interviews was classified according to the type of architecture involved (business, information, application and technology) and were identified through the analysis of the researchers using the theoretical framework, the institutional or strategic influences present in each one of them. For each decision, we collected the justifications, obstacles and results.

After that, each justification was classified according to their possible influence, that is, they were categorized as institutional and their sub categories (mimetic, coercive and normative) or as strategic and their corresponding subcategories (administrative, engineering or entrepreneurial problem). With this information, we analyzed the existence of dominance of some type of influence (institutional or strategic) on each decision. Obviously, there were decisions and justifications on which the categorization or determination of dominance was not very clear; however, with the help of other context information, it was possible to classify them or at least mention that there was more than one type of influence.

Although the two types of influences are considered antagonistic, according to Hrebiniak and Joyce (1985), the analysis of a particular factor as to its institutional origin or strategic choice should not be treated as if they were mutually exclusive categories. There is the possibility of analyzing whether there is dominance of one of them within the acceptance of the existence of a continuous line between the two extremes.

After the preparation of the organization data and analysis report, it was sent to the contact in the company in order to check its suitability, as a measure to reduce inconsistencies in the data analysis by the researchers.

4. CASE STUDY RESULTS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS 4.1 The Companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Background and the History of IT Architecture 4.1.1 The Company and its IT Area The telecom company, which will be called ALPHA in this paper, is a national privately owned company that offers Pay TV, broadband Internet and VOIP services to the Brazilian market.

The business risks are the high level of competition, the rapid obsolescence of the technology investment, the high churn rates, the non-exclusive operating licenses, the additional expenses for new government regulations, the increased programming cost, piracy, the dependence on third-party services for customer service and the extensive government regulation.

The organization has gone through several changes in its capital structure since the beginning of operation in the 1990s, such as acquisitions, divestitures, changes of

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shareholder control, structuring of subsidiaries in Brazilian cities and the trading of shares in the stock exchange in the United States and Brazil. In 2010, the company’s annual gross revenue totaled approximately R$ 4 billion and it has 15 thousand direct employees, and 12 thousand indirect employees. For each one of the three services offered, there are approximately 3 million subscribers.

The company’s IT unit is divided into two boards that respond to the CIO (Chief Information Officer): the Board of Systems Development and the Board of Infrastructure and Production, which manage the deployment and operation of the systems. In the IT area, there are 132 direct employees and 621 outsourced employees.

The management of IT Security also reports directly to the CIO. The process of IT governance is similar to the archetypes of most companies in which the architecture standards and the infrastructure are the responsibility of the IT unit (IT monarchy model), while decisions on IT principles, applications and investments involve other units (duopoly model and federal). This analysis was conducted by crossing the five types of decisions and who makes them, according to the model proposed by Weill and Ross (2004). From then on, we compared with the most popular governance models (business monarchy, IT monarchy, feudal, federal, IT duopoly and anarchy) to reach the conclusion that it is similar to most companies.

4.1.2 Evolution of the IT Architecture Between 2002 and 2004, an outsourced consulting firm was hired, which identified the need to improve the final consumer experience during the events in which consumers have contact with the company, such as in the sales process, installation, maintenance, billing and cancellation. Then, we defined the main macroprocesses of the organization. In late 2006, several important projects in IT architecture were initiated: the implementation of the TM Forum frameworks - the eTOM; the deployment of the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA); and the certification of the Sarbanes-Oxley act (SOX).

The TeleManagement Forum (TM Forum) is an association of the telecom industry focused on providing certification services, training and benchmarking, which created three models of best practices in architecture: business processes architecture - enhanced Telecom Operations Map (eTOM); application architecture Telecom Application Map (TAM); and information architecture – Shared Information Data Model (SID).

The eTOM aims to be a process structure that can assist in the business modularity, define responsibilities, be a source of common approach to solve a problem of process design and ensure the interoperability between suppliers’ solutions.

According to the maturity levels of the architecture of Ross et al. (2008), it can be said that the eTOM proposes to provide a base for the company to achieve the business modularity stage, as it attempts to enhance the flexibility of the organization.

In addition, the TAM offers a common vision of the applications according to their functional requirements and is interconnected with the eTOM and SID. Its goals are to establish criteria to delimit the scope, facilitate the application integration and standardize the terminology. Finally, the SID intends to be an information model regardless of platform, language or protocol, standardizing interfaces and specifying the relationship between entities and their attributes.

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In 2007, the company decided to adopt the eTOM to guide the decisions on business architecture in the company. Until then, the business demands were transformed into functional requirements without a formal planning of the process architecture evolution, there was no area for corporate processes within the company that would map the existing processes and define future scenarios. Therefore, the eTOM was adopted, with the purpose of structuring the decision-making processes of IT architecture. It is worth it to point out that these best practice models are still under construction and are not mature yet. Thus, all these promises are theoretical and the extent of their benefits depends largely on the unrestricted adoption by the industry.

The decision for adopting the SOA was due to the fact that the systems of the company ALPHA by 2006 were developed in a client-server platform with little modularity and offered no flexibility to meet the demand changes. Moreover, due to the various acquisitions of companies in the previous years, there was a need of integration with legacy systems, performed through middleware systems, but focusing on the solution of the technological problem rather than on the understanding of the function of the systems for the business processes. In 2010, after the implementation of the SOA, the IT architecture can be represented as in Figure 2, where the systems are divided according to their function in the business.

In Figure 2, the systems on the block â&#x20AC;&#x153;channelsâ&#x20AC;? are applications that interface with the end customer, such as the Internet and VRU (voice response unit), automated answering system by phone. The BSS system (Business Support System) deals with customers and processes such as orders, payments and accounts. It is the system of business support system that involves the CRM system (customer relationship) and the billing system.

Figure 2 - IT Architecture of the telecom company in 2010 (prepared by the authors) Source: Prepared by the authors.

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The systems of the OSS block (Operations Support System) support the operation and deal with the telecommunications network, including applications such as provisioning (network configuration to provide services to a new subscriber or to a specific client), field service, fault management and network inventory. The external entities are the interfaces with partner companies such as billing services, credit validation and other companies that also offer services to the end customer. A layer of SOA allows that the implemented features are offered as services connected via the enterprise service bus, which provides interfaces for the communication between applications.

With the implementation of SOA, and the introduction of new systems and new philosophy of integration, the visualization of the applications function became clearer and oriented to the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s processes. That is, even though some of the major legacy systems still exist, they are seen differently by managers, relating IT with the compliance of the business needs rather than a strictly technological vision.

It can be considered that the search for SOA and best practice models of the TM Forum was motivated by initiatives offering new products to the final consumer and by growth prospects. In addition, the SOX certification became mandatory in this company because it has stocks in the U.S. stock market. Thus, it is possible to identify specific events in the evolution of architecture, such as the adoption of SOA, formalization of the process area with the adoption of eTOM, the hiring of the consulting firm that led to the deployment of macroprocesses and the Sarbanes-Oxley certification.

All these events demanded great efforts from several departments and a constant sponsorship from the senior management. It is also possible to notice a few evidences of continuous evolutions of architecture. In the process of adoption of SOA, for example, changes in processes had to be implemented gradually so that they were successful. As new projects were emerging, the new architecture was built, because the legacy systems are usually not replaced immediately.

4.2. Management of the IT Architecture In the IT architecture scope, the management is decentralized into three managements within the IT structure. The planning and support management is responsible for the architecture hardware, software and database management. The architecture management is responsible for the application and data modeling architecture. A third management for IT security is responsible for managing the security architecture. With regard to the business architecture, the design of the processes is the responsibility of the organizational development (OD) board interfacing with IT in the Management of Business Processes.

The first column of table 3 shows the IT architecture management practices identified by Ross et al. (2008) and the second column indicates whether or not they were found in the organization.

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Table 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; IT architecture management practices identified in the telecom company IT architecture management practices Practice identified in the organization?

Assessment of returns on IT investments Yes Standardized methodology for IT projects Yes Architects in project teams Yes IT steering committee Yes Process of exceptions to architecture Yes Formal process of architectural compliance Yes Architectural renewal process included in the IT Yes budget Centralized funding of enterprise applications It depends on each application Centralized standards team There is more than one architecture team Holders of general processes of the company Yes Declaration of the guiding principles of the enterprise Yes architecture Commercial leadership in project teams Sometimes, no.

Supervision of enterprise architecture by senior Yes, to stimulate adoption. executives Managers of IT programs Yes Central diagram of enterprise architecture Yes Post-implementation evaluation No Formal process of technology research and process of There is no formal process, adoption of new technologies but there are individuals responsible for technological research.

Enterprise architecture team fulltime Yes Source: Adapted from Ross et al. (2008) with data collected in the telecom company.

The IT architecture management practices of the organization include regular meetings between managements and within each management. A technical architecture committee meets once a week and includes all managers involved with business, information, applications and technology architecture. The decisions are published in the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s internal website, which includes manuals, best practices, standards and policies. This internal website started being developed three years ago and all documents were created by the architecture team in collaboration with the departments affected.

One of the reasons for the documentation is to communicate drawings and standardization to outsourced companies. An architect follows each project and develops an architecture document that goes through the approval process. Exceptions to the architecture must be approved and documented, that is, designs that eventually do not follow general standards or principles may be approved, provided that they are registered and justified so that a correction process can be implemented later if necessary. There is also a department for quality control in the IT area, which uses software to check for the compliance with standards and inconsistencies, especially in programming languages.

Thus, following the classification of Ross et al. (2008) regarding the maturity levels of IT architecture, we can conclude that the organization is in the stage of

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optimized core. The reason for this classification is that the company has data centralization and individuals responsible for macroprocesses who interact with various departments of the company, although this organization has practices that are common of companies between the stage of standardized technology, optimized core and business modularity as detailed in Table 4.

In addition, the SOA enabled a greater agility in the changes made in the systems and the TM Forum models seem to claim to obtain higher gains through standardization, including the processes, which can lead the company to the final level of maturity, business modularity. The concept of modularity in this company still focuses more on the reuse of IT application routines than on the business process modularity.

Table 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Comparison of the telecom company with the stages of maturity Business Silos

Standardized Technology

Optimized Core

Business Modularity

IT capacity

Local IT applications

Common technical platforms

Processes or data shared across the enterprise

Business processes modules that can be coupled

Business objectives

ROI of local businesses initiatives

Reduced IT costs

Promptness to sell: Strategic Agility

Funding priority

Individual applications

Shared infrastructure services

Cost and quality of business operations Enterprise applications

Main administrative capacity

Management of changes through technology

Who defines the applications

Local business leaders

Design and update of standards: funding of common services Leaders from business and IT units

Definition and measuremen t of core business processes Senior management and process leaders

Key IT governance issues

Measure and communicat e value

Establish local, regional and global responsibilities.

Strategic implications

Local and sectoral optimization

IT Efficiency

Align priorities of projects with the architecture goals Operational efficiency of the business

Reusable components of business processes Administration of reusable business processes

IT, business and industry leaders.

Define, assign and fund business modules.

Strategic Agility

Practices in the telecom company The organization has macroprocesses and there was data centralization.

Flexibility and costs are two important aspects.

Enterprise applications

The company has macroprocesses

There are relationships with partners and industry, but the applications are defined by process and IT leaders.

Align priorities of projects with the architecture goals

Operational efficiency of the business

Note: The first five columns are from Ross et al. (2008) and the last is the data collected in the telecom company. Cells in gray correspond to the current situation of the company.

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4.3 IT Architecture Decisions and Strategic and Institutional influences Table 5 summarizes the decisions related to IT architecture spontaneously mentioned by the managers and the year in which they were implemented. The decisions were classified as to their respective scopes and levels following the classification of scope of Ross et al. (2008) (business, information, application, technology) and the levels proposed by Pulkkinen (2006) (organization, domain and systems). The justifications spontaneously provided by the managers were classified as strategic or institutional influence, according to the justifications that were most prevalent. The last column of Table 5 shows what kind of influence excelled in each decision.

Table 5: IT architecture decisions reported by the managers in the company ALPHA Year

1

2 3 4 5 6 7

IT Architecture Decision

2010 Contract with suppliers to manage the network instead of directly hiring connections.

2010 Internet access control for employees 2010 Virtualization of servers in one application 2006 Change of programming language (from .Net to Java) 2010 Centralization of the access control to various systems 2008 Implementation of the PMBOK Methodology for IT Projects 2010 Hiring third party services based on business items

8

2006 Adoption of SOA

9

2007 Sarbanes-Oxley certification

10

2010 Adoption of the best practices model for the IT architecture management of TM Forum

Scope/Level Architecture

of Most important influence

Technology / Organizational

Strategic

Application / Domain Technology / Systems Application / Domain Application / Organizational Business / Organizational Application and Technology / Organizational Application and Technology / Organizational Business / Organizational Business, Application and Information / Organizational

Strategic

Source: Prepared by the authors.

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Strategic Strategic Strategic Institutional / Strategic Strategic

Institutional / Strategic Institutional / Strategic Institutional / Strategic

580 Hsing, C. W., Souza, C. A. de.

Table 6: Institutional Influences on IT architecture decisions across the company ALPHA Institutional Description of the Decision where the influence mechanism Justification Given by the appears Managers Coercive Compliance with SOX Internet access control and centralized access control, PMBOK methodology Requirement of the American SOX stock exchange Opinions of the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s SOA employees Legitimize the work and TM Forum Framework spread it Mimetic Previous experience of the Internet access control, PMBOK manager within the methodology organization or in other organizations Market trend Virtualization, TM Forum Framework Support from suppliers and Virtualization, SOA, SOX consulting firms Adopted by the industry Outsourcing of business items, TM Forum Framework Cases of other companies SOA, TM Forum Framework Considered modern TM Forum Framework Normative Consensus in the area of Centralized access control, TM activity Forum Framework Source: Prepared by the authors.

Table 7: Institutional Influences on architecture decisions across the company ALPHA Adaptation Description of the Decision where the influence Problem Justification Given by the appears Managers Entrepreneurial Strategic relationships with Change of programming suppliers language to Java (for a nonproprietary).

Flexibility SOA, Hiring based on business items Support the growth/evolution TM Forum Framework, change of programming language Engineering Increased capacity Network management contract.

Internet access control, SOA Increased productivity Virtualization Improved performance Change of programming language Reuse SOA Process standardization PMBOK Methodology, TM Forum Framework Tool for guiding TM Forum

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Adaptation Problem

Description of the Decision where the influence Justification Given by the appears Managers Integration SOA Management Cost Reduction Network management contract, Internet access control, virtualization, hiring based on business items, SOA Facilitate Network management contract, management/operation virtualization Employees and IT control Internet access control, SOX Accurate information Internet access control, SOX Reduced time Centralized access control, SOA Reduced bureaucracy Centralized access control Monitoring Centralized access control Source: Prepared by the authors.

Table 6 shows the justifications given by the managers of the company ALPHA for the various decisions described in Table 5 that were related to institutional influences, classified according to the mechanisms proposed by DiMaggio and Powell (1983). The justification appears in the second column and the decisions for which they have been mentioned are shown in the third column of the table.

Table 7 shows the justifications given by the managers for the various decisions described in Table 5 that were related to influences of strategic choice, classified according to the adaptation problems proposed by Miles and Snow (1978) (entrepreneurial, engineering and administrative).

In the decisions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 shown in Table 5, the strategic motivations were identified as dominant. These decisions had a more limited scope with familiar tools to the managers and mature market solutions. On the other hand, the decisions 6, 8, 9 and 10 indicated a prominence to the institutional influences, especially the adoption of TM Forum frameworks (decision 10). Since all decisions had at least one strategic motivation, it can be concluded that the strategic arguments were more mentioned than the institutional arguments.

An interesting fact is that the decisions involving innovation, greater risks and more comprehensive with organizational amplitude indicated a greater presence of institutional factors, mainly related to the mimetic mechanism where companies tend to adopt similar practices, as defined by DiMaggio and Powell (1983).

The company ALPHA represents a typical case of an organization that has formalized its IT architecture and is in a stage of maturity that can be considered advanced. It is possible that this may be related to the industry in which it operates, given the management level of maturity of its competitors, suppliers, customers and professionals. The reason for this is that several institutional arguments appear in the decisions, suggesting that the mimetic mechanism of resembling to others is present.

Furthermore, as described in documents provided to investors, monitoring technology is one of the priorities and the company believes it can become a risk if it is not well monitored.

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5. CONCLUSIONS This study allowed us to illustrate, through a case study, the aspects of IT architecture management and the emphasis on strategic arguments in the decisions related to it. The practices that may potentially help the company advance in its maturity of IT architecture management were identified: definition of macroprocesses, centralization of data and adoption of the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s standardization model such as TM Forum.

The telecom company was successful with the implementation of macroprocesses and the centralization of data, because it allowed it to evolve to the stage of optimized core, by having a greater control of the core processes. In addition, the implementation of SOA allowed a greater flexibility to the systems and, with the adoption of process standardization models of industry associations such as eTOM, it is possible that the telecom company evolves to the next stage of business modularity with this tool.

Oliver (1988) showed in a quantitative study that the strategic influences stand out in the organizational decisions; however, his research included decisions from the entire company and not just from the IT unit. This study used a different methodology to try to obtain the corroboration of this result and was able to show in the case study presented that the strategic influences are also more mentioned in the decisions on IT architecture.

Perhaps, the most interesting revelation identified is the fact that the institutional influences, mainly mimetic, are present in decisions involving innovation and that deal with a higher level of uncertainty, usually at the organizational level. Thus, resuming Zucker (1987) on the institutional theory, there was a rule of a social fact of external action with organized pattern or something embedded in formal structures that is not bound to particular situations or players, that is, there are management decisions aimed at obtaining legitimacy.

With respect to the strategic influences, the control of outsourced activities was identified as an important motivator of several initiatives, benefiting further the control of internal activities. In addition, the resolution of administrative and technical problems arising from the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth also motivated actions in IT architecture. Therefore, the operational structure and growth perspective can be important issues in the decisionmaking process of IT architecture in the company.

If, on the one hand, following trends can be beneficial for the companies to minimize risks, on the other hand, following the market trend, an institutional mimetic mechanism, could be inconsistent for an organization whose strategic plan includes overcoming dominant competitors using IT. As a limitation of this study, we can mention the fact that it is a single case study, which in principle prevents its generalization. The company studied, however, was chosen for presenting a comparatively high degree of formalization in its IT architecture management, as it is an exemplary case that allows the generation of new hypotheses, factors and variables to enable further studies.

Another limitation refers to the process of categorization of the justifications into institutional or strategic, which occurred through the categorization made by the researchers of the ideas present in the spontaneous responses of the managers. However, in an analysis of responses with a further questioning, it can be noted that institutional

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arguments may represent expectations for strategic results, though it was not explicit at first.

A recommendation for future studies is the follow up of a complete decisionmaking process and the collection of information from respondents outside the organization such as suppliers, consultants, customers or partners. This analysis from several perspectives can provide a more complete view of the complexity of the subject of study.

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Annual Review of

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp.585-606 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752012000300008

BENEFITS AND SUCCESS FACTORS OF OPEN-SOURCE WEB SERVICES DEVELOPMENT PLATFORMS FOR SMALL SOFTWARE HOUSES Valter de Assis Moreno Junior Ibmec-RJ, Brazil Josir Cardoso Gomes RADIX Educational Institute, Brazil _____________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT

It is usually difficult for companies to keep up with the development of new information technologies and adapt to them in face of the opportunities and threats their advances may represent. This is especially true for small and medium enterprises (SME) in emerging economies, where resources tend to be scarce and markets more volatile. This paper describes an action research conducted in a small Brazilian software house that adopted an open-source Web Services development platform in order to improve its software development process. Data analysis revealed critical success factors (CSF) in the adoption process, as well as specific benefits and barriers prone to be faced by small software houses in their adoption efforts. In the process of overcoming such barriers, SME may acquire intellectual capital that represents an essential resource to ensure their competitiveness and survival in emerging economies.

Keywords: Open-source, Web Services, Small and Medium Enterprises, Software Development, Emerging Economies

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 20/06/2011 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 15/08/2012 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência Valter de Assis Moreno Jr., Faculdades Ibmec-RJ, Brazil. Possui graduação em Engenharia Eletrônica pelo Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica - ITA (1988), mestrado em Engenharia de Produção pela Universidade Federal Fluminense - UFF (1993) e doutorado em Business Administration pela University of Michigan (2001). Atualmente é Professor Adjunto de Sistemas de Informação das Faculdades Ibmec do Rio de Janeiro.

Josir Cardoso Gomes, Brazil, has a Bachelor degree in Information Technology from FACHA (1998), a M.Sc. degree in Business Administration from Faculdades IBMEC – RJ (2005). Josir has extensive professional experience in Software Development and has been teaching and conducting research on issues related to the impact of Information Technology in organizations, the acceptance of management information systems by their users, Data Mining and Software Development best practices. He is currently the owner of Curso Radix in Rio de Janeiro.

Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2012 All rights reserved.

586 Moreno Junior, W. A., Gomes, J. C.

1. INTRODUCTION In order to meet an increasing need for information storage, recovery and exchange in companies, IS researchers and professionals have been looking into new information systems development (ISD) tools, methods and techniques. The traditional client/server architecture that is still widely adopted by organizations around the world tends to hinder the implementation of faster business strategies due to the difficulties it presents to the adjustment and innovation of business processes and products (Hagel, 2004). Frequently, IT management has to resort to integrated software packages with high costs and deep impact on several areas of the organization (e.g.; structure, processes, skills, relationships). To address such problems, the architectures based on components and, more recently, on services (SOA â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Service Oriented Architecture) have been developed by the software industry, aiming at the improvement of ISD processes and a better alignment with ever changing business needs.

Web Services (WS) technology has evolved as a standard platform to implement service-oriented architectures. In a recent survey (Krill, 2008), 53% of 200 companies worldwide stated that they already were using SOA. In Yenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (2006) review of previous surveys conducted in the corporate setting, Web Services appeared as the most used component of SOA (71%) and as the preferred way of standardizing it (57%).

Respondents of one of the studies mentioned the following reasons for adopting SOA/WS: standardization (60%), business process automation (59%), business flexibility (52%), operational savings (48%), and better integration with business partners (43%) (Yen, 2006, p. 1031). It is important to note that small businesses, as well as large organizations, can take advantage of WS technology to increase flexibility, improve customer service and reduce costs (e.g., Ray & Ray, 2006). For instance, Web Services have become an important resource to leverage the benefits of social networks to both users and companies (e.g., Enders et al., 2008; Paredes-Valverde et al., 2012).

Social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin have been growing exponentially over the last decade (Henrikson, 2011), and are increasingly seen by organizations as critical channels to reach and understand their customers, collaborate and share knowledge, and conduct business (e.g., Pookulangara & Koesler, 2011).

Software development and consulting companies that respond promptly to the opportunities brought about by WS technology will possibly establish a competitive advantage in their markets. In particular, small software houses that create, use and reuse web services to built customized solutions for their clients may be able to capture important benefits such as increased productivity and customer satisfaction (Lee, Olson & Lee, 2009; W3C, 2004; Yen, 2006), thereby improving their competitiveness.

However, SME are traditionally hindered by small budgets and limited technical expertise (Ray & Ray, 2006), which may prevent them from pursuing WS alternatives effectively. This problem is even more serious in emerging economies, which are usually characterized by volatile markets, inadequate infrastructures, and scarce resources, and where SME usually account for a large proportion of the workforce.

Paradoxically, in such harsh conditions, small business survival rates tend to be dismal.

For instance, in Brazil, micro and small enterprises accounted for 98% of the 5.1 million companies that operated in the country in 2006, over 60% of the private sectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s workforce, and 20% of the GNP (SEBRAE-SP, 2009). However, around 50% of Brazilian SMEs tend to close their doors before their third year of operation (SEBRAESP, 2009).

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In general, it is argued that, to maintain competitiveness, SME must reduce costs while fulfilling customers’ expectations (c.f. SEBRAE-SP, 2009). In the case of software houses, open-source WS ISD architectures may facilitate the accomplishment of this objective, not only by decreasing licensing expenses, but also by allowing a better alignment with the customer’s business requirements (e.g., functionality, time to complete the project, costs, etc.) and developing more innovative products (Lamastra, 2009; Lee, Olson & Lee, 2009; W3C, 2004; Yen, 2006). In spite of the potential benefits of this technology, scholars have given little attention to its investigation in the context of small ISD businesses. For this reason, knowledge on the factors that condition the success of its adoption in this particular setting is still scarce.

As an initial attempt to close this gap, this paper reports the major findings of an exploratory action research (Thiollent, 1997; Baskerville & Wood-Harper, 1996) that investigated the adoption of a WS open-source ISD platform by a small software house in Brazil. One of the authors was responsible for facilitating the introduction of WS standards, techniques and open-source tools in the company, as well as for collecting data for the research. The other author was mostly involved in data analysis, always keeping in check the possibility of the first one introducing any bias due to his personal involvement in the project. Critical success factors of WS open-source development technology adoption, as well as its potential benefits and pitfalls were identified. Their relevance to the particular context of SME in emerging economies is highlighted in the conclusion of the paper.

2. WEB SERVICES AND SOA In SOA, software components are offered as services in a computer network, and can be integrated and used for different applications and purposes. Roughly, in such architecture, the development of new applications would consist of selecting appropriate services and orchestrating them according to relevant business rules. In this way, SOA could allow a faster, simpler and less expensive implementation of new business requirements in the organization’s information systems. This claim is supported by the findings reported by Yen (2006, p. 1031), which included benefits of SOA adoption such as an easier and less expensive internal and external integration, a faster delivery of products, a more flexible application development, true reusability, and increased revenue and customer satisfaction.

Since the 2000’s, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has strived to develop and promote computer-based architecture that improves support conditions and integration among companies (W3C, 2004). This architecture, named Web Services (WS), defines open standards and open protocols that are able to advance the integration of loosely coupled applications (Sleeper, 2001; Iyer et al., 2003). Over the last decade, WS seems to have become the prevalent way of implementing SOA in the corporate setting (Yen, 2006). As such, WS may change the way information systems are modulated, distributed and purchased by organizations (Clabby, 2002).

The appeal of WS to IT and business managers derives from its prospective strategic and operational benefits. WS may add significant opportunities to the traditional economic model of software development. Its flexibility allows organizations to use their current infrastructure to implement new business models and develop new products and services, which can be offered through the Internet to a vast number of potential customers. Companies not only can make information available to external

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partners, but also sell their own internal services to other organizations that have similar needs (Booch, 2001; Lim & Wen, 2003). Additionally, WS enhances interconnectivity and supports integration with legacy systems. This, together with the fact that it is based on open standards and technologies, suggests that WS can help organizations reduce time and costs associated with managing, maintaining, adjusting and developing their information systems. It is important to highlight that WS benefits are not restricted to the realms of large companies, but may also be reaped by SMEs that “use web services to effectively leverage other organizational resources such as agility and customer service” (Ray & Ray, 2006, p. 287).

Nevertheless, as recently developed technologies, WS and SOA still require improvements. Although new frameworks were proposed to overcome some of their limitations, issues related to security, coordination, transactions and Business Process Management (BPM) aspects are still reported in the literature (e.g.; BNET, 2005; Kreger, 2003; Papazoglou & Heuvel, 2007). Moreover, the interoperability premise, one of the pillars of service-oriented architecture, has been questioned by some authors (Stal, 2003). Such issues may pose a threat to the adoption of WS, especially for companies that lack adequate resources and technological expertise in volatile business environments.

3. OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE The term “open source” is linked to the creation of a civic organization called the Free Software Foundation (FSF) by Richard Stallman in 1985. This organization was a milestone for the so-called “information society”, as it put forth one of the most important civil actions organized in defense of freedom of information in recent history (Stallman, 1996). According to Stallman (1996), “free software refers to users’ freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software”. His concept is in fact quite similar to the Open Source Initiative’s (OSI) definition of “open source”, although the latter does not seem to be underpinned by the moral or ethical issues that characterize the Free Software Foundation’s discourse. Indeed, the views purported by OSI do not establish that open-source products are always free of costs or that those who produce open-source software cannot sell and have financial gains from the products they develop.

By misconceiving open-source solutions as software that is necessarily free, many business owners have not given the proper importance to potential business models that emerged in the software industry (Kavanagh, 2004). However, as time passed by, opensource began to be seen as an appealing alternative, especially for companies that felt strangled by the monopolistic and high cost models practiced by large players in the software industry (e.g., US-DOJ, 1994; Kavanagh, 2004).

The attractiveness of open-source software has grown steadily with the advent of the Linux operating system. Based entirely on free software, Linux proved to be effective in problems that MS Windows operating systems could not solve or solved poorly or that were very costly (Kavanagh, 2004). Another successful example of the open-source phenomenon is the Apache Web server, which manages and provides access to Internet Web pages. Initially created by the Apache Foundation, the software has been continuously developed by a large community of programmers and analysts who spontaneously contribute their time to the project. A recent survey found that almost 70% of the servers on the Internet used Apache (Netcraft, 2011).

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There are several ways to generate revenue with open-source software, the most direct one being to sell a product. Open-source software can be distributed freely or may be sold the same way as proprietary software. However, when an open-source product is sold, the seller must provide the source code along with the product delivered (Fitzgerald & Kenny, 2003). This way, another programmer can use the source code to understand how the system works and even modify it without having to hire or pay royalties to the original vendor. Another form of generating revenue is to provide services, support and training for applications and systems that are freely distributed (Fitzgerald & Kenny, 2003). In the last decades, a number of companies have specialized and been quite successful in installing and configuring freely distributed open-source software, such as IBM, Sun/Oracle, Compiere, and SugarCRM. The development and adoption of open-source software can generate additional benefits to companies, besides the savings related to license costs. Balestrin (2004), for instance, suggests that as companies take part in the networks of free software developers, they may acquire and share knowledge, and thus reduce the costs and risks involved in new product research and development, as well as in solving other organizational problems. Moreover, Balestrin (2004) highlights that those networks favor the concentration of efforts without depriving the strategic freedom of action of its members (p. 242). As they organize in networks, open-source software developers can also work together to obtain new customers and promote marketing initiatives that they would not be able to pursue individually. Networks that are structured under the aegis of a larger organization may also help developers improve their image among potential customers and obtain legitimacy in the larger institutional environment (Balestrin, 2004).

Open-source software has been increasingly accepted as an economically viable solution for companies in general. In fact, even large software companies, such as IBM and Google, have started to â&#x20AC;&#x153;openâ&#x20AC;? the code of their products to increase their visibility and adoption, as well as to foster their improvement with the lowest possible cost (Fitzgerald, 2006; Santos Jr, 2008, 2010). Interestingly, the diffusion of open-source products seems to be due to a great extent to government efforts around the world. For example, the mayor of Munich leads one of the largest deployments of free software known until now, replacing Microsoft systems for open systems in more than fourteen thousand workstations (Dumout, 2004). In Brazil, the federal government has long stated its intention to use free software whenever possible (Brasil, 2011). In 2003, it established the Technical Committee for Free Software Implementation (CISL) to promote the use and development of free software in the federal offices. A recent survey conducted by the committee found that, seven years later, about half of the government agencies, state banks, public universities, and other bureaus have already switched their electronic mail, internet servers, information systems, desktop operating system, and office automation suites to open software, and that many others are carrying on projects to migrate in the near future.

Few studies have addressed the development and adoption of open-source software in Brazil. Carvalho and Campos (2009), for instance, compared open-source and proprietary Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, highlighting that SME would benefit from the lower costs and wider support options related to an open-source solution. However, they call attention to possibility of companies obtaining low quality services due to budget restrictions and the lack of IT resources that usually characterize small businesses. The other papers found in the literature describe successful JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 2, May/Aug. 2012, pp. 585-606

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applications in industries as diverse as healthcare (e.g., Santos Jr, 2010; Felix et al., 2009) and education (Jordan, Nohama & Britto Junior, 2009; Roloff & Oliveira, 2007).

The searches conducted for the present research were unable to locate any studies on the usage or adoption of open-source development platforms by small and medium software development companies in Brazil.

Similarly, little attention seems to have been given in the international literature to the investigation of the adoption of open-source software by SME and by software development companies in particular. An exception is Lamastra’s (2009) study of 134 Italian small and medium ISD companies, which reports that open-source solutions tended to be more innovative than their proprietary counterparts. Ploski et al.’s (2007) paper on open-source software development with version control in small enterprises also addresses ISD processes supported by open-source platforms in SME. Lee, Olson and Lee (2009) took a different path, although similar to Carvalho and Campos’s (2009), and addressed the adoption of open-source ERP systems by small businesses.

They point that increased adaptability, decreased dependence on a single supplier, and reduced costs seem to be the main benefits obtained by SME when they opt for an opensource solution. Moreover, in line with the arguments previously presented in this paper, the authors suggest that the diffusion of Web Services is extremely important to the development of process-oriented IT infrastructures in small companies. In their opinion, WS can lead to innovation and openness in ERP systems, as these become akin to a collection of components that can be assembled by companies as needed, over the Internet.

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In order to explore the difficulties, costs, benefits and critical success factors of the adoption of open-source Web Service development platforms by SME in emerging economies, the authors conducted an action research (e.g., Thiollent, 1997; Baskerville & Wood-Harper, 1996; DeLuca, Gallivan & Kock, 2008) in a small Brazilian software house, herein denominated JGSoft. Thiollent (1986) defines action research as: a kind of empirically based social research that is designed and carried out in close association with an action or solution of a collective problem, in which researchers and participants that are representative of that specific situation or problem are involved in a cooperative and participatory fashion. (Thiollent, 1986, p.14) The reason for selecting the action research methodology in our investigation was threefold. First, action research is based on the interpretive principles that substantiate the development of a contextualized view of social and organizational phenomena (Klein and Myers, 1999). To the extent that they involve people and their interactions in dynamic social-historical contexts, the introduction of IT in organizations and the development of information systems are eminently social phenomena (e.g., Baker, 2000; Grant & Ngwenyama, 2003). Detailed knowledge of how such phenomena unveil over time can better be obtained through historical and social constructions that have as their background the organizational context in which they occur (Klein and Myers, 1999).

Second, action research is a collaborative process that is centered on the dynamic relationship between theory and practice, which requires that both be considered jointly JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 585-606

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during the course of a project (Baker, 2000). Action research encourages researchers to explore the phenomenon of interest not only by observing it, but also by intervening and reflecting on the effects of their interventions, from both practice and theory-driven standpoints (Avison et al., 1999). To the extent that it aims at helping participants solve their actual problems, action research helps researchers overcome the gap between rigor and relevance that has been frequently criticized in the scholarly Information Systems literature (e.g., Desouza et al., 2006).

Third, action research methodology has been used successfully in several IS studies (e.g., Baskerville & Myers, 2004). In particular, it has been recently applied to investigate software development processes in a variety of contexts (e.g., Cunha & Figueiredo, 2006; Grant & Ngwenyama, 2003; Iversen, Mathiassen & Nielsen, 2004).

For this reason, as well as those described in the previous paragraphs, it seems to fit adequately the inherently exploratory goal of our research, that is, to assess the barriers, critical success factors and outcomes of the adoption of an open-source WS development platforms by a small Brazilian software house (JGSoft).

Some of JGSoft’s main customers were small accounting firms. In general, those firms’ core business process consisted of gathering their clients’ invoices and bills, registering the correspondent transactions in the appropriate accounting books, and calculating due taxes. At the end of each month, a detailed balance sheet report of all accounting activities was generated and sent to the clients by mail. In 2006, JGSoft partnered with one of its main customers to develop an accounting system that would enable the firm’s clients to obtain such reports over the Internet.

Although JGSoft had a strong record of software development using the traditional three-layer architecture, the owner thought that it was important to develop in-house expertise on SOA and WS. In line with arguments and results described in the academic and practitioner-oriented literatures (e.g., Ray & Ray, 2006; Yen, 2006), he believed that SME could derive strategic benefits from adopting web services. Having acted as consultant to JGSoft before, one of the authors was contacted and agreed to act as the overall project manager. In such capacity, he was directly involved in negotiations with customers, systems analysis and design, and the hiring process. His position also allowed him to collect qualitative data through conversations, email messages, project documentation, direct observation, and formal interviews with all stakeholders. Seizing the opportunity, the authors obtained permission of the company’s owner to carry out the development initiative as an action research project.

As described in the action research methodology (e.g., McKay & Marshall, 2001; Thiollent, 1997), the first step was to review the relevant literature, including references on the WS architecture, SME’s competitiveness, open-source software adoption, and ISD success factors. The following table summarizes the results of the searches that we conducted in online databases, such as EBSCO, ScienceDirect, and Scielo.

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Scholarly Journal Articles

Country

Conference Books Proceedings

Other Documents Total

Brazilian

7

0

0

4

11

International

25

4

3

9

41

32

4

3

13

52

Total

Table 1. Profile of literature search results

Information obtained in the literature was complemented with data collected in interviews with five experienced developers, and used to identify potential critical success factors (CSF) of the adoption of an open-source WS architecture (e.g., Wasmund, 1993; Rothenberger et al., 1998; Reel, 1999). To assess the results of the project, the authors defined performance criteria that captured the essential aspects of the ISD process and its results (e.g., Colombo & Guerra, 2002).

The research proceeded as follows over a period of approximately one and half years: 1.

The researcher that acted as project leader selected, obtained and installed the necessary open-source WS development tools and class libraries.

2.

JGSoft’s new WS-based ISD environment was created and checked using some of the examples that were included in software libraries.

Tests conducted in the development environment and in the Internet verified the WS examples’ conformity and quality.

3.

The functionalities of the new accounting system were defined based on their complexity and usefulness from the customer’s standpoint.

4.

Systems analysis and programming tasks were initiated and conducted as follows: a.

The researchers published a website in the Internet to promote the project and invite other developers to join it. Guidance materials on WS were developed and made available to help newcomers get up to speed with the technology, the project and the open-source ISD platform. b.

The researcher acting as project leader recruited, selected and hired developers to participate in the ISD process. c.

Example WS were made available in the Internet, so that developers could carry out tests. d.

The first WS modules were developed. Their model was made available to selected partners (other ISD companies), so that they could make comments and suggestions. Their input was documented and used to make adjustments in the development process and its results.

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e.

The WS modules were completed, installed and evaluated. The assessment of each released module and the analysis of its development process were used not only to promote adjustments in the ISD methodology and the software framework, but also to identify potential barriers and success factors for the adoption of an open-source WS development platform. In this way, the iterative nature of the action research method, which progresses through planning-acting-evaluating and reflection cycles, was an essential characteristic of our study.

5.

Software quality and ISD productivity criteria were used to check if there was any improvement in relation to previous architectures used by JGSoft.

6.

The literature on WS and open-source software were used to identify critical success factors of web services development processes. To assess if they would apply to the context of a small ISD company, the authors conducted in-depth interviews with five directors of small and medium-sized Brazilian software houses which had vast experience in software development projects. The revised set of critical success factors was then aggregated into categories according to their similarity. Finally, the resulting categories were compared against the events and characteristics of the JGSoft’s project that were considered essential to the success of their initiative.

Data analysis was overseen by the author who had no direct involvement in the ISD project. It consisted mainly of coding textual data and developing, relating and integrating themes and categories that emerged from the iterative analysis process. The latter author critically assessed his peer’s interpretation of events, offering alternative meanings and suggesting new venues to be explored in the ISD project. Both researchers were constantly aware of the possibility of the introduction of bias in their analysis, given the role one of them played in the project. From time to time, participants in JGSoft and its customer were asked to check the authors’ interpretations, so that they correctly represented the participants’ point of view.

5. RESULTS OF THE ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT JGSoft’s WS Development Project To reduce development costs, the project leader assembled a software framework consisting of Borland Kylix 3 Open Edition, the Mandrake Linux operating system, the Apache web server, FreeCLX and ZeosDB libraries for database access, and IndySOAP for the SOAP/XML interface. The following issues guided the selection process: (1) JGSoft project developers’ lack of knowledge on Java and .NET development tools; (2) their large previous experience with Object Pascal and Borland development environment; (3) and the company’s lack of financial resources to invest in proprietary solutions and training. The selection of Kylix allowed the developers to use the programming language that they were most familiar with, thereby helping them ease the transition to WS technology. As a result, project completion time could be shortened and no investments in training and hiring new developers would be necessary. These benefits are certainly significant to small software houses such as JGSoft, which normally have to conduct their projects under strict budget limitations and tight schedules. In fact, in JGSoft’s case, the ISD project would not be viable without the use of open-source software. The expenses with licenses of proprietary development tools

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by themselves would exceed the total price charged for the project.

Initially, the project team consisted of the project leader (one of the authors), a programmer and a web designer. At that time, all developers were very confident and excited about participating in the project. Besides being motivated by the fact that they could try new ways to develop a system, they also realized it was possible to synchronize WS class modeling and physical implementation, which would make the development tasks much easier and “a lot more elegant”.

Nonetheless, the team had some difficulty adapting to the Linux operating system.

All of them were used to working in the MS Windows environment. Simple issues such as the lack of shortcut keys and visual resources created considerable discomfort.

Although these adaptation problems had a negative impact on the team’s productivity, they were overcome by most developers in the first month of the project.

Later, still during the system analysis phase and after a long search, two other developers that were capable of working with the chosen platform were hired. The difficulty finding Kylix developers was seen as a natural consequence of the increasing adoption of Java and .NET by Brazilian programmers (e.g., Cesar, 2003; Yuri, 2008).

Although the project leader developed and published tutorials and ancillary materials in a website to encourage developers to join the project, recruiting team members proved to be quite hard. In spite of this, JGSoft decided to continue to use Kylix to avoid further delays in the project.

Team members soon perceived they could work more independently when modeling the system architecture. The inherent modularity of WS technology made possible to separate the graphic interface from the business rules. As a result, the project itself, as well as the related specifications, was clearer and easier to understand.

Although developers believed that this could have a positive impact on software quality, their newly acquired relative independence gave way to some heated discussions. Some of them argued that if a single service interface (parameter definition and new method definitions) had to be altered, all others would have to be compiled and tested again, and this would generate delays and increase costs. Since no consensus was achieved on this issue, it was then agreed that the developers would simulate changes in the business rules to see what kind of adjustments and tests would have to be made in the system and also how they compared to similar situations in the old ISD architecture.

Technical problems were often faced by the project team. For instance, there were incompatibilities among Kylix, Mandrake Linux and the Apache web server. Also, it was necessary to convert the libraries and correct bugs so that they could be used with the chosen open-source development platform. Although developers recognized they gained important knowledge during this process, the project was delayed by four months. The team also faced problems related to securing access to the services and the way WS management was supposed to be implemented. The standards for WS security were not yet published at that time and there were no tools available to implement the corresponding security layers. Consequently, the developers had to come up with their own proprietary solution, which they knew would probably not conform to prospect W3C standards. JGSoft saw no alternative but to accept the risk of having to rewrite their software modules in the future to ensure compatibility and interoperability.

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was fully tested and installed in the accounting firm’s premises. The customer attested that it met all requirements and successfully supported its new business process.

Overall, the project involved eight people, including programmers, web designers, consultants and suppliers, and cost about US$ 15,000. More than 40,000 lines of code were generated, and eight web services were published. Furthermore, due to compatibility issues and bugs, the project team had to maintain over 200,000 lines of code of auxiliary libraries, such as Indy, IndySOAP, Zeos and Web Provider. Although it was still necessary to develop the final front-end programs to access the services, the project was considered a success by all parties involved.

ISD Performance Criteria Although both JGSoft and its client agreed that the project was successful, the researchers felt it was necessary to define more consistent and encompassing criteria to check if the adoption of the new WS development platform generated any improvement in relation to previous architectures used by the software house. This was an important step not only in the assessment of the outcomes of the adoption process, but also in the identification of related critical success factors.

Three main aspects were contemplated by in the definition of ISD performance criteria: the quality of the product; the costs of the development process; and the productivity level achieved in the development activities. Product quality refers to the degree to which the developed system meets customer’s expectations, while cost and productivity are directly connected to profitability. Therefore, the adopted criteria attempted to measure elements that are critical to SME’s competitiveness and survival.

Current research on software quality has usually drawn on perspectives put forth in ISO/IEC 9126 (e.g., Colombo & Guerra, 2002; Bhatti, 2005). The same approach has also been adopted by the Brazilian Software Quality Study Commission to evaluate new IS architectures and software. The following ISO/IEC categories were assessed in this study:  needs.

Functionality: the degree to which the system meets clients’

 Reliability: how flawless the system is and how resilient it is when problems occur. It takes into consideration recovery capabilities (e.g., the time needed to recover information that has been lost) and how long the system works uninterruptedly (i.e., time between failures). 

Usability: how easy it is for users to work with the system.

 Efficiency: how effective the system is, i.e., the relation between consumption of computer resources and the functionalities implemented in the system.  Maintainability: the level of complexity and flexibility involved in introducing new features in a system or adjusting it to correct defects or cope with changes in its environment.  Portability: how adaptable and independent of specific technology the system is, i.e., how easy it is to move the system to different platforms of hardware and software.

The second group of criteria focused on profitability. Given the scarcity of

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resources and turbulence that characterize SME’s business environment, it is important for small ISD companies in emerging economies to be able to correctly estimate and control the development costs associated with their architectures (e.g., basic hardware and software, development tools, people). Furthermore, to reduce costs, they must strive to increase productivity, which can be achieved by making software code as reusable as possible. Reusability refers to how much of a code can be used to build different systems (Coad & Yourdon, 1991). By reusing code, developers can not only increase productivity, but also improve the quality of their software (Coad & Yourdon, 1991; Rothenberger, 1998). Therefore, total cost and degree of reusability were also chosen as criteria to evaluate JGSoft’s project.

Critical Success Factors of WS-Based ISD Processes A review of the literature on WS and ISD (e.g., Boehm, 1994; Booch, 2001; Reel, 1999; Stal, 2003; Wasmund, 1993; W3C, 2001; Yen, 2006) revealed a number of potential critical success factors (CSF) for WS-based ISD processes. As explained before, they were revised and complemented with data collected in in-depth interviews with five directors of small and medium Brazilian software houses. The final list of the potential CSF that resulted from this analysis is presented below.  Adoption of appropriate development tools: usability, efficiency and functionality, as well as associated costs, must be aligned with the project’s goals, requirements, team expertise, and budget.  Adequate team of developers: developers must be motivated and have a level of expertise and experience in ISD that is compatible with the complexity of the project.  Formalization of unitary tests: tests must be adequately performed to ensure software quality. They may have a direct impact on reliability, as long as they help eliminate errors that hinder system’s operation.  WS publication: publication of the WS modules and related information using appropriate standards and channels is essential to ensure their quality and consistent usage.  Interoperability: WS must meet the established standards and interact with any compliant application and platform. Interoperability improves software portability and maintainability.  Incremental maintenance: WS implementation must ensure that adjustments in specific modules can be easily accomplished without compromising the rest of the system. Incremental maintenance improves maintainability and reliability, insofar as it minimizes system maintenance downtime.

These critical success factors were used to structure the analysis of the data collected in the action-research, as JGSoft’s experiences were evaluated to unveil barriers, success factors and outcomes of the ISD project, and its findings compared to the extant literature. The next section summarizes the corresponding results.

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Benefits and success factors of open-source web services development platforms for small software houses

Barriers, Success Factors and Outcomes of JGSoft’s Project The analysis of the events that took place at JGSoft and the associated qualitative data suggests that the adoption of the new open-source WS development platform allowed the company to significantly improve its ISD processes. Table 2 synthesizes our findings. In its rows, the CSF listed in the previous section were used to aggregate into categories the success factors we were able to identify in our analysis. Elements of JGSoft’s experience were deemed a CSF when they seemed to have had a crucial impact on one or more of the aforementioned performance criteria, from the standpoint of the company’s owner and the project team. The ISD criteria were placed in the columns of the table.

In the intersection a row and a column, a positive/negative sign (+/-) indicates a significant improvement/deterioration of the corresponding performance criterion (in comparison with the previous situation in JGSoft), as a result of the elements of the project that are subsumed in the corresponding row. Most criteria showed positive gains; those that apparently deteriorated tend to reflect the characteristics of the development tools employed in the project, rather than problems of the WS technology itself. These results are discussed in the subsequent paragraphs.

Development tools: the inherent characteristics of the WS technology allowed the achievement of several of the expected benefits; the necessity of adjusting the source code of open-source tools and libraries made it harder to implement the required functionalities and to maintain the code.

Adequate team: in spite of the difficulty finding developers with the necessary expertise, those who effectively participated in the project perceived substantial gains in terms of knowledge and professional experience, which translated into a more reliable and efficient system; the developer’s increased ability to work independently of other developers caused problems in the services test phase.

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

+

+



+

+



www.jistem.fea.usp.br

+

Reusability

Cost

Portability

Maintainability

Efficiency

Usability

Reliability

CSF / project characteristics and events

Functionality

Performance Criteria

+

+

598 Moreno Junior, W. A., Gomes, J. C.

Tests formalization: the well-designed interface and inherent modularity of WS made it easy to create testing programs that covered most of the functionalities of each service; by ensuring software quality, the tests also enhanced the reusability of the services.

Reusability

Cost

Portability

Maintainability

Efficiency

Usability

Reliability

CSF / project characteristics and events

Functionality

Performance Criteria

+

WS publication: constant communication with developers’ communities helped the team to solve technical problem and advertise the developed web services; most developers did not speak Portuguese, which made the contacts harder for the JGSoft team.

+

Interoperability: despite the industry’s problems in interpreting and implementing the WS standards, the new architecture improved interoperability beyond the levels achieved with the previous client/server architecture; the possibility of easily interacting with other systems and platforms increased the system’s portability and made it easier to add new functionalities.

+

Incremental maintenance: the WS architecture and platform used in the project were very flexible and ease to use, as far as implementing changes in the services; the lack of rigor in implementing the WS standards and the constant updates of different technologies generated conflicts when the new WS versions were installed.

+

+

+

+

+

+

Table 2. CSF and Performance Criteria in JGSoft’s Project Improved interoperability is one of the main goals of SOA. However, there was a gap between the literature and the open-source tools, techniques and practices that were available to developers in JGSoft. For example, several of the WS standards published at the time had not yet consolidated in the IS community, as they were interpreted differently by developers. This lack of rigor on standards implementation is prone to result in problems observed in previous architectures that succumbed to their own incompatibilities (cf. Stal, 2003). Paradoxically, it is usually argued in the literature that web services are effectively used only when they are reused and shared among people and organizations (e.g., Lee, Olson & Lee, 2009; W3C, 2004). In fact, the authors did want to find other organizations that could be interested in using the WS developed by JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 585-606

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JGSoft, so that they could evaluate whether the reuse and sharing of the published services could generate further benefits. Nevertheless, the accounting firm did not grant them permission to do this. This attitude is consistent with reports that indicate that most organizations do not take real financial advantage from their own web services and use them merely to reduce costs via automation and code reuse (e.g., CIOL, 2007; BNET, 2005). However, especially for SME in emerging economies, financial benefits obtained with WS could represent significant revenue increases and competitiveness gains, thereby increasing their chances of survival.

JGSoft’s decision to use a free, open-source development platform contributed in several ways to the ISD project, suggesting that such alternative can provide considerable benefits to small and medium-sized ISD companies. Nevertheless, its daily usage proved to be more complex than initially expected. Open-source software is usually in constant, unrestricted evolution, as its community of developers continuously adds new features and corrects bugs. One of the most important findings of this research is that ISD companies that intend to employ open-source technology should plan ahead and allocate appropriate resources to enable its project teams to engage effectively in the development process of the tools they will eventually use. Thus, one should keep in mind that, typically, the adoption and utilization of “free” development software is not actually free of costs. To use it effectively, companies may have to incur expenses related to testing, improving and supporting software code and documentation, and further training their own employees.

On the other hand, the need to correct conflicts and bugs in the free, open-source software provided developers with an opportunity to acquire in-depth knowledge of their development technologies. This is regularly not possible when proprietary software is used. By having access to the tools and libraries’ source code and directly contacting its authors to ask questions and make suggestions, developers were able to better understand XML, WS and the SOA architecture. In this way, they acquired experience and skills whose usefulness went beyond the scope of the project at hand and would probably spill over to other initiatives. This result is in line with reports found in the literature regarding the achievement of important additional benefits from the participation in open-source communities, such as the acquisition of critical knowledge and expertise, and the faster and less expensive improvement and innovation of products (e.g., Lamastra, 2009; Lee, Olson & Lee, 2009; Santos Jr, 2010). The intellectual capital thus obtained by JGSoft may prove to be an important strategic resource to create business value for the company (Grant, 1996; Patnayakuni, Rai & Tiwana, 2007).

6. CONCLUSION JGSoft’s experiences suggest that WS architecture offers interesting opportunities for small and medium-sized software development companies. More than supporting improvements in systems development processes and outcomes, in terms of quality, costs and productivity, WS can be used strategically to develop new products and services and attract new customers. The complexities involved in using an open-source development platform can also be seen as an opportunity to develop in-house capabilities that boost the company’s capacity to adapt, innovate and compete. In emerging economies, where markets tend to be volatile and resources scarce, such intangible assets may prove essential to SME’s survival. Nevertheless, even an opensource WS platform tends to require some level of investment. To be successful, SME

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must be prepared to allocate human, technological and financial resources before they can obtain the expected benefits of the adoption of open-source ISD technologies.

Research on WS adoption and IS development in SME could also benefit from this study. First, its findings highlight the importance of knowledge-management practices to the development of innovation in the dynamic, unstructured environments that characterizes small software houses (cf. Matiassen & Vainio, 2007). Absorptive capacity (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990), that is, an organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capacity to identify relevant external knowledge, absorb it and apply it internally, seems to be especially critical in this context. Future empirical studies should try to assess the effects of this capacity on the performance of the ISD process in small software developers, especially in association with IT (e.g., infrastructure, governance practices) and other organizational resources and capacities (e.g., managerial capacity, organizational structure, market orientation). Such pursue would be in line with the concepts and propositions put forth by authors such Nevo and Wade (2010).

Second, our research pointed out the vital role played by SME project leaders in the adoption of new technologies. Over the course of the project at JGSoft, a number of barriers emerged. Due to the lack of resources and structure faced by the development team, the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s owner had to take the responsibility for generating flexible, creative, inexpensive solutions that allowed the company to keep the project on track.

Further research is necessary to develop our understanding of the impact of leadership characteristics on the success of ISD projects in SME. Although the literature on leadership is extensive, several authors (e.g., Cragg, Caldeira & Ward, 2011; Richardson & von Wangenheim, 2007) argue that organizational theories built from the perspective of a large enterprise may not be suitable in this context.

In spite of the measures taken by the researchers to improve the validity of the findings described in this paper, it is important to keep in mind that the action research project conducted at JGSoft was exploratory and qualitative by nature, thereby possibly being subject to interpretation bias. Given the paucity of the scholarly literature on the topics of this investigation, we feel that our findings do contribute to shed light on practices and potential benefits and barriers associated with the adoption of open-source WS-based ISD platforms by small software houses. Nevertheless, their generalizability must be put to the test by studies conducted in different organizational contexts and involving different technologies. The combination of the results obtained may be used in the future to define and operationalize constructs and assess their causal relationships statistically.

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JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp.607-626 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752012000300009

ESTRATÉGIA DE ENGENHARIA DE REQUISITOS PARA AMBIENTES DE REALIDADE AUMENTADA REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS STRATEGY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AUGMENTED REALITY ENVIRONMENTS Paula Teixeira Nakamoto Federal Institute of the Triângulo Mineiro, Brazil Gilberto Arantes Carrijo Alexandre Cardoso Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil Lázaro Vinícius de Oliveira Lima Federal Institution of Education, Science and Technology of Brasília, Brazil Colaborator Ederaldo José Lopes Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil _____________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT Augmented Reality (AR) offers the advantage of enabling the use of tangible actions and multimodal operations, including voice, gestures, and touch, among others. Due to the its interface varieties of interfaces, the complexity in designing and using them is notably high.

Therefore, this system´s designers need to develop a user-focused project or else a lot of usability problems may arise. In order to solve these problems, AR environment designers need instructions, guidance and guidelines in order to help them develop a project. So far, AR project instructions, found in the related literature, are very limited, stemming from researchers’ specific problems. This paper has the purpose of presenting an investigation that resulted in a Requirements Analysis Strategy for the development of AR environments.

As a result of this strategy, guiding designers have at their disposal domain analysis

______________________________________________________________________ Manuscript first received/Recebido em 22/11/2010 Manuscript accepted/Aprovado em: 01/03/2012 Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência Paula Teixeira Nakamoto, Instituto Federal do Triângulo Mineiro, Departamento de Informática, End. Av. Edílson Lamartine Mendes, 300, Bairro Parque das Américas, 38045-000, Uberaba, MG. Tel.: (34) 33261100. Fax: (34)33261101. E-mail: paula@iftm.edu.br Gilberto Arantes Carrijo , Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica, End. Av. João Naves de Ávila, 2121, Santa Monica, 38408-100, Uberlândia, MG. Tel.: (34) 32394165. Fax: (34) 3239-4704. Email: gilberto@ufu.br Alexandre Cardoso , Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica, End. Av. João Naves de Ávila, 2121, Santa Monica, 38408-100, Uberlândia, MG. Tel.: (34) 32394165. Fax: (34) 3239-4704. E-mail: alexandre@ufu.br Lázaro Vinícius de Oliveira Lima , Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Brasília | Reitoria SGAN 610, Módulos D, E, F e G, Brasília/DF, CEP 70860-100. Fone/Fax: +55 (61) 3905-5454.E-mail: lazaro.lima@ifb.edu.br Colaborador Ederaldo José Lopes , Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Instituto de Psicologia, End. Av. Maranhão, s/nº, Bloco 2C, Sala 2C54, Campus Umuarama, 38408-100, Uberlândia, MG. Tel.: (34) 3218-2235. Fax: (34) 32182701.

Published by/ Publicado por: TECSI FEA USP – 2012 All rights reserved.

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activities and forms that help them analyze requirements and make decisions on how to proceed in the system´s implementation. The strategy efficacy is verified by means of its application to a requirements specification meta model for the development of a system that helps in the treatment of arachnophobia.

Keywords: Augmented Reality, Requirements Analysis, Usability.

RESUMO A Realidade Aumentada (RA) apresenta a vantagem de permitir o uso de ações tangíveis e de operações multimodais, envolvendo voz, gestos, tato, etc. Devido a sua variedade de interfaces é notavelmente maior a complexidade em projetá-las e usá-las. Logo, os projetistas desses sistemas precisam desenvolver um projeto centrado no usuário, se não vários problemas de usabilidade poderão surgir. Para solucionar esse problema, os projetistas de ambientes em RA precisam de orientações, guias e diretrizes para auxiliá-los na construção do projeto. Até a data, guias de projeto para RA que podem ser encontrados na literatura são sugestões bastante estreitas, derivadas de problemas específicos dos pesquisadores. Este trabalho tem o objetivo de apresentar uma investigação que resultou em uma Estratégia de Análise de Requisitos para construção de ambientes com RA. Como resultado dessa estratégia, estão disponíveis para os projetistas guias, atividades da análise do domínio e formulários que o auxiliam na análise de requisitos e na tomada de decisões de como proceder na implementação do sistema. A eficácia da estratégia é verificada com a sua aplicação a um meta-modelo de especificação de requisitos para a construção de um sistema para o auxílio do tratamento da Aracnofobia.

Palavras Chaves: Realidade Aumentada, Análise de Requisitos, Usabilidade

Agradecimentos: Os autores agradecem à Fapemig pelo apoio relacionado com o projeto “TEC - APQ-02134-10” intitulado “Desenvolvimento de Artefatos de projeto e Implementação de sistema de Realidade Aumentada para Auxiliar o tratamento de fóbicos” e à Capes, pelo fomento de bolsa de Demanda Social, vinculada ao programa de Pós Graduação em Engenharia Elétrica da UFU.

1. INTRODUÇÃO Nos últimos anos, uma proliferação de novas tecnologias vem surgindo para melhorar/ facilitar a assimilação das informações (Bastos, 2007; Schoenfelder and Schmalstieg, 2008; Laudon and Laudon, 2007). Uma dessas tecnologias é a Realidade Aumentada – RA- que pode ser definida, de um modo geral, com o enriquecimento do mundo real com objetos virtuais, textos, imagens, gráficos, sons, usando algum dispositivo tecnológico e funcionando em tempo real. A RA apresenta a vantagem de permitir o uso de ações tangíveis e de operações multimodais (Siscoutto and Costa, 2008). Esses sistemas podem ser usados tanto em plataformas sofisticadas quanto em plataformas populares e estão sendo utilizados em várias áreas como: ensino, reabilitação, psicologia, marketing, indústria, saúde e etc (Swan and Gabbard, 2005).

Apesar do aumento na utilização dos ambientes de RA, ainda há pouca pesquisa sobre desenvolvimento de orientações Interface Humano-Computador (IHC), guias de projeto ou apresentação de resultados formais de estudos sobre IHC e da usabilidade (Dünser et al., 2007).

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A usabilidade é um dos quesitos mais importantes em uma interface, uma vez que o sucesso ou fracasso de um sistema dependerá de fatores como a facilidade de aprendizado do usuário no uso com a ferramenta, flexibilidade e robustez de sua interação (Dias, 2003; do Carmo et al., 2007). Ela deve ser trabalhada desde a criação do projeto, mas desenvolvedores, muitas vezes, não possuem recursos suficientes, tempo ou conhecimentos adequados para identificar as necessidades de usabilidade de todos os usuários potenciais (Pressman, 2006). Porém, essa consciência é parte importante do processo de desenvolvimento do software (Engenharia de Usabilidade (UE)) e exige mais estudo e atenção daqueles que desenvolvem os ambientes.

Quando analisadas várias atividades de projeto de software, verifica-se que elas geralmente são apoiadas por metáforas, guias ou padrões de Engenharia de Software/ Usabilidade tradicionais (Shneiderman and Plaisant, 2005). Para a construção de sistemas de RA, os projetistas encontram um problema, pois, na literatura, há somente sugestões bastante estreitas de guias de projeto, que são derivadas de problemas específicos dos pesquisadores (Dünser et al., 2007).

Gabbard and Swan (2008) citam que as tecnologias de RA apresentam um grande desafio, e, assim, oportunidade, no campo IHC e, especificamente, da UE que é desenvolver efetivas interfaces de usuário quando não têm estabelecido guias de projeto, heurísticas ou metáforas de interação ou são introduzidas novas formas dos usuários percebem e interagirem com a tecnologia e o mundo ao seu redor.

Como resultado, processos/estratégias são necessários para ajudar os projetistas de novas tecnologias, como RA, a criar e avaliar os projetos, ganhando um melhor entendimento dos efetivos parâmetros e determinando em que condições esses parâmetros devem ser aplicados (Goldiez et al., 2004). Sem esses processos, aplicações desenvolvidas usando a engenharia de usabilidade tradicional podem ou não melhorar a usabilidade do sistema, resultando em uma situação incerta (Amado, 2007).

Visando facilitar o desenvolvimento desses sistemas e aumentar a sua usabilidade, foi desenvolvida uma pesquisa multidisciplinar com especialistas da área de Realidade Aumentada, Engenharia de Software e Psicologia visando a criação de uma estratégia de análise de requisitos específica para construção de ambientes com a tecnologia de RA. Logo, o objetivo geral deste trabalho é auxiliar os desenvolvedores e projetistas de interface de um sistema de RA, proporcionando-lhes a definição de uma metodologia que lhes dê suporte ao processo reativo e participativo de tomada de decisões sobre a construção de uma interface. Este processo é participativo porque permite a participação de usuários finais na especificação dos requisitos.

Os objetivos específicos relativos a este trabalho são: 

Propor, a partir de um estudo sobre o estado da arte, uma estratégia de análise de requisitos que visa estudar o usuário, através da psicologia cognitiva aplicada;



Elaborar uma arquitetura de engenharia de usabilidade modificada para integrar estas estratégias;



Criar um conjunto de atividades que ajudarão/guiarão os desenvolvedores nessa análise de requisitos;

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

Avaliar essa estratégia com um estudo de caso que visa estudar os requisitos necessários para a construção de ferramentas usadas para o tratamento terapêutico.

Para atingir tal objetivo as seguintes metas foram definidas:



Investigar as técnicas certificadas de engenharia de usabilidade;



Pesquisar a psicologia cognitiva aplicada, focada na análise de tarefas;



Pesquisar o estado da arte da engenharia de usabilidade em RA;



Pesquisar os principais desafios encontrados em RA;



Realizar um estudo de caso com a estratégia desenvolvida e analisar os resultados obtidos;

Este artigo está organizado da seguinte forma. Na segunda seção, faz-se uma breve descrição sobre Realidade Aumenta descrevendo suas características e principais vantagens. A terceira seção conceitua psicologia cognitiva aplicada. A quarta seção apresenta alguns trabalhos relacionados apresentando seus benefícios e limitações. A quinta seção apresenta a metodologia de especificação de requisitos proposta. A sexta seção descreve o estudo de caso realizado para validar a metodologia apresentada e os resultados encontrados. Por fim, na sétima seção, encontram-se as conclusões da pesquisa.

2. REFERENCIAL TEÓRICO Realidade Aumentada A Realidade Aumentada é um caso particular das realidades mistas. Estas conjugam realidade com virtualidade, seja através da introdução de objetos reais no mundo virtual (virtualidade aumentada), seja adicionando objetos virtuais à realidade (realidade aumentada) como forma de complementar em lugar de substituir (Azuma, 1997). No entanto, na literatura, geralmente, encontra-se o termo realidade aumentada com o significado de realidade mista. A vantagem da RA é que ela é um sistema que aumenta a quantidade de informações disponíveis aos ambientes existentes, onde as informações carregadas pelos objetos virtuais ajudam um usuário a executar tarefas do mundo real (Swan and Gabbard, 2005).

Os sistemas de RA podem ser classificados conforme o tipo de display utilizado.

As técnicas mais comuns são (Zorzal, 2008; Tori, 2009): 

O sistema de visão ótica direta (Optical see-through Head Mounted Displays (HMD)) utiliza óculos ou capacetes com lentes que permitem o recebimento direto da imagem real, ao mesmo tempo em que possibilitam a projeção de imagens virtuais devidamente ajustadas com a cena real. Uma qualidade importante dessa técnica é possibilitar a visão direta do ambiente, sem intermediação tecnológica, garantindo maior segurança no caso de falha no dispositivo; outra característica é a maior sensação de presença no espaço real; há, contudo, diversas dificuldades técnicas nessa solução, com destaque para: registro entre virtual e real, não eliminação da visão de objetos que deveriam ser ocultados pelos objetos virtuais, grande discrepância entre qualidade de imagens reais e virtuais;

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O sistema de visão por vídeo baseado em monitor (Monitor-Based Augmented Reality) utiliza uma webcam (câmera de vídeo) para capturar a cena real. Depois de capturada, a cena real é misturada com os objetos virtuais gerados por computador e apresentada no monitor. Os objetos virtuais geralmente são gerados através dos marcadores fiduciais, possibilitando que o programador acrescente objetos virtuais sobre estes marcadores no mundo real;

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No sistema de visão direta por vídeo (Video see-through HMD) o usuário utiliza capacetes com duas ou mais microcâmeras de vídeo acopladas ao mesmo. As câmeras cumprem o papel de olhos do usuário. A cena real capturada pela microcâmera e misturada com os elementos virtuais gerados por computador é apresentada diretamente nos olhos do usuário, através de pequenos monitores montados no capacete. Essa técnica permite ao usuário caminhar normalmente pelo ambiente, mas havendo falhas no dispositivo de exibição, na precisão e qualidade da imagem, ou na captação da imagem, o usuário poderá perder a correta visualização do ambiente;

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O sistema de visão ótica por projeção (Projector-Based Augmented Reality) consiste em superfícies do ambiente real, onde são projetadas imagens dos objetos virtuais, cujo conjunto é apresentado ao usuário que o visualiza sem a necessidade de nenhum equipamento auxiliar. Embora interessante, esse sistema é muito restrito às condições do espaço real, em função da necessidade de superfícies de projeção.

1) Limitações dos Sistemas de Realidade Aumentada Ainda não existe uma técnica ideal para a geração de informações virtuais sobrepostas ao ambiente real (Tori, 2009). Enquanto não se chega a um sistema de projeção tão perfeito que criaria objetos virtuais indistinguíveis dos reais, é muito importante selecionar a tecnologia mais adequada a cada situação e conhecer bem os usuários que utilizarão o sistema.

Para tanto, é necessário que se conheçam as qualidades, defeitos e limitações das diversas técnicas hoje utilizadas em RA. Tori (2009) descreve uma síntese das principais limitações. Essas limitações são descritas a seguir: 

Sistema de Visão de Ótica Direta: vantagens: não elimina a visão direta do ambiente real; em geral mais leve e menos volumoso que os capacetes utilizados em técnicas de visão direta de vídeo; desvantagens: campo de visão limitado; pouco brilho e contraste, dificultando uma integração visual adequada dos elementos virtuais com o ambiente real; dificuldade para oclusão de objetos reais pelos virtuais; dificuldade de registro entre elementos reais e virtuais;

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Sistema de Visão Direta por Vídeo: vantagens: permite oclusão dos objetos reais pelos virtuais; facilita a equalização de brilho, contraste, iluminação e resolução entre imagens reais e virtuais; facilita o registro entre elementos reais e virtuais; desvantagens: erros de paralaxe1 (devido a diferenças entre câmeras e olhos do usuário quanto à posição e determinados parâmetros ópticos); campo de visão limitado; não possibilita a visão direta do ambiente (em caso de falha na câmera ou nos óculos o usuário fica sem nenhuma visão);

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Sistema de Visão por Vídeo Baseado em Monitor: vantagens: além de possuir as mesmas vantagens de video see-through tem baixo custo (só precisa de uma

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webcam e um monitor comum) e dispensa acoplagem de dispositivos ao corpo; desvantagens: não possibilita visão direta do ambiente; campo de visão limitado; mobilidade limitada;

Psicologia Cognitiva Aplicada A psicologia é a ciência que estuda o comportamento. Então qual é a diferença entre a ciência da psicologia e a psicologia cognitiva aplicada? Alguns trabalhos argumentam que não há diferença entre elas, pois o entendimento do comportamento é o foco da psicologia se esse comportamento ocorre dentro ou fora de um laboratório.

Outra perspectiva sobre essas definições da psicologia básica e aplicada é que as teorias são desenvolvidas em base científicas esforçando-se e simplesmente colocando em ação a ciência aplicada.

O objetivo não é desenvolver teorias de comportamento e só então tentar aplicar essas teorias. Em vez disso, a ciência da psicologia aplicada fornece um espaço do problema dentro de princípios de comportamento que podem ser desenvolvidos. O comportamento em questão é, muitas vezes, complexo, influenciado por múltiplas variáveis e suscetíveis às influências do contexto, bem como às diferenças individuais.

Tentar entender esse comportamento é a essência da psicologia aplicada (Durso et al., 2007).

Grande parte do comportamento humano envolve processos cognitivos, tais como percepção, atenção, memória, linguagem, raciocínio, tomada de decisão e resolução de problemas. Em consequência, a psicologia cognitiva pode ser aplicada em várias atividades da vida diária. Ela pode contribuir dentro de espaços de diferentes problemas e tem contribuído para o entendimento do comportamento humano. A psicologia cognitiva pode ser aplicada para descobrir habilidade, para análise de tarefas, para o entendimento da memória, etc (Durso et al., 2007).

Para o foco desta tese, a psicologia cognitiva aplicada será estudada para auxiliar a análise de tarefas pertinentes à construção de softwares de RA, através de instrumentos de avaliação do usuário.

Para entender o sistema e o ambiente, uma habilidade crítica para os psicólogos cognitivos é a capacidade de realizar uma exaustiva análise da tarefa. A análise da tarefa é uma classe geral de técnicas que podem fornecer uma análise pormenorizada das diferentes etapas de uma tarefa, bem como elas podem ser organizadas (Luczak, 1997).

Os níveis de detalhe podem variar dependendo do método, mas uma análise da tarefa executada corretamente pode ser uma poderosa ferramenta para revelar as demandas físicas e cognitivas de um usuário no sistema e no ambiente.

3. TRABALHOS RELACIONADOS Para apoiar esse trabalho e identificar outros possíveis assuntos de interesse nesse campo, conduziu-se uma revisão de literatura, na qual vários artigos sobre RA foram pesquisados, mas poucos possuíam informações que ajudassem a identificar JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 607-626

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processos que garantiam e aumentavam a usabilidade nos sistemas de RA (o desempenho humano ao utilizar esses sistemas). Esta seção apresenta alguns estudos direcionados à usabilidade para RA com o objetivo de avaliar o estado da arte nessa área, as metodologias criadas, os estudos realizados, as potencialidades, destacando suas vantagens, limitações e ressaltando a usabilidade dos ambientes de Realidade Aumentada.

1) Engenharia de Usabilidade: Atividades de Análise do Domínio para Sistemas de Realidade Aumentada Gabbard et al. (2002) discute o processo de engenharia de usabilidade UE para sistemas de Realidade Aumentada para a aplicação BARES - Battlefield Augmented Reality System. BARES é um sistema de RA outdoor que mostra através de um capacete informações inteligentes sobre um campo de batalha para desarmar um guerreiro.

Inicialmente, eles desenvolveram o processo de UE para aplicações de RV, mas, neste trabalho, eles adaptam as regras para um sistema de RA. Mesmo o foco do trabalho estando na análise do domínio, eles apresentam um processo de UE. O trabalho também apresenta as atividades sobre o processo de análise de domínio, o qual consiste de quatro (muitas vezes se sobrepõem) atividades principais: desenvolvimento de caso de uso; os perfis de usuário; as necessidades dos utilizadores; e análise das tarefas do usuário.

Esse trabalho apresenta como vantagem o fato de considerar as atividades de análise de domínio fundamentais na definição das bases para o desenvolvimento de um sistema centrado no usuário, definindo claramente um contexto (tanto o usuário e tarefas baseadas no usuário) na qual a interação do usuário será projetada. Contudo, essas atividades são muito parecidas com atividades utilizadas para sistemas GUI não apresentando muitas vantagens para tecnologias emergentes e que apresentam várias interfaces, como a RA. Fato este, claramente comprovado a partir do melhoramento/modificação dessa metodologia de Engenharia de Usabilidade pelos autores desse trabalho, a qual torna-se mais adequada para sistemas de RA. 2) Engenharia de Usabilidade de Estilos de Texto para Interfaces de Realidade Aumentada Gabbard (2008) continua o trabalho apresentado no item anterior e, em sua tese de doutorado, identifica as características de estilos de texto em RA que afetam a legibilidade em ambientes reais. Ele apresenta o conceito de estilos de texto que se adaptam em tempo real às mudanças nos ambientes do mundo real.

A pesquisa também apresenta uma técnica de engenharia de usabilidade modificada para o desenvolvimento de aplicações de RA em sistemas outdoor, a qual propõe uma Engenharia de Usabilidade que emprega estudos baseados no usuário em um ciclo de vida de engenharia de usabilidade tradicional. Esses estudos baseados no usuário são realizados através de várias avaliações realizadas nos protótipos até que se obtenha um modelo adequado. Os projetos de interface com o usuário são refinados iterativamente, como mostrado na Figura 1.

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Figura 1: Engenharia de Usabilidade para RA (Gabbard and Swan, 2008) Mesmo esta metodologia apresentando contribuições científicas para o campo de Engenharia de Usabilidade, ela apresenta um deficiência que é descrever somente orientações para especificação de usabilidade sobre legibilidade de texto em ambientes de Realidade Aumentada outdoor.

A abordagem também não fornece muita orientação para as atividades do projeto, o que deixa a desejar em relação à especificação de requisitos de novas tecnologias, nas quais ainda não existem diretrizes e padrões pré-estabelecidos.

Algumas limitações dessa abordagem incluem uma característica dos projetos atuais: restrições de tempo e recursos. Especificamente, a análise iterativa dos resultados de estudos baseados no usuário para refinar o projeto da interface pode consumir muito tempo até que a aplicação seja usável e utilizável. Em segundo lugar, o processo poderia ser agilizado realizando, em paralelo, muitos estudos baseados nos usuários (para avançar mais rapidamente), mas isso pode ser muito dispendioso, o que pode inviabilizar o projeto.

3) Aplicando Princípios de IHC em Projetos de Sistemas de RA Dünser et al. (2007) investigam como as orientações gerais de IHC podem servir para o domínio emergente de projetos de RA. Na literatura, pesquisadores de IHC podem encontrar um grande número de diferentes princípios de projeto e heurística de usabilidade (Shneiderman and Plaisant, 2005; Stone et al., 2005).

O artigo discute algumas dessas orientações. Os autores não seguem um conjunto específico de diretrizes, mas tentam identificar alguns princípios de projeto importantes e discutem como eles dizem respeito ao projeto de sistema de RA. A intenção é proporcionar bons exemplos de como aplicar os princípios de projeto de IHC em um cenário de RA. As orientações citadas no trabalho são: 

Uso de Affordances;

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Redução da sobrecarga cognitiva;

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Exigência de baixo esforço físico;

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Satisfação do usuário;

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Resposta e feedback;

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Este trabalho combinou alguns conhecidos princípios de projeto centrado no usuário com as demandas dos sistemas de RA para identificar questões que devem ser consideradas pelos pesquisadores de interface. Os autores consideram essa estratégia como uma primeira tentativa de preencher a lacuna que existe atualmente nesta área.

Os princípios de projeto apresentadas são apenas uma visão muito pequena e orientações dadas são bastante gerais e precisam ser aperfeiçoadas. Muito pouco conhecimento sobre projeto de sistemas de RA existe até agora para gerar regras genéricas para criação ou avaliação desses sistemas. É importante integrar a pesquisa de diferentes áreas para o processo de definição e aplicação de guias de projeto relacionados com RA. Pesquisas multidisciplinares permitem combinar diferentes pontos de vista e pesquisadores com diferentes especialidades, podem trazer vantagens para a área.

4. METOLOGIA PROPOSTA A abordagem proposta nesse trabalho foi derivada de pesquisas em Realidade Aumentada, Engenharia de Usabilidade e Psicologia Cognitiva Aplicada. Ela é uma abordagem de engenharia de usabilidade modificada, que estende o processo apresentado na seção III, ver Figura 1. É um modelo construtivista (Dias and Tsoukiàs, 2003) que consiste em construir um modelo adequado para a pessoa que está sendo ajudado a decidir, a partir de um contexto particular. Ela detalha as fases do comportamento iterativo e exigências de design para apoiar as fases do processo, destacando e especificando principalmente as atividades da análise da tarefa do usuário.

A análise dessas tarefas foi guiada a partir da psicologia cognitiva aplicada, através da subárea de análise das tarefas cognitivas que auxilia o projetista ou o especialista que irão realizar a especificação de requisitos a analisar todos os incidentes e ajudá-lo a selecionar qual a melhor solução para o problema especificado, dado um grupo específico de usuários.

Essa fase do projeto é importante, pois, como alertam Mogel (2000) e Tori (2009), novas tecnologias de comunicação capturam a atenção por certo tempo, independentemente da qualidade do conteúdo. Tão logo deixe de ser “novidade”, a nova mídia somente será bem aceita se trabalhada de acordo com os fundamentos e as boas práticas da comunicação e do design. Faz-se necessário que o designer tenha pleno domínio sobre os recursos oferecidos pela tecnologia e, principalmente, das limitações e requisitos que a acompanham. Tomemos como exemplo um experiente e bem-sucedido designer gráfico.

Dificilmente esse profissional será bem-sucedido se tentar aplicar métodos e conceitos de mídia impressa, sem as devidas adaptações, em projetos de mídia digital interativa. A Realidade Aumentada, ainda que digital e interativa, possui peculiaridades e limitações bem diferentes das mídias digitais “convencionais”.

Portanto, o primeiro desafio para o design da informação em ambientes de RA é o de, após estudo aprofundado sobre o problema, o público-alvo e cenário, decidir se RA seria efetivamente a melhor solução para a interface de comunicação e interação com a informação.

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A abordagem apresentada na Figura 2 incorpora bem os detalhes citados acima, adotando critérios de usabilidade, enfoque no usuário e iteratividade de projeto, assim como implicações no seu processo de desenvolvimento.

Figura 2: Engenharia de Usabilidade Modificada Como o foco da pesquisa é a analise de requisitos, a Figura 3 demonstra os módulos dessa análise. Eles são citados e descritos abaixo:

Figura 3: Estratégia de Especificação de Requisitos 1. Ambientes Genéricos de RA: é um banco de dados com vários exemplos de ambientes implementados com RA. No banco de dados, encontram-se ambientes com a utilização de capacetes (sistema de visão direta por vídeo), ambientes com a utilização de webcams (sistema de visão por vídeo baseado em monitor) e ambientes com e sem a utilização de marcadores para a geração de imagens virtuais. O objetivo deste módulo é apresentar a Realidade Aumentada e suas potencialidades; JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 607-626

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2. Experiências com Usuário: essa etapa é realizada em paralelo com a análise do perfil do usuário. O projetista escolhe dois softwares do banco de dados de ambientes genéricos de RA. Um será do tipo visão direta por vídeo e o outro do tipo, visão por vídeo baseado em monitor ou dois do tipo visão por vídeo baseado em monitor. Os softwares escolhidos são o que mais se assemelham ao sistema que será desenvolvido. Por exemplo, se for desenvolvido um software para a área da saúde, se disponível, será selecionado um ambiente da mesma área. Esse sistema é apresentado para um pequeno grupo de usuários que possuem o mesmo perfil dos usuários que irão utilizar o ambiente que será construído. Os detalhes do estudo do perfil do usuário serão explicados no próximo item. O projetista analisa o comportamento do usuário na utilização de RA. Essa análise é auxiliada pela aplicação de instrumentos de avaliação do usuário (questionários) que foram desenvolvidos com apoio da psicologia cognitiva aplicada. Após a experiência do usuário com o ambiente, ele responderá um questionário, que facilitará a escolha do tipo de sistema ideal para esse grupo de usuários pelos desenvolvedores. Essas informações facilitarão o desencadear do projeto, pois o projetista, conhecendo o comportamento do usuário com a tecnologia, escolherá o tipo correto de ambiente e os equipamentos que os usuários se adaptarão melhor.

Enfim, será desenvolvido um ambiente que necessitará de menos treinamento, será mais usável e específico para o grupo de usuários que irão utilizá-lo; 3. Análise do perfil do usuário: para cada tipo de usuário previsto, os projetistas devem conhecer seus atributos pessoais (faixa etária, sexo, limitações, motivação) e suas habilidades e competências (na tarefa, na organização, no uso de capacetes, na utilização de ambientes Três Dimensões (3D) e em sistemas informatizados). Essa análise é verificada através de questionários que os usuários responderão; 4. Análise do contexto da tarefa: para cada tarefa a ser apoiada pelo sistema, os projetistas devem conhecer os objetivos e resultados, a estrutura, a duração, as dependências, os custos, a carga mental, as interrupções, os incidentes, etc. Por exemplo, a claridade do ambiente pode ter impactos na utilização de sistemas de RA; 5. Análise das capacidades e restrições da plataforma: devem ser examinadas as possibilidades e restrições em termos de equipamentos (capacetes, webcam), sistemas operacionais e aplicativos disponíveis para o funcionamento do sistema. Por exemplo, se não existe capacete na experiência com o usuário, serão escolhidos dois sistemas do tipo visão por vídeo baseado em monitor; 6. Usabilidade: nível de usabilidade esperado para o sistema de acordo com os princípios gerais do projeto. Essa especificação é feita nos termos de valores mínimos admissíveis para os fatores básicos de usabilidade: eficácia, eficiência e satisfação do usuário, principalmente; 7. Guia do Projeto: registra todas as decisões tomadas nas atividades da Análise de Requisitos e servirá como guia para a construção do projeto, construção do protótipo, implementação do sistema e futuras avaliações do ambiente. Após a realização de todas as fases da estratégia apresentada na Figura 3, segue-se o ciclo de vida do processo de engenharia de usabilidade apresentado na Figura 2.

No módulo “experiências com o usuário”, a comparação entre dois tipos diferentes de sistemas de RA é uma solução para um problema do usuário que apresenta dificuldade de identificar entre dois produtos, qual o melhor.

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Esse padrão tem como característica a comparação de múltiplos critérios entre produtos. Estas características são as propriedades e/ou restrições tecnológicas ao sistema e seus requisitos de usabilidade.

Dessa forma, é possível auxiliar projetistas e usuários na identificação de uma solução, pela associação do problema identificado às possíveis características (a partir das necessidades), estando elas associadas a padrões.

Com o objetivo de guiar e auxiliar os projetistas na análise de requisitos, seguindo a metodologia proposta, na Tabela 1 são apresentadas as atividades principais a serem realizadas em cada um dos módulos da análise. Vale lembrar que as atividades da análise de requisitos não estão restritas a somente essas atividades. Essas possuem como objetivo apenas complementar e introduzir os projetistas na análise de requisitos.

Tabela 1: Atividades da Especificação de Requisitos Atividades da Experiência com o Usuário Definir a experiência/facilidade do usuário com a manipulação de ambientes 3D

Definir se os capacetes 3D não causaram fadiga e desconforto ao usuário

Definir o sentimento do usuário com a manipulação de ambientes de RA

Identificar em qual tipo de sistema de RA o usuário mais se adaptou

Identificar como foi a manipulação de marcadores pelo usuário

Verificar se os marcadores atrapalharam a utilização do sistema

Definir se o usuário não ficou confuso ou Identificar se o usuário teve algum mal-estar ao utilizar o perdido com a junção de informações reais e sistema, como tontura, por exemplo virtuais Definir se o uso prolongado do sistema de RA não provocou desconforto ou mal-estar no usuário Atividades de Definição do Perfil do Usuário Definir principais usuários Definir usuários contrários ao projeto Definir usuários especialistas no domínio Definir perfil do usuário Atividades da Análise do Contexto da Tarefa Definir as funções do produto Definir as restrições do produto Definir a interface Definir as restrições físicas do ambiente, como se a iluminação irá afetar o desempenho da aplicação Definir grau de confiabilidade do sistema

Definir estimativas de custo, para verificar a possibilidade de adquirir equipamentos mais modernos

Obter o propósito e as metas do produto Definir os impactos do desenvolvimento do produto

Definir as características gerais do produto Definir os impactos negativos com o não desenvolvimento do produto

Definir o público a ser atingido Definir a mobilidade do sistema Atividades do Estudo das Capacidades e Restrições da Tarefa Definir restrições relativas a hardware Definir restrições quanto ao sistema operacional ou utilizado, como ó culos 3D, webcam, luvas, etc aplicativos utilizados Definir restrições de iluminação de acordo com o ambiente que irá funcionar o sistema Atividades do Estudo dos Objetivos da Usabilidade Definir modelo claro de navegação.

Definir ajuda e documentação na utilização do sistema Definir qualidade nas mensagens de erro.

Definir sempre um feedback a uma dada ação realizada no sistema.

Restringir a quantidade de informação para o usuário não ficar confuso.

Definir os equipamentos adequados, pois senão eles podem atrapalhar a utilização do sistema

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Com as informações do Guia do Projeto desenvolve-se o projeto de interface do usuário. Esse projeto é avaliado tanto por especialistas quanto por usuários do sistema.

A cada avaliação, o projeto é refinado. Ele será refinado, iterativamente, até que o projeto encontre-se adequado.

5. ESTUDO DE CASO Para validar a estratégia apresentada, foi realizado um estudo de caso com o desenvolvimento de um sistema computacional que auxilia o tratamento terapêutico da Aracnofobia.

Inicialmente, o objetivo da estratégia é descobrir se a RA é a tecnologia adequada para a resolução do problema proposto. Para isso, a primeira etapa da estratégia que foi executada é o módulo “Experiências com o Usuário”. Ao final dessa fase, através da análise dos formulários de avaliação, pode-se verificar que os usuários se adaptaram à tecnologia e que ela era adequada para a resolução do problema proposto. Essas conclusões foram adquiridas por meio dos seguintes resultados principais dos formulários: 

Todos os usuários declararam não sentir nenhum mal-estar com a utilização do

sistema de visão por vídeo baseado em monitor; 

Todos os usuários declararam gostar de utilizar o sistema de visão por vídeo baseado em monitor e que não o acharam complexo;

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Na utilização do sistema de visão ótica direta, dois usuários não sentiram nenhuma tontura e um usuário sentiu somente um pouco de tontura pelo fato de estar utilizando um capacete;

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Todos os usuários consideram o sistema de visão ótica direta muito mais realístico;

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Dois usuários consideraram os dois tipos de sistemas adequados, os quais obteriam muitos resultados positivos para a aplicação, mas que deveriam ser utilizados em situações diferentes para diferentes níveis de fobias;

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No questionamento “O que você mais gostou na utilização da tecnologia de RA?”, dois usuários responderam que é a possibilidade do aumento de informações por meio da junção do mundo real com o mundo virtual e um usuário respondeu que é a possibilidade de realizar um tratamento terapêutico realístico, de qualquer lugar, sem ser necessária a utilização de animais reais.

Ao final dessa fase, verificou-se que RA é a tecnologia adequada para a resolução do problema proposto e que ela poderia ser eficaz como auxílio ao tratamento da Aracnofobia e que os usuários se adaptariam ao sistema proposto.

Essa conclusão foi obtida por meio das respostas positivas em relação à avaliação da tecnologia pelos psicólogos.

Como os psicólogos que participaram da análise de requisitos não conheciam a tecnologia de RA, o estudo das tecnologias de RA foi considerado o ponto forte da análise, pois eles puderam verificar as possibilidades e restrições da RA.

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Paralelamente a este módulo, executou-se a análise do perfil do usuário.

Decidido pela tecnologia de RA, continua-se a execução dos módulos da estratégia e executa-se a análise do contexto da tarefa. Essa fase foi auxiliada pelas atividades da análise do contexto da tarefa, disponível na Tabela 1, sessão IV. A Figura 4 mostra a tela inicial do sistema de visão por vídeo baseado em monitor com os oito níveis de tratamento.

Figura 4: Tela Inicial do Sistema de Aracnofobia Na imagem visualizada pelo paciente na Figura 5, nessa interface não há opções de seleção de modelos a serem apresentados. Assim, a seleção é feita com o uso de diferentes marcadores nos quais o psicólogo tem controle sobre eles, a quando cada marcador é mostrado no campo de visão dos óculos, um modelo diferente de aranha aparece.

Figura 5: Visão do sistema desenvolvido usando os óculos de RA Continuando a execução dos módulos da análise de requisitos, o próximo módulo que foi executado é o de capacidades e restrições da plataforma. Algumas das restrições especificadas são em relação à claridade do ambiente que não pode ser extrema, como por exemplo, o sistema ser utilizado no sol. Para o sistema funcionar, JISTEM, Brazil Vol. 9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012, pp. 607-626

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deverá ser instalado com antecedência no computador do Adobe Flash Player e os óculos, obrigatoriamente deverão ser binocular com webcam acoplada.

No último módulo da análise de requisitos, os objetivos de usabilidade foram especificados e como o sistema a ser implementado será utilizado para realizar um tratamento de reabilitação, a principal característica do sistema é que ele seja fácil de ser utilizado, sem que os usuários precisem de treinamento ou ajuda técnica.

6. ANÁLISE E AVALIAÇÃO DO ESTUDO DE CASO Finalizado o desenvolvimento do sistema, ele foi avaliado por 4 psicólogos, dentre os quais 2 participaram da fase de Análise de Requisitos e 2 não participaram.

Através dos resultados da avaliação podem-se confirmar as vantagens da utilização da estratégia proposta, a qual auxilia a especificação de requisitos do sistema juntamente com o profissional da área. Características importantes especificadas, como tipos de sistemas de RA diferentes, para usuários diferentes (adultos e crianças), tornam o sistema mais eficaz. O estudo dos tipos de sistemas de RA, através das experiências com o usuário, foi crucial para que o psicólogo pudesse conhecer a tecnologia, entender suas limitações e conhecer suas possibilidades.

A avaliação do sistema foi realizada sob três parâmetros: avaliação da usabilidade, eficácia do sistema e eficiência/importância da análise de requisitos.

A Figura 6 demonstra os resultados da avaliação do sistema referentes à usabilidade. Nesse gráfico, alguns pontos importantes a serem verificados são que a maioria das pessoas considera que não precisava aprender muitas coisas antes de voltar a utilizar o sistema e que todos os usuários concordam que gostariam que usar frequentemente o sistema.

Figura 6: Avaliação quanto à usabilidade do sistema A Figura 7 demonstra os resultados da avaliação quanto à eficácia do sistema.

Nesse gráfico, alguns resultados importantes são que todos os usuários consideram gostar de utilizar sistemas com essa tecnologia e que o sistema possui uma apresentação agradável e legível.

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Figura 7: Avaliação quanto à eficácia do sistema Abaixo estão algumas respostas dos psicólogos na pergunta: “O que você mais gostou nesta aplicação?”: 

Os diversos tipos de aranha, mostrando a proximidade com o real;



A grande funcionalidade e aplicabilidade desse tipo de tecnologia no tratamento de Aracnofobia;



O realismo das imagens (modelos 3D) e sua dinâmica (Movimento).

Fazendo uma análise geral da avaliação do sistema, verificou-se a importância o uso adequado de equipamentos. Esse requisito foi verificado na análise de requisitos, só que, infelizmente, esses equipamentos não foram adquiridos a tempo para a realização da avaliação do sistema. Na análise de requisitos, foi verificada a necessidade de óculos mais leves que os usados nos testes - binocular, com câmera integrada ao mesmo e com melhor definição.

7. CONCLUSÕES A Realidade Aumentada é uma área do conhecimento que oferece várias oportunidades de investigação científica e inovação tecnológica, pois é uma área que surgiu recentemente e também por oferecer aos usuários melhores condições de interação com aplicações computacionais, através de interfaces mais intuitivas. Os ambientes de Realidade Aumentada amplificam as capacidades das pessoas avaliarem informações tridimensionais, uma vez que flexibilizam a atuação do usuário no espaço tridimensional e permitem o uso de interações multimodais, possibilitando maior riqueza de detalhes, melhores técnicas de interação e mais desempenho (Kirner and Siscoutto, 2007).

A abordagem proposta estabelece um conjunto organizado de atividades e técnicas que contribuem e orientam os projetistas para a obtenção da completeza da especificação de requisitos e avaliação dos protótipos, refinando-os iterativamente.

Apesar de o aumento do número de requisitos implicar em custos maiores no desenvolvimento e implantação dos sistemas, supõe-se que os benefícios obtidos

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durante a sua operação devam recompensar de modo significativo esse acréscimo de custo inicial.

Imagina-se ainda que o tempo de implementação pode ser diminuído quando projetistas sabem exatamente o que vão desenvolver e os resultados esperados. Vale ressaltar que uma completa e específica análise de requisitos impacta positivamente na elaboração de qualquer sistema, sendo, portanto, um mecanismo essencial de apoio à elaboração de softwares terapêuticos e utilizados para o ensino, pois nesses tipos de sistema, o usuário não poderá desperdiçar seu tempo aprendendo a utilizar a aplicação.

As orientações da estratégia apresentada poderão contribuir para a construção desses e de outros sistemas, pois os tornarão mais fáceis de serem usados e mais adaptados para os usuários que o utilizarão.

De modo geral, a falta e limitações de guias na literatura nortearam a necessidade de pesquisas na área e a criação de uma estratégia, visto a grande utilização dos sistemas de RA. Portanto, concentrar atenção na análise do domínio e no comportamento do usuário, claramente contribui para a qualidade dos sistemas de software, como mostrado nos testes.

Essa estratégia seguiu a idéia central da norma padrão internacional ISO 13407, que tem como princípio, focalizar desde o início os usuários e as tarefas que desenvolvem num determinado ambiente.

Constata-se, com base nos objetivos do trabalho, que as informações referentes às terminologias estudadas, além de embasarem o desenvolvimento do trabalho e constituirem um referencial teórico robusto sobre o contexto, fornecem diversos parâmetros viabilizando a construção do conhecimento.

8. TRABALHOS FUTUROS Existem diversos aspectos que foram abordados neste trabalho e que podem ser estendidos, visando acrescentar novas facilidades e aumentar o desempenho das aplicações desenvolvidas. Algumas sugestões para trabalhos futuros são as seguintes: 

Ajustes, adequações e inserção de atividades na metodologia proposta, identificados através da aplicação da mesma.



Integrar essa metodologia com outros templates, destinados a utilização na Engenharia de Requisitos para os sistemas computacionais de uso geral.



Utilizar outras formas de avaliar a metodologia proposta.



Adequação da metodologia proposta para outras novas tecnologias.



O desenvolvimento de uma ferramenta automatizada que apóie e facilite a utilização da metodologia, bem como permita a criação de um repositório para armazenamento e recuperação dos artefatos gerados ao longo da Análise de Requisitos.

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REFERÊNCIAS Amado, A. E. P. (2007). Avaliação de usabilidade de ambientes de realidade virtual e aumentada. Master’s thesis, Universidade de Aveiro, Departamento de Engenharia Industrial.

Azuma, R. (1997). A survey of augmented reality. Presence, 6(4):355–385. Azuma, R., Baillot, Y., Behringer, R., Feiner, S., Julier, S., and MacIntyre, B. (2001). Recent advances in augmented reality. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 21(6):34– 47.

Bastos, N. C. (2007). Uma metodologia para avaliação de usabilidade de interfaces de realidade mista interativas.

Carmo, R. M. C., Meiguins, B. S., Gonçalves, A. S., Pinheiro, S. C. V., Almeida, L. H., and Godinho, P. I. A. (2007). Coordinated and multiple views in augmented reality environment. In IV, pages 156–162. IEEE Computer Society.

Dias, M. Jorge, J. C. J. S. P. L. J. (2003). Usability evaluation of tangible user interfaces for augmented reality. Augmented Reality Toolkit Workshop, 2003. IEEE International, pages 54– 61.

Dias, L. C. and Tsoukias, A. On the constructive and other approaches in decision aiding. Proceedings of the 57th meeting of the EURO MCDA working group, 2003.

Dünser, A., Grasset, R., Seichter, H., and Billinghurst, M., editors (2007). Applying HCI principles to AR Systems Design, North Carolina, USA. MRUI’07: 2nd International Workshop at the IEEE Virtual Reality 2007 Conference.

Durso, T., F., Nickerson, S., R., Schvaneveldt, W., R., Dumais, T., S., Lindsay, Stephen, D., Chi, and H., M. T., editors (2007). Handbook of Applied Cognition. John Wiley & Sons.

Gabbard, J. L. (2008). Usability Engineering of Text Drawing Styles in Augmented Reality User Interfaces. PhD thesis, Faculty of Virginia Polytechnic, Blacksburg, Virginia.

Gabbard, J. L., II, J. E. S., Hix, D., Lanzagorta, M., Livingston, M., Brown, D., and B, S. J. (2002). Usability engineering: Domain analysis activities for augmented reality systems. Proceedings SPIE Volume 4660, Stereoscopic Displays and Virtual Reality Systems IX. Gabbard, J. L. and Swan, E. (2008). Usability engineering for augmented reality: Employing user-based studies to inform design. IEEE Transactions On Visualization And Computer Graphics, 14(3):513 a 525.

Granado, L. C., Ropero Peláez, F. J., and Garcia-Mijares, M. (2005). Estudo no contexto brasileiro de três questionários para avaliar aracnofobia. In In Livro de programa e resumos: do 14º Congresso Interno Núcleo de Pesquisa em Neurociências e Comportamento XIV Congresso Interno Anual do NaP/NEC.

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Goldiez, B., Livingston, M. A., Dawson, J., Brown, D., Hancok, P., Baillot, Y., and Julier, S. J., editors (2004). Advancing Human Centered Augmented Reality Research, Orlando. University of Central Florida Orlando, Proceedings for the Army Science Conference (24th).

Kirner, C. and Siscoutto, R. (2007). Realidade Virtual e Aumentada: Conceitos, Projeto e Aplicações. Sociedade Brasileira de Computação, Porto Alegre, 2007. Livro do présimpósio, IX Symposium on Virtual and Augmented Reality. Editora SBC, Petrópolis RJ. Laudon, K. and Laudon, J. (2007). Sistemas de Informação Gerencial. Pearson. 7º Edição. São Paulo – SP. Luczak, H. (1997). Task analysis - Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics. John Wiley Sons, New York.

Marot, R. (2009). Fobia específica. http://www.psicosite.com.br/tra/ans/anssocial.htm acessado em abril de 2009.

Mogel, L. (2000). Careers in communications and entertainment. Kaplan Books, New York.

Pressman, R. S. (2006). Engenharia de Software. 6º ed. Rio de Janeiro: McGraw-Hill.

Schoenfelder, R. and Schmalstieg, D. (2008). Augmented reality for industrial building acceptance. In VR, pages 83–90. IEEE. Siscoutto, R. and Costa, R. (2008). Realidade Virtual e Aumentada: Uma abordagem tecnológica. Sociedade Brasileira de Computação, João Pessoa, 2008. Livro do présimpósio, IX Symposium on Virtual and Augmented Reality. Editora SBC, João Pessoa PB. Stone, D., Jarrett, C., Woodroffe, M., and Minocha, S. (2005). User Interface Design and Evaluation. Morgan Kaufmann. Swan, J. E. and Gabbard, J. L. (2005). Survey of user-based experimentation in augmented reality. In Proceedings of 1st International Conference on Virtual Reality, HCI International 2005, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Tori, R. (2009). Desafios para o design de informação em ambientes de realidade aumentada. Revista Brasileira de Design da Informação, 6(1):49–60.

Zorzal, E. R. (2008). Sistemas de realidade aumentada. <http://www.realidadeaumentada.com.br>. Acesso em 15/11/2009.

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Disponível

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JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol.9, No.3, Sept/Dec 2012, pp. 627 ISSN online: 1807-1775

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. Submit online a full paper and abstract in English, Spanish or Portuguese by January, 30th 2013. 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.

Data final para envio de trabalhos: 30 de Janeiro de 2013.

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

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 key words (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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1) Instruções para submissão de artigo Cadastre-se no sistema e submita 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.9, No.3, Set/Dez, 2012, pp. 630 ISSN online: 1807-1775

Editor E.L.Riccio (2004-presente/present) Avaliadores Ad Hoc – 2012 Ad Hoc Reviewers – 2012

Adolfo Alberto Vanti Alex Antonio Ferraresi Alfredo Colenci Neto Amarolinda Iara da Costa Zanela Ana Cervigni Guerra Ana Paula Henriques de Gusmão Angelica Toffano Seidel Calazans Antonio Carlos Gastaud Maçada Antonio Eduardo de Albuquerque Junior Ariel Behr Bruno Carvalho Castro Souza Carlos Francisco Simões Gomes Chap Kau Kwan Chung Celso Pires Machado Cesar Alberto Collazos Cesar Alexandre Souza Claudia Sa Malbouisson Andrade Claudia Affonso Silva Araujo Fernando Kuschnaroff Contreras Cristiano Roos Denilson Sell Edmir Edmir Parada Vasques Prado Eduardo Amadeu Dutra Moresi Eduardo Botti Abbade Eduardo de Freitas Rocha Loures Eduardo Rodrigues de Carvalho Einstein Lemos Aguiar Enock Godoy de Souza Fernando Hadad Zaidan Fernando José Barbin Laurindo Feruccio Bilich Francisco Javier Valencia Duque Guilherme Lerch Lunardi Gustavo Abib Heloísa Mônaco dos Santos João Carlos Soares de Melo Joao Souza Neto Jorge Rodolfo Beingolea Garay José Alberto Carvalho dos Santos Claro José Márcio de Castro Kira Maria Antonia Tarapanoff

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Lisandra Manzoni Fontoura Luis Claudio Kubota Luís Kalb Roses Luiz Lustosa vieira Maria Carmen Leonardi Maria Terezinha Angeloni María Verónica Alderete Mauri Leodir Löbler Napoleao Verardi Galegale Nelsio Rodrigues de Abreu Orandi Mina Falsarella Oscar Dalfovo Paulo Caetano da Silva Raul Luís Assumpção Bastos Ricardo Colomo Palacios Ricardo Simm Costa Roberto Antonio Martins Saulo Barbará de Oliveira Silvio Aparecido dos Santos Takeshy Tachizawa Teija Vainio Teresa Cristina Janes Carneiro Theodoro Peters Valério Salomon Valter de Assis Moreno Jr Vladimir Milián Núñez Washington Lopes

Editorial Information - Informações Editoriais Total of Published Texts / Total de Textos Publicados Articles / Artigos Inéditos Research Communication / Comunicação Conference Reports / Relatórios de Conferências Authors from Brazil / Autores do Brasil Authors Outside Brazil / Autores do Exterior Articles in English / Artigos em Inglês Articles in Spanish / Artigos em Espanhol Articles in Portuguese / Artigos em Português Articles in French / Artigos em Francês

Proofreading Services / Revisão Contact Language

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2012 28 27 0 1 65 7 22 0 5 0

632 Editorial Information /Ad Hoc reviewers/ Content 2012

Index per author 2012 / Indice por autor 2012

ARRUDA, Emilio Jose Montero Filho, Universidade da Amazônia, Brazil pp. 171-188 Preferências hedônicas e justificações utilitárias na introdução de novos produtos de alta tecnologia Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012 BARROS, Henrique Machado, Insper Institute of Education and Research, Brazil pp. 515-540 Determinants of the choice of marketing channels by corporate clients: an analysis of the information technology sector Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012 BERNARDINO, André Fernandes, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Brazil Telecommuting and HRM: a case study of an information technology service provider Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp. 285-306

BORTOLUZZO, Adriana Bruscato, Insper Institute of Education and Research, Brazil pp. 515-540 Determinants of the choice of marketing channels by corporate clients: an analysis of the information technology sector Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012 BOUTET, Charles-Victor, UFR Ingémédia, France; Towards active seo 2.0 Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012

pp. 443-458

CALAZANS, Angelica Toffano Seidel, Universidade de Brasília, Brazil pp. 265-284 Proposal for a measurement model for software tests with a focus on the management of outsourced services.

Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012 CARDOSO, Alexandre, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Brazil Strategy of engineering requirements for augmented reality environments Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012

pp. 607-626

CARRIJO, Gilberto Arantes, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Brazil Strategy of engineering requirements for augmented reality environments Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012

pp. 607-626

COBO, Angel, Universidad de Cantabria, Spain Fuzzy clustering: application on organizational metaphors in Brazilian companies Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp. 197-212

CONTADOR, José Celso; UNIP - Universidade Paulista, Brazil It outsourcing: methodology for supplier selection criteria for competitive advantage Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012

pp. 123-146

CONTRERAS, Fernando Kuschnaroff, EBAPE Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Brazil Internet: monitored freedom Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012

pp. 459-472

COSTA, Sely Maria de Souza, Universidade de Brasília, Brazil pp.61-88 Brazilian scientific journals that use the open journals systems (OJS): a quality analysis.

Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012 DEL CORSO, Jansen Maia, Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Brazil Telecommuting and HRM: a case study of an information technology service provider Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp. 285-306

ENSSLIN, Leonardo, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil

pp. 473-496

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Software process assessment and improvement using Multicriteria Decision Aiding - Constructivist Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012 ENSSLIN, Sandra Rolim, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil Software process assessment and improvement using mcda constructivist Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012

pp. 473-496

FERNANDES, Cristiana De Muylder, Universidade FUMEC /FACE, Brazil pp. 497-514 Value creation from organizational project management: a case study in a government agency Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012 FERRARESI, Alex Antonio, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná , Brazil pp. 89-108 Knowledge management, market orientation, innovativeness and organizational outcomes: a study in companies installed in brazil Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012 FERREIRA, Ademir Antonio, UNIP - Universidade Paulista, Brazil It outsourcing: methodology for supplier selection criteria for competitive advantage Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012

pp. 123-146

FERREIRA, Fernando Colmenero, Universidade da Madeira, Portugal pp. 353-368 Os sistemas de recomendação na web como determinantes prescritivos na tomada de decisão Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012 FREGA, José Roberto, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil pp. 89-108 Knowledge management, market orientation, innovativeness and organizational outcomes: a study in companies installed in brazil Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012 GAVA, Vagner Luiz, IPT - Institute for Technological Research, Brazil The 3C cooperation model applied to the classical requirement analysis Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp.235-264

GOMES, Josir Cardoso, Instituto RADIX de Ensino, Brazil pp. 585-606 Benefits and success factors of open-source web services development platforms for small software houses Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012 GUIMARÃES, Luisa Veras de Sandes, Universidade de Brasília, Brazil pp.61-88 Brazilian scientific journals that use the open journals systems (OJS): a quality analysis.

Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012 HALAWEH, Mohanad, University of Dubai, UAE Using grounded theory as a method for system requirements analysis Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012

pp. 23-38

HEIN, Nelson, Regional University of Blumenau, Brazil Scientific production of entropy and information theory in Brazilian journals Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp. 307-322

HSING, Chen Wen, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil pp. 563-584 Management practices and influences on it architecture decisions: a case study in a telecom company Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012 IFINEDO, Princely, Cape Breton University, Canada pp. 05-22 Drivers of e-government maturity in two developing regions: focus on latin america and sub-saharan africa Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012 JOIA, Luiz Antonio, Fundação Getulio Vargas-FGV, Brasil

JISTEM, Brazil Vol.9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012

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634 Editorial Information /Ad Hoc reviewers/ Content 2012

Infoinclusão em piraí digital: evidências empíricas a partir da teoria ator-rede Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012 KOSLOSKI, Ricardo Ajax Dias, Universidade de Brasília, Brazil pp. 265-284 Proposal for a measurement model for software tests with a focus on the management of outsourced services.

Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012 LACERDA, Rogério Tadeu de Oliveira, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil pp. 473-496 Software process assessment and improvement using Multicriteria Decision Aiding - Constructivist Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012 LIMA, Rosa Maria Chaves , Universidade da Amazônia, Brazil pp. 171-188 Preferências hedônicas e justificações utilitárias na introdução de novos produtos de alta tecnologia Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012 LIMA, Lázaro Vinícius De Oliveira, Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Brasília Strategy of engineering requirements for augmented reality environments Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012

pp. 607-626

LIRA, Arnaldo Morozini de, Santo Andre Foundation CFO, Brazil pp. 323-352 Uses of ERP systems and their influence on controllership functions in Brazilian companies Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012 MATUCK, Priscila de Jesus Papazissis, Universidade FUMEC, Brazil pp. 147-170 Mudanças nas práticas organizacionais com a implementação do programa de gerenciamento da cadeia de suprimentos (gcs) em uma multinacional do setor siderúrgico Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012 MARTINS, Evelyn Souto, EBAPE Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Brazil Internet: monitored freedom Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012

pp. 459-472

MEDINA, José Cardenas, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil The 3C cooperation model applied to the classical requirement analysis Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp.235-264

MORENO, Valter de Assis Junior, Faculdades Ibmec-RJ, Brazil pp. 585-606 Benefits and success factors of open-source web services development platforms for small software houses Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012 NAKAMOTO, Paula Teixeira, Instituto Federal do Triângulo Mineiro, Brazil Strategy of engineering requirements for augmented reality environments Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012

pp. 607-626

NASCIMENTO, Elby Vaz, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil Intelligent tutoring system for distance education Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012

pp. 109-122

OLIVEIRA, Adicinéia Aparecida, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Brazil pp. 353-368 Os sistemas de recomendação na web como determinantes prescritivos na tomada de decisão Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012 OLIVEIRA, Fatima Bayma de, EBAPE Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Brazil Internet: monitored freedom Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012

pp. 459-472

OLIVEIRA, Jose Dutra de Neto, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil

pp. 109-122

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Intelligent tutoring system for distance education, Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012 OLIVEIRA, Warlei Agnelo de, Centro Universitário UNA, Brazil pp. 497-514 Value creation from organizational project management: a case study in a government agency Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012 PARDINI, Daniel, Universidade FUMEC, Brazil pp. 147-170 Mudanças nas práticas organizacionais com a implementação do programa de gerenciamento da cadeia de suprimentos (gcs) em uma multinacional do setor siderúrgico Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012 PARISI, Cláudio, FECAP, Brazil pp. 323-352 Uses of ERP systems and their influence on controllership functions in Brazilian companies Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012 PELEIAS, Ivam Ricardo, FECAP and Pontifical Catholic University, Brazil pp. 323-352 Uses of ERP systems and their influence on controllership functions in Brazilian companies Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012 PEREIRA, Heitor José, Fundação Instituto de Administração, Brazil pp. 89-108 Knowledge management, market orientation, innovativeness and organizational outcomes: a study in companies installed in brazil Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012 PETERS, Marcos Reinaldo Severino , FECAP, Brazil pp. 323-352 Uses of ERP systems and their influence on controllership functions in Brazilian companies Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012 POZO, Hamilton , Instituto de Ensino Campo Limpo Paulista, Brazil pp. 23-38 Management model for the development of software applied to business sustainability in the context of global climate changes Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012 QUONIAM, Luc, Université du Sud -Toulon - Ingémédia, France Towards active seo 2.0 Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012

pp. 443-458

RAUSCH, Rita Buzzi, Regional University of Blumenau, Brazil Scientific production of entropy and information theory in Brazilian journals Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp. 307-322

RIBEIRO, Luiz Carlos Miyadaira Junior, Universidade de Brasília, Brazil pp. 265-284 Proposal for a measurement model for software tests with a focus on the management of outsourced services.

Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012 ROCHA, Irani , Regional University of Blumenau, Brazil Scientific production of entropy and information theory in Brazilian journals Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp. 307-322

ROCHA, Rocío, Universidad de Cantabria, Spain Fuzzy clustering: application on organizational metaphors in Brazilian companies Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp. 197-212

ROGLIO, Karina De Dea, Federal University of Paraná, Brasil Telecommuting and HRM: a case study of an information technology service provider Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp. 285-306

SANTOS, Slvio Aparecido, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil

pp. 89-108

JISTEM, Brazil Vol.9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012

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Knowledge management, market orientation, innovativeness and organizational outcomes: a study in companies installed in Brazil Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012 SCHEID, Luiz Carlos Mesquita, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil pp. 473-496 Software process assessment and improvement using Multicriteria Decision Aiding - Constructivist Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012 SCHNEIDER, Gustavo Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Brasil Fuzzy clustering: application on organizational metaphors in Brazilian companies Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp. 197-212

SILVA, Edson Marchetti da, Federal University of Minas Gerais, MG, Brazil Information retrieval system using multiwords expressions (MWE) as descriptors Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp.213-234

SIMÕES, Sergio Alexandre, UNIP - Universidade Paulista, Brazil It outsourcing: methodology for supplier selection criteria for competitive advantage Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012

pp. 123-146

SOARES, Guilherme, Insper Institute of Education and Research, Brazil pp. 515-540 Determinants of the choice of marketing channels by corporate clients: an analysis of the information technology sector Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012 SOUZA, Cesar Alexandre de, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil pp. 563-584 Management practices and influences on it architecture decisions: a case study in a telecom company Volume 9 – Número 3 – Set– Dez 2012 SOUZA, Renato Rocha, Getúlio Vargas Foundation - FGV, RJ, Brazil Information retrieval system using multiwords expressions (MWE) as descriptors Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp.213-234

SOUZA, José Wilson de, UNIP - Universidade Paulista, Brazil It outsourcing: methodology for supplier selection criteria for competitive advantage Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012

pp. 123-146

SPINOLA, Mauro de Mesquita, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil The 3C cooperation model applied to the classical requirement analysis Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp.235-264

TACHIZAWA, Takeshy, Instituto de Ensino Campo Limpo Paulista, Brazil pp. 23-38 Management model for the development of software applied to business sustainability in the context of global climate changes Volume 9 – Número 1 – Jan – Abr 2012 TELES, Adonai, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brasil Infoinclusão em piraí digital: evidências empíricas a partir da teoria ator-rede Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp. 369-390

TONINI, Antonio Carlos, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil The 3C cooperation model applied to the classical requirement analysis Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp.235-264

VANTI, Adolfo Alberto, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Brasil Fuzzy clustering: application on organizational metaphors in Brazilian companies Volume 9 – Número 2 – Mai– Ago 2012

pp. 197-212

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Conference Report / Relatório de Congresso RICCIO, Edson Luiz e colaboradores, Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil Resultados do 9º. CONTECSI Congresso Internacional de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação / Outcomes of 9th CONTECSI – International Conference on Information Systems and Technology Management Volume 9, Número 2, Mai. - Ago., 2012 Assistant Editor / Assistente Editorial Dra. Marici C.Gramacho Sakata, (2004-presente/present) Webmaster Marcos Iriarte TECSI Team Website/e-mail www.jistem.fea.usp.br - jistem@usp.br Indexação - Index SciELO Redalyc Doaj ProQuest Latindex CLASE Ulrich’s Periodical Directory Dialnet Ebsco Gale Infotrac Portal de Revistas da USP Portal de Periódicos CAPES ISSN online: 1807-1775 Quadrimestral/Every four months Classificação Nacional/National Classification Qualis Capes – B1 - Administração e Turismo

JISTEM, Brazil Vol.9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012

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Authors Filiation / Origem Institucional dos Autores Volume 9, Number 1, Jan-Apr 2012

Volume 9, Number 2, May- Aug, 2012

Volume 9, Number 3, Sept. - Dec., 2012

Cape Breton University, Canada (1) University of Dubai, UAE (1) Instituto de Ensino Campo Limpo Paulista, Brazil (2) Universidade de Brasília, Brazil (2) Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (1) Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil (4) Fundação Instituto de Administração, Brazil (1) UNIP - Universidade Paulista, Brazil (4) Universidade FUMEC, Brazil (2) Universidade da Amazônia, Brazil (2) Total Universidad de Cantabria, Spain (2) Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Brasil (2) University of Minas Gerais, MG, Brazil (1) Getúlio Vargas Foundation - FGV, RJ, Brazil (1) IPT - Institute for Technological Research of the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil (1) University of Sao Paulo, Brazil (3) Universidade de Brasília, Brasilia, Brazil (3) Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, Brazil (3) Regional University of Blumenau, Brazil (3) Santo Andre Foundation CFO, Brazil (1) FECAP, Brazil (3) Universidade da Madeira, Portugal (1) Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Brazil (1) Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brasil (1) Fundação Getulio Vargas-FGV SP, Brasil (1) Total Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil (2) Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil (4) Instituto RADIX de Ensino, Brazil (1) Faculdades Ibmec-RJ, Brazil (1) Universidade FUMEC /FACE, Brazil (1) Centro Universitário UNA, MG, Brazil (1) Insper Institute of Education and Research, Brazil (3) UFR Ingémédia, France (1) Université du Sud -Toulon - Ingémédia, France (1) Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Brazil (2) Instituto Federal do Triângulo Mineiro, Brazil (1) Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Brasília, Brazil (1) Fundação Getúlio Vargas- SP, Brasil (3) Universidade Metodissta de Piracicaba UNIMEP (2) UNESP (1) Total

JISTEM, Brazil Vol.9, No. 3, Sept/Dec. 2012

Autores

Brazil (11) SP (2) DF (1) PR (2) MG (2) PA

Outside Brazil (1) Canada (1) United Arab Emirates

20

18 (3) DF (1) MG (3) PR (9) SP (2) RJ (2) RS (3)SC (1) SE

02 (2) Spain (1) Portugal

27

24 (12) SP (1) RJ (5) MG (4) SC (1) DF

03 (2) France

25

www.jistem.fea.usp.br

23

02