Volume VIII - Numer I by Laboratório de Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação

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

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ISSN: 1807-1775

Volume 8 : Number 1 : 2011

Available Online Disponível Online Apoio USP

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

Every four months/Quadrimestral

Universidade de São Paulo – FEA USP 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, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Assistant Editor Marici Gramacho Sakata, TECSI University of São Paulo – FEA, , São Paulo, SP, Brazil Editorial Board – Comitê de Política Editorial Armando Malheiro da Silva, University of Minho, Minho, Portugal Christophe Benavent, Université Paris Quest Nanterre La Defense, Nanterre, Paris, France Henrique Mello Rodrigues de Freitas, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil JaeJon Kim, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Chonnam, Korea Luc Marie Quoniam, University of Toulon Var, Toulon, Var, France Michael D Myers, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand Miklos Vasarhelyi, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Neward, New Jersey, United States of America Rejane Maria da Costa, Catholic University of Brasilia, Brasília, DF, Brazil Robert D. Galliers, Bentley College, Waltham, Massachusetts, United States of America Editorial Review Board – Comitê Científico Editorial Adam Mazurkiewicz, Instytut Technologii Eksploatacji, Radom, Poland Adalberto A. Fischmann, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Antonio Carlos dos Santos, Federal University of Sao Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil Birger Hjorland, Royal School of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen, Denmark Burak Arzova, Marmara University, Marmara, Istanbul, Turkey Dennis F. Galletta, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pensilvânia, United States of America Fabio Frezatti, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Fernando Colmenero Ferreira, University of Madeira, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal Geraldo Lino de Campos, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Gilson Schwartz, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Guilherme Ari Plonski, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Jan Capek, Univerzita Pardubice, Pardubice, Pardubice, Czech Republic Jose Dutra de Oliveira Neto, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil Jose Rodrigues Filho, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil Marlei Pozzebon, HEC Montréal, Montréal, Canada 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, CLASE, The Index of Information Systems Journals, ACPHIS, Dialnet, Ebsco, Gale Infotrac, Portal de Periódicos USP, CAPES Webmaster jistem@usp.br Technical Support Equipe TECSI pesquisatecsi@usp.br Terms and Conditions The articles are authors responsibility and all rights are reserved to TECSI. The use of these documents may be restricted by the user's agreement with the publisher. In addition, any user's unauthorized copying, distribution, public display, public performance, and preparation of derivative works from such documents is prohibited by copyright law. The "JISTEM" is free of charge and all editions will be available in the site. Direitos e Permissão Os artigos são de total responsabilidade dos autores e todos os direitos reservados ao TECSI, sendo permitida a publicação de trechos e artigos, com prévia permissão, desde que citada a fonte. A Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação tem formato digital e é distribuída gratuitamente por meio eletrônico. Support: USP

JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol.8, No.1, 2011, pp. 01-265 ISSN online: 1807-1775

Volume 8 : Número 1 / Volume 8 : Number 1

2011

ÍNDICE / Content Editorial / Editorial

1-2 3-4

The Development of an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) for a Research and Technology Institute: the case of the IPEN Willy Hoppe de Sousa, Institute of Nuclear and Energy Research (IPEN), São Paulo, Brazil. Adriano Giardino, Institute of Nuclear and Energy Research (IPEN), São Paulo, Brazil. Maria Aparecida H. Trezza, Institute of Nuclear and Energy Research (IPEN), São Paulo, Brazil.

5-24

Business Intelligence (BI) Implementation from the Perspective of Individual Change Maria Amélia de Mesquita Fetzner, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Henrique Freitas, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

25-50

A Vision of Orkut’s Users: Studying this Phenomenon Through Cognitive Absorption Mauri Leodir Löbler, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Monize Sâmara Visentini, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Vania de Fátima Barros Estivalete, Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil.

51-72

Data Information System to Promote the Organization Data Collections – Modeling Considerations by the Unified Modeling Language (UML)

73-86

Eduardo Batista de Moraes Barbosa, National Institute for Space Research (INPE), Brazil. Galeno José de Sena, Paulista State University, Brazil. 5

CRM as a Support for Knowledge Management and Customer Relationship Silvana Toriani, University of Southern Santa Catarina, Brazil Maria Terezinha Angeloni, Pierre Mendès France University, France

Evaluation of the perceived Quality of the Website of an Online Bookstore: an Empirical Application of the Carnes and Vidgen Model Ueliton da Costa Leonidio,Catholic University of Petrópolis, Brazil Roberto Marcos da Silva Montezano, Faculty IBMEC, Brazil Frederico A. de Carvalho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

109-130

Hospital Information Systems: a Study of Electronic Patient Records Pedro Luiz Côrtes, University Nove de Julho, Brazil. Eliana Golfette de Paula Côrtes, University Gama Filho, Brazil

131-154

Use and Development of Health Information Systems: The Experience of an Organizational Unit Responsible for the Technological Services at

155-178

87-108

JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Vol.8, No.1, 2011, pp. 01-265 ISSN online: 1807-1775

Public Hospitals Sonia Valle W. Borges de Oliveira, University of São Paulo, Brazil. Cristiane Sonia Arroyo, University of São Paulo, Brazil. Marcio Mattos Borges de Oliveira, University of São Paulo, Brazil Alessandra Henriques Ferreira, University of São Paulo, Brazil 9

Teach-me: implementation of mobile environments to the teach – learning Luis Eduardo Pérez Peregrino, Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios, Colombia. Adriana Maritza Matallana, Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios, Colombia. Frey Rodríguez Pérez, Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios, Colombia. Alejandro Moreno Pinilla, Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios, Colombia.

179-212

10 Gestão do conhecimento em transnacionais: o ambiente organizacional como instrumento disseminador Knowledge Management in Transnational Organizations: The Organizational Environment as a Scatter Instrument Julio Araújo Carneiro da Cunha, School of Economics, Business and Accounting, Brazil. Cesar Akira Yokomizo, School of Economics, Business and Accounting, Brazil. Gustavo de Almeida Capellini, School of Economics, Business and Accounting, Brazil.

213-236

237-262

Controles de Governança de Tecnologia da Informação para a terceirização de processos de negócio: Uma proposta a partir do COBIT Controls of Information Technology management for business processes outsourcing based on COBIT Edmara Mezzomo Luciano, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Mauricio Gregianin Testa, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Eventos/ Events Submissão de Artigos / Contributions

263 264-265

Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Volume 8, Number 1, 2011, p. 3-4 ISSN online: 1807-1775

Editorial Edson Luiz Riccio Editor

A iniciativa da JISTEM de promover a inserção de seus autores no cenário internacional apresenta resultados neste primeiro volume de 2011. Dos 11 artigos, 9 estão em língua inglesa. Isso significa que os leitores que acessam a JISTEM através dos portais PROQUEST, Gale Infotrac, Dialnet, Ebsco, CLASE, DOAJ, SciELO e demais bibliotecas do exterior poderão ter acesso aos artigos na íntegra e não apenas aos abstracts. Informamos que os artigos ainda podem ser submetidos em português e espanhol e a tradução poderá ser feita no final do processo. Com grande satisfação informamos também que todos os números da JISTEM já se encontram disponíveis na coleção SciELO de periódicos científicos. O 8th CONTECSI - International Conference on Information Systems and Technology Management ocorrerá nos dias 01 a 03 de Junho de 2011 na FEA USP, São Paulo, Brasil. Cerca de 200 trabalhos serão apresentados nas categorias: sessão paralela, fórum de pesquisa, comunicação de pesquisa e consórcio doutoral. Também está confirmada a vinda do Prof. Dr. Joey George, atual presidente da AIS Association for Information Systems. Desde o primeiro CONTECSI, temos tido a honra de receber o presidente em exercício da AIS para abrir a conferência. Os melhores trabalhos serão convidados a serem submetidos à JISTEM como ocorre anualmente. Para mais informações consulte o site www.tecsi.fea.usp.br/eventos/contecsi Nesta edição contamos com autores de São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Rio de Janeiro e Colômbia. Os artigos abordam importantes temas. São eles: ERP - Enterprise Resourse Planning, BI – Business Intelligence, Redes sociais, UML – Unified Modeling Language, CRM Customer Relationship Management, Internet, Sistemas de Informação para área hospitalar, E-learning, COBIT e Gestão do Conhecimento. Este primeiro número do volume 8 da JISTEM traz grandes contribuições para a teoria e a prática da Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação. A todos, desejamos uma boa leitura.

ISSN online: 1807-1775 Publicado por/Published by: TECSI FEA USP – 2011

Editorial, Vol. 08 No. 01, 2011

Editorial Edson Luiz Riccio Editor

JISTEM's initiative to promote the inclusion of its authors in the international scene presents results in this first volume of 2011. Nine out of the eleven articles presented are in English. This means that readers who access JISTEM through the ProQuest, Gale Infotrac, Dialnet, Ebsco, CLASE, DOAJ, SciELO and other international libraries can access the full articles and not only the abstracts. We would like to remind you that the articles can still be submitted in Portuguese and Spanish and the translation done at the end of the process. With great satisfaction we also inform that all issues of JISTEM are already available in the SciELO scientific journal collection. The 8th CONTECSI - International Conference on Information Systems and Technology Management - will be held between June 1st and 3rd, 2011 at the USPÂ´s FEA - School of Economics, Business and Accountancy, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Around 200 papers will be presented in the following categories: parallel session, research forum, research communication and doctoral consortium. It is also confirmed the presence of Prof. Dr. Joey George, president of the Association for Information Systems - AIS. Since the first edition of the CONTECSI, we have had the honor of hosting the President of AIS to open the conference. The best papers will be invited to be submitted to JISTEM as usual. For more information visit www.tecsi.fea.usp.br/eventos/contecsi In this issue we have authors from Sao Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Rio de Janeiro and Colombia. The articles address important themes such as: Enterprise Resource Planning ERP, BI - Business Intelligence, Social Network, UML - Unified Modeling Language, CRM-Customer Relationship Management, Internet, Health Information Systems, E-learning, COBIT and Knowledge Management. This first issue of volume 8 of JISTEM brings great contributions to the theory and practice of Technology Management and Information Systems. We wish everyone good reading.

R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

JISTEM Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Vol. 8, No. 1, 2011, p. 05-24 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752011000100001

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING SYSTEM (ERP) FOR A RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE: THE CASE OF THE NUCLEAR AND ENERGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE -IPEN Willy Hoppe de Sousa Adriano Giardino Maria Aparecida H. Trezza Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares IPEN – CNEN/SP, Brazil __________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT This paper reports the history of the development of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) dedicated to managing the technical activities of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute, a governmental research and technology institute in Brazil. After the implementation of the new planning process, the development of a new management information system named SIGEPI was immediately initiated. The implementation of this system followed a strategy of integrating databases already available and developing new ones in order to facilitate the data collecting process and to improve the quality and the reliability of these data. This paper describes the evolution of SIGEPI, its main features and it also reports the difficulties faced for almost ten years of developments. The success factors of the case were classified into three groups: strategic, technical and behavioral ones. The impact of these factors and recommendation for future similar developments are presented. Keywords: Iintegrated information systems, research and technology organizations, knowledge organization management, enterprise resource planning, management information systems. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Recebido em/Manuscript first received: 09/02/2010 Aprovado em/Manuscript accepted: 22/07/2010 Endereço para correspondência/ Address for correspondence Willy Hoppe de Sousa, Head of the Programs and Plan Management Section at IPEN – CNEN/SP, Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares IPEN – CNEN/SP Prof. Lineu Prestes 2242, São Paulo, S.P. Brazil, Zip: 05508000 55 (11) 3133-9106, e-mail: whsousa@ipen.br Adriano Giardino , Staff member of the Programs and Plan Management Section at IPEN – CNEN/SP, Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares IPEN – CNEN/SP Prof. Lineu Prestes 2242, São Paulo, S.P. Brazil, Zip: 05508000 55 (11) 3133-9106, e-mail: giardino@ipen.br Maria Aparecida H. Trezza, Head of System Development Section at IPEN – CNEN/SP, Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares IPEN – CNEN/SP Prof. Lineu Prestes 2242, São Paulo, S.P. Brazil, Zip: 05508-000 55 (11) 3133- 8877, e-mail: mtrezza@ipen.br

ISSN online: 1807-1775 Publicado por/Published by: TECSI FEA USP – 2011

Sousa, W. H. de, Giardino, A., Trezza, M. A. H.

1. INTRODUCTION Managerial Information Systems (MIS) are systems dedicated to monitoring and controlling an organization. Literature about the experience of developing MIS in the context of R&D organizations is very scarce. In Brazil the only case so far identified in the literature is the EMBRAPA case â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a top Brazilian R&D organization in the agriculture field. This case reported that the design of MIS is affected by impulsive factors (e.g.: innovative conceptual design, managerial sponsoring, performance and lack of integration of the preexisting information systems, strong external information demand for the R&D activities and communication between coordination and users) and restrictive factors (e.g.: innovation perception as a threat or reworking efforts, concurrence with other information systems being implemented, lack of managerial sponsorship, size of the developing team, negative attitude due to previous information systems experiences and complexities introduced by the system (Castro, Lima, Carvalho, & de Bacarin, 2000). The aim of this paper is to describe and analyze 10 years of experience developed by a Brazilian nuclear R&D Institute in the design and implementation of a special category of MIS known as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). This system manages the activities of more than 1,000 workers and 700 students and is named Planning and Managerial Information System of the IPEN (SIGEPI). It has been developed to support the management of the Master Plan of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN). This article is organized with the following structure: the first section presents a brief literature review related to the management information systems implementation and the contributions of the present study; the second section presents the case of IPEN - this experience will be described in terms of how this system was developed, which features were implemented, the main difficulties faced during the development stages and recent developments; the third section analyses the experience related to the three critical factors (strategic, project design and implementation and behavioral) and presents recommendations for similar developments and the last section presents the conclusion and the final remarks derived from the case. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Management systems can be classified into managerial support systems (MSS), management information systems (MIS) and decision support systems (DSS). The first one is dedicated to long term planning; the second and the third ones are dedicated to a shorter time period and they function as a monitor and control of the organization; the third one is specifically dedicated to non structured problems (Laudon & Laudon, 1999). A special category of management information systems is that one dedicated to integrating an organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s business processes. Different names of the software packages for these management systems can be found in the literature: enterprise R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

The development of an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) for a research and technology institute: the case of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute IPEN

information system (EIS), enterprise resource planning (ERP), enterprise-wide information systems (EWIS), enterprise systems (ES) (Looman & McDonagh, 2005). ERP is a packaged software solution that seeks to integrate the complete range of a business process and function in order to present a holistic view of the business from a single information technology architecture although some experts have some difficulty arriving at a complete definition of ERP - they tend to think that ERP is ‘in the eye of the beholder’ (Klaus, Roseman, & Gable, 2000). The main features of ERP-software are the provided business solutions, which support the core processes of the business and administrative functionality and purport all business functions of an enterprise. ERP supports recurring business processes like procurement, sales order processing or payment processes and is not focused on less structured irregular processes like marketing, product development or project management. An ERP can target multiple industries with very different characteristics. Some suppliers can provide specific solutions for the communication, federal government, financial services, healthcare, higher education, manufacturing, public sector, retail, service industries, transportation and utilities sectors (Klaus, Roseman, & Gable, 2000). In the past, companies first decided how they wanted to do business and then chose a software package that would report their proprietary processes - often rewriting large portions of the software code to ensure a tight fit; with the enterprise systems, though, the sequence is reversed and the business often must be modified to fit the system (Davenport, 1998). After studying more than 50 businesses with enterprise systems, Davenport suggested that “the companies deriving the greatest benefits from their systems are those that, from the start, viewed them primarily in strategic and organizational terms. They stressed the enterprise, not the system” (Davenport, 1998). An EIS implementation process frequently does not succeed as expected. A survey conducted in December 2000 called ‘EIS Post Implementation Issues and Best Practices’ among 117 firms across 17 countries concluded that only 34 per cent of the organizations were ‘very satisfied’ with their EIS investments (McNurlin, 2001). The ERP system is considered a standard software package and all standard software targeting an anonymous market must, during the process of system deployment, be tailored to the specific requirements of the individual enterprise (Klaus, Roseman, & Gable, 2000). This aspect associated with the relatively low satisfaction level mentioned earlier may explain the importance many studies have attributed to the identification and classification of an ERP implementation success and/or failure factors. Loonam and McDonagh reviewed the literature between 1999 and 2001 and identified some of the most frequently cited and highly critical EIS implementation success factors: a) Top Management support; b) The importance of a project champion to drive project implementation and his role in the change management; c) User training and education; d) Management of expectations: an organization should be realistic about what can be expected from the EIS system; e) Project Management: involves Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 05-24

Sousa, W. H. de, Giardino, A., Trezza, M. A. H.

aspects like proper management of the scope and alignment of its objectives with the overall mission and strategy; f) Steering Committee (a core of ‘superusers’ – typically middle-level employees or managers that will be affected by the EIS project); g) Use of consultants to assist in getting the project up and running; h) Business Process Reengineering: involves aligning the implementation of an EIS with the rethinking or the redesign of the organizational business processes; i) Dedicated resources: involves the proper allocation of resources – human, financial and time – and the attention to the management scope; j) Change management: involves all human, social-related and cultural change techniques needed by the management to ease the transition (Looman & McDonagh, 2005). In 2006, Muscatello and Chen (Muscatelo & Chen, 2008) surveyed 206 members (81% with more than 500 employees) of four USA associations (the American Production and Inventory Control Society; the National Association of Accountants; the American Productivity and Quality Center and the Institute for Supply Management) in order to identify critical factors of ERP implementation. Some of these factors are similar to those identified by Loonam and McDonagh, thus, for the present study the following factors were considered: a) The decision to implement an ERP system is being made at a cross functional executive level which includes inputs from all functional business areas; b) willingness to use consultants to supplement their Information Technology staff if the skill set is not internal; c) activate employees communication: how they fit into the new ERP-environment and what their concerns are. Finally, the ERP design and implementation may also be affected by the decision of outsourcing it or not. This decision may be influenced by the following factors: a) internal production costs versus market acquisition costs comparison; b) transactions costs; c) financial slack: organizations with financial slack may build an internal technology infra-structure; organizations without it may outsource it; d) strategic dependence on the supplier; e) contract profile orientation: open contract and partnership versus detailed contract and price oriented and f) organizational strategic objectives. These objectives can be classified into three categories: (i) information technology improvement, (ii) information technology business impact and (iii) commercial exploitation bases on information technology (Bergamaschi & Reinhard, 2008). 2.1 THE CONTRIBUTION OF THIS STUDY The proliferation of ERP systems happened in the 1990´s and one reason for this growth was the Year 2000 problem which caused many companies to replace their outdated systems with a more modern technology (Grossman & Walsh, 2004). Consequently the main literature concerning ERP systems has focused on the experience of customization and implementation of integrated commercial software packages purchased by the companies interested and very little attention was given to specific niches where the fit of these commercial packages would be low. One these niches refer to the Research and Technology Organizations (RTO). The literature concerning MIS/ERP application in this niche seems to be very limited. R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

The development of an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) for a research and technology institute: the case of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute IPEN

Except for the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) case (Castro, Lima, Carvalho, & de Bacarin, 2000), most MIS experiences identified in the literature focus on specific MIS modules (e.g.: Laboratory Information Management System (Rasmussen, Maddox, Harten, & White, 2007) or the management of technical information (Chun, 2003)). The present paper reports and analyzes the experience of an ERP design and implementation in an RTO from the author’s perspective, and the persons who were directly responsible for the development of ERP. Thus, strictly speaking, this case study did not follow the methodology as recommended in the literature (Yin, 2004; Martins, 2006); instead it was written to present the reader with a detailed historical view on why and how this managerial information system was designed and implemented. It also gives some practical recommendation on how to overcome the difficulties faced during this process. It is expected that sharing this experience will contribute to the knowledge dissemination concerning non standard ERP software package implementation and encourage other knowledge organizations to properly manage the factors that may leverage or hinder their ERP design and implementation. 3. THE CASE OF THE IPEN 3.1 SOME WORDS ABOUT IPEN The IPEN (Nuclear and Energy Research Institute) is an organization that reports to the Development Department of the State of São Paulo and to the National Nuclear Energy Committee (CNEN), an organization of the Brazilian Science and Technology Ministry. The latter is directly responsible for the financial support of the IPEN. The IPEN is also associated, for teaching purposes, with the University of São Paulo. The IPEN was established in 1956 and, as its mission, is committed to the improvement of the Brazilian population quality of life, to the scientific knowledge production, to the technology development, to products and services generation and to the development of human resources in the nuclear and correlated areas. In 2008, the permanent working force was composed of 1,029 individuals, where 219 of them were doctors and 118 masters. The renevue in 2008 reached about US$ 30 million, mostly due to production and commercialization of products supplied to the nuclear medicine industry. A brief history of the organizational management learning process The IPEN started its management improvement process in 1996 when it decided to obtain the ISO 9002 certification process for the radiopharmaceutical and radioisotopes production system. In 1998, it adhered to the Excellence in Technological Research Project coordinated by the Brazilian Research and Technology Association (ABIPTI), a project in which the organization management improvement is based on National Quality Award (which is similar to the Malcolm Baldridge Award, from the Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 05-24

10 Sousa, W. H. de, Giardino, A., Trezza, M. A. H.

United States). By adhering to this project, the IPEN wrote its first management report based on the Excellence Criteria and identified, as well, its main deficiencies in management activities, namely, lack of appropriate customer satisfaction surveys, interrupted planning activities, absence of an organizational process to evaluate the working force satisfaction and absence of an organizational information system dedicated to monitoring and evaluating its main technical activities. Antecedents of the MIS development The experience of writing the first managerial report following the Excellence Criteria in 1998 pointed out clearly the need to improve the quality of the information about what the organization was accomplishing yearly. In order to solve this problem one of the first decisions was the development of the software dedicated to the data collecting and gathering of all technical graduated individuals of the IPEN, data which, until then, was being collected and gathered through paper forms. The IPEN has a technical staff for the development of information systems, thus the design and implementation of an application to operate on their internal website was initiated using this internal team. After more than 500 work hours, this project suffered a backlash: after a presentation to the IPEN´s top management team, they concluded that the project would not properly solve the problem that the IPEN was going through. According to the perception of the Administrative Director, the institutional results could not be obtained by just adding up individual results. Besides, this director argued that the proposed method would reinforce the individualization of the research and development activities, while, in fact, the aim should be just the opposite: institutional practices that promote team work. Despite conceptually correct, the first consequences of such a decision were devastating to the technical team involved in the project: frustration and interruption of the development of this MIS which until then had lasted almost two years. The restart of designing the activities of a conceptually new MIS only happened two years later, with the creation of the first Master Plan. The Master Plan In 1998, the CNEN (National Nuclear Energy Committee) started and developed a two step planning process named “Rethinking the CNEN”. The objective of the first phase was achieved, which was the outline of the mission, vision and other strategies, but, two years later, the second step - addressed to identify its main stakeholders and to unfold the planning process to the CNEN´s research and technology institutes – was discontinued. In 1999, after the internal analysis of an independent evaluation of the first Managerial Report written in reference to the Excellence Criteria of National Quality Foundation, the deficiencies of the planning process became clear: “we cannot go ahead with half strategic planning. Without it (a strategic plan), we will continue to spend energy without the synergy of our internal actions” (IPEN, 1999).

R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

The development of an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) for a research and technology institute: the case of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute IPEN

By the end of 1999, a wide managerial participation program was developed, which resulted in the first Master Plan of the IPEN in 2000 (IPEN, 2000). With the accomplishment of this process, the creation of the first Master Plan resulted in many changes or in new activities: Reorganization of the technical activities in alignment with the recently defined IPEN´s mission; Definition of the Global Strategic Objectives and organization of a hierarchical and nested structure of Programs, Subprograms and Activities according to the Federal Government Plan (PPA) Definition of a new organizational structure based on Research Centers; Definition of three macro processes: 1. Research, Development and Engineering; 2. Teaching 3. Products and Services; Different emphasis on one or more of these macro processes from one Research Center to another according to their internal strategies; Definition of quantitative results indicators for each of these macro processes as well as goals for some of them; Organization of an annual follow-up process named Master Plan Seminars. The first Master Plan Seminar was held in December 2000 and since then it has been repeated annually. At that time the event was organized in 109 technical presentations that demanded 5 whole days to succeed. All the presentations had to be made in 15 minutes by an Activity coordinator following a predefined Power Point template where the qualitative and quantitative results accomplished in 2000 should be presented. Since then, many modifications have been introduced to the process, and some of them will be described later. Almost at the same time, in 2000, the section responsible for structuring and implementing the IPEN´s Master Plan also initiated the study of the Balanced Score Card methodology. Initially the idea was to understand this methodology and its implication for the IPEN´s strategy formulation process. The BSC is quite easy to be understood and in the next year a Strategic Map for the IPEN was already developed, proposed and approved by the IPEN´s Top Management Team. The development of this Strategic Map and its respective “Board Panel” helped to identify which processes should be monitored and stressed the need to integrate the data coming from the support processes.

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12 Sousa, W. H. de, Giardino, A., Trezza, M. A. H.

3.2 DEVELOPMENT OF AN EFFECTIVE MIS The demand Credibility is a fundamental aspect of an effective planning process and one basic aspect involves the management of reliable data. After the first planning – evaluation cycle, the weaknesses of this process became apparent. The Power Point presentations were operating as information systems – the data were collected and presented using the Power Point template – and many of the problems could be easily detected: lack of a common understanding of many indicators, same information showing up in different presentations, repetition of results previously presented as well as difficulties in collecting the data and in preparing the presentation. In order to solve these problems, the design of an information system was initiated and named as Planning and Managerial Information System of the IPEN (SIGEPI). Despite the difficulties faced in the first MIS development experience, the perception of the section responsible for the Master Plan and the Master Plan Seminar was that such a system should be preferably designed and implemented – at least at the beginning of the project - by internal resources of the IPEN, due to the specificities and uncertainties involved. The development The beginning of SIGEPI´s design was inspired by another Managerial Information System developed by one of the IPEN´s Research Centers, the Nuclear Engineering Research Centers (CEN). Although the scope, focus and deepness of both MISs were distinct, some functional similarities were clear: 1) same Plan-Do-CheckAction principle; 2) Easy learning capabilities offered by the MS-ACCESS software and 3). Low human resources demand: only one graduated professional from the Nuclear Engineering Research Center staff was enough to develop the whole information system. Considering the previously failed experience and the CEN´s experience, an engineer involved in both Master Plan organization and Master Plan Seminar process was allocated to design and implement the first SIGEPI-ACCESS version instead of involving someone from the System Development Section. In December 2001, six months later, the first version of the new MIS was created. The initial expectations about this system were high: it was expected that the software would operate through their Intranet. The link to the main database was installed at least in one computer in each Research Center of the IPEN. The functionalities and procedures of the new system were formally presented to the managers and researchers of all Research Centers and the secretaries of each Research Center were trained to operate the system. An operating manual was also written to help the system users. But the promise did not come true: the screens of this version were not user friendly and to make matters worse the system did not operate properly using the Intranet. Due to these problems there was a backlash and we had to collect all the data using paper forms. All the data gathered were then inserted by the Planning Section into R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

The development of an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) for a research and technology institute: the case of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute IPEN

this SIGEPI-ACCESS version instead of being inserted by the Research Centers staff. The development of the Balanced Score Card mentioned earlier and this initial experience brought some important insights. From one perspective, the poor data quality problem was not solved, but from another perspective we identified that some information that should have been collected and presented by the Research Center during the Master Plan Seminar was already available among the supporting sections of the IPEN. In 2001 some of the IPEN´s support processes were still being carried out manually – (e.g.: patent processes), others were already computerized (e.g. budget) and others were being designed and modernized in terms of computerized databases (e.g.: library services, post-graduation support services). It became clear though that all these databases could be integrated in order to have a “full” MIS system and maybe, most importantly, we learned that such a system should be used to work for the staff and for the organization and not the other way around. The SIGEPI-ACCESS version operated until 2004, when it became clear to the top management team that there was a need to upgrade the present institutional MIS version. At that time, with all the previous experiences, we knew exactly what was necessary in terms of relational databases and information content; thus, with the support of the top management team, the system development team reengaged in the unfolding of a new and then a real enterprise resource planning (ERP). At that point an important decision needed to be made concerning the ERP design and implementation: outsource it or not? This concern was clearly expressed to the internal software development team. Both alternatives would receive support from the management director and the planning director. The managing director had a preference for outsourcing due to the success of an previous experience in budget system. The system analysts involved in this process were inclined to develop the new ERP by themselves – despite the fact that the programming language they were familiar with was not the most appropriate, the challenge of developing such a system was very attractive, though; thus, the design and implementation did not have to be outsourced. With the support of the manager of the System Development Section, three system analysts were fully allocated to write a web ERP version. After six months and under a lot of pressure to finish the system by the end 2004, a fully new ERP named SIGEPI-WEB was finished and implemented with many new functional and databases integration facilities (income, budget, patents, post-graduation results – ongoing, concluded and interrupted master essays and doctorate thesis - publications and personal educational level data). The immediate benefits were crystal clear: less data were demanded from the technical areas and the data quality reached an unprecedented level. Figure 1, presented below, represents the data flow dynamics as well the databases integration that drives the SIGEPI-WEB ERP operation. As it can be observed, some sections (gray circles) are responsible for the data of the processes under their responsibilities. Researcher and Activities Coordinators are the data source of the information under their responsibility and supplied by themselves. The researchers need: 1) to supply what they have published to the library section using the Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 05-24

14 Sousa, W. H. de, Giardino, A., Trezza, M. A. H.

PTC-digital (a special database designed to be integrated with SIGEPI-WEB); 2) to interact with the NITEC in order to initiate and follow a patent deposit process; 3) to inform their scholarship level changes to the Human Resources Section and 4) to sign up their students through the teaching section. The Activities Coordinators need to enter all the projects the group is responsible for, as well as the results of these projects. In a few words, the data gathering from the support processes, the data supplied by the researchers and by the Activities Coordinators allow the management of the Master Plan.

Researcher

Technology Innovation Management NITEC

Human • schooling Resources GPE

Teaching GEN

• Scholarship holders and trainees • Disciplines • Tutoring status of... • doctorades Master Plan • masters (Programs/Subprograms/Activities) • scientific initiation SIGEPI ...ongoing, concluded, interrupted

• Patents

Library GDC • PTC –digital • publications and reports •Theses and dissertations

Income GCL

• Income • Products and services • Donations

Advisory Board DAD • Budget • Authorized • Allocated

Activity Coordinators • Human resources allocation • Projects • Technologies • Qualitative results

Legend Responsible section Database

Personnal interaction Real time “batch”

Figure 1: databases integration logic and data flow of SIGEPI-WEBi Three months after the new version of the system was launched, two additional features were introduced into SIGEPI-WEB which also helped to improve the perception of the benefits of such a system: 1. Automated generation of Power Point presentations for the Master Plan Seminar: the system generates the “hard” data part of the presentation by automatically retrieving and generating the slides based on the qualitative and quantitative data inserted into the SIGEPI-WEB database. The Activities Coordinator responsible for a presentation is free to dedicate his time to the “intelligent” part of the presentation;

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The development of an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) for a research and technology institute: the case of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute IPEN

2. Quantitative indicators integration and aggregation: The main quantitative results of the IPEN now can be monitored by the whole work force under diverse integration and aggregation criteria – and some of them in real-time: Institutional, Research Center, Program, Subprogram and Activities. Some results (e.g.: publications) were carried out by internal partnerships - these partners may be connected to different Activities, Subprograms, Programs or Research Center. The same result is properly credited to each of these aggregation levels, but institutionally they are not counted repeatedly. Main SIGEPI functionalities SIGEPI-WEB, or just SIGEPI, is an ERP which operates in two sequential states: “planned” and “accomplished”. The “planned” operation mode has the objective of collecting the planning data defined by the coordinator of one Master Plan Activity for a one year time span. Figure 2 shows the entrance screen with all the links that one coordinator has made available to plan the Activity under his or her responsibility. This entrance screen is unfolded into six data groups: 1) Activity: basic information describing what the Master Plan Activity is about; 2) Human resources: the allocation time can be planned according to the different scholar profile team that can be connected to the Activity; 3) Qualitative results: brief description of the main projects marks and final results expected to be accomplished; 4) Teaching Function: the expected results from disciplines and orientation effort; 5) Research, Development and Technologies expected results: publications, technologies and patents and 6) Product and Service Function: expected results for commercial activities as well as for internal support activities. On the top of these six blocks, some special links are available: help, concepts, Activity planning (or “accomplished”, depending on the operation mode) preview extract, planning pending data and quantitative indicators panel. In order to facilitate this planning process, the last year´s results of the quantitative data are shown, so the preivous information can be used as a reference for the incoming year´s goal projections. For some of the regular products and services quantitative projections can be easily calculated just by entering one increase rate field and all the expected results will be automatically updated. In the case of teaching results - master and doctorate students - the system automatically calculates the conclusion date based on the deadline these students are going to obtain their degree – the Activities Coordinator may accept this suggestion or modify it. In the case of the qualitative data, the system automatically retrieves the data from the last year “on going” status, so there is no need to insert them again. Once the planning process is finished, the system mode is connected to the “accomplished mode”. The screens available are basically the same, but in the accomplished mode some of the displayed data are based on the databases managed by the supporting areas as described in Figure 1. Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 05-24

16 Sousa, W. H. de, Giardino, A., Trezza, M. A. H.

Figure 2: SIGEPI entrance screen example for one Activity coordinator after logging into the â&#x20AC;&#x153;accomplished modeâ&#x20AC;?

Figure 3: screen displaying the different result report categories R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

The development of an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) for a research and technology institute: the case of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute IPEN

SIGEPI provides several categories of reports. Most of these reports are concentrated in one screen, as presented in Figure 3. Eight categories of reports are available: 1) Activity; 2) Technical-and-Scientific production; 3) Tutoring; 4) Disciplines; 5) Technologies; 6) Active projects; 7) Revenue and 8) Indicators. In almost all of these report groups, additional criteria are available when the link is accessed, thus allowing for refined information access. Implementation difficulties and recent improvements The implementation of an ERP does not run smoothly; in the case of SIGEPI it was not different. Firstly, as mentioned earlier, when the ERP design was restarted in 2004, the system analysts involved in the project had the knowledge that it was “enough” but not state of the art. Thus it was known that the system could face some performance limitations. Secondly, immediately after the new ERP was released on the Intranet, the server where the program was installed presented unexpected problems – to solve the problem a server computer was fully dedicated to operate SIGEPI; thirdly, as soon as the users began to access the data derived from supporting databases, they immediately started complaining about the quality of data: many of them were incomplete or wrong. When the databases are integrated, it is expected that they are correctly updated. In some cases they were not and exposed their managers to criticism. Instead of observing the benefits – in the short and long term – the immediate reaction of these managers was not giving the proper support to the ERP implementation process. Despite this initial negative reaction, the problems were gradually solved and, interestingly, reversing the responsibility of the outdated cases: in many cases the cause of the updating delay was in the technical area due to outstanding issues of some supporting processes (e.g.: a change in the tutor of a student wasn’t formally communicated to the support section by the former tutor). In 2006, the updating of the network servers operational system left SIGEPI incompatible to operate under this environment. The continuity of SIGEPI was at risk. Fortunately, a solution was found by the team of analysts but at the cost of rewriting many database programs with the system being partially operated for many months. Another problem concerns the paper work data collecting. Researchers of the IPEN that are interested in financial support from the funding agencies need to fill in another database named Lattes Curriculum. This curriculum is a government database where the academic researcher and the technological production have to be updated. Besides that, those researchers who are also involved in the IPEN´s Post-Graduation program need to supply more detailed information concerning their academic production to the “CAPES Report”. The Lattes Curriculum is an important public personal database, thus besides the financial aspect, the researchers are also interested in keeping this database updated because the access to the data is public and it is also a source of who is doing what. The CAPES Report is used for the IPEN´s PostGraduation external evaluation; therefore it is important to keep the data updated in Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 05-24

18 Sousa, W. H. de, Giardino, A., Trezza, M. A. H.

order to obtain the highest possible evaluation. A good evaluation means a good mark as well as a high number of scholarships to be granted. The final result of all these bureaucratic demands is that these researchers that are the most productive at the IPEN need to insert their production activities into three different databases. Needless to say that there are lots of complains about the need to supply SIGEPIÂ´s databases with their production. From 2007 to 2009 new efforts to improve at least partially the problems presented above did not work out. The first one was an attempt to integrate into the SIGEPI most of the information needed by the CAPES Report. The main idea was to outsource the development of the template and the integration with SIGEPI databases. A meeting was held with the participation of one system analyst and the manager of the Systems Development Section, the Research, Development and Teaching director, the teaching management and the Planning and Program Section manager (responsible for SIGEPI) and in that meeting it was decided not to upgrade SIGEPI. The argument that prevailed was that a personal and manual data collecting solution would be preferable to one based on an upgrade of SIGEPI. The main obstacle to change was the difficulty obtaining the data on the deadlines: a personal and manual data collecting approach tends to be more effective than an automated one. Two additional efforts focused on the integration and use of SIGEPI data integration with the Lattes Curriculum database. The first effort refers to a technical visit to a Research and Technology Institute, similar to the IPEN, in order to know how they were dealing with Lattes Curriculum database data extracting problem. After knowing that another Research and Technology Institute was developing a solution to extract the data from the Lattes Curriculum database, members of the same team who participated in the decision meeting mentioned earlier visited this Institute for a presentation on their approach. Although their solution proved to work for their purposes, the application of their solution to the IPEN would still demand a lot of reworking efforts in terms of software language programming, manual review of the extracted data as well as some complementary data request for at least one author (the Activity number of the Master Plan where each publication should be connected). Especially due to the need to review a large volume of data, this solution was discarded. The second effort refers to the possibility of exploring a feature available in Lattes Curriculum database named Institutional Lattes Curriculum. The Lattes Curriculum database has a feature where Brazilian research and teaching organizations may retrieve the production of their professionals and students signed up in the Lattes Platform. Observing the results of a public reference organization in the healthcare sector, the results pointed out a data updating problem. Clearly the results from the two previous years could not be used to point out the institutional results of this organization. Thus, the final remark is clear: the consolidation of the organizational results cannot depend on the data retrieved and integrated from a database managed by another organization when the data is entered by the researchers on an individual basis and the R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

The development of an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) for a research and technology institute: the case of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute IPEN

publications and other documents which these data refers to are managed by the IPEN´s supporting sections. This situation leads to the following situation: the IPEN´s researchers will continue to supply such common information into three databases: SIGEPI, Lattes Curriculum and CAPES Report. 4. EXPERIENCE ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Considering the literature review presented earlier, some factors were selected and their impacts on the IPEN´s experience presented in Table 1. Recommendations for future developments are also presented. Table 1: Factors, impacts and recommendation derived from the IPEN´s ERP development experience Factor Strategic Business reengineering / ERP alignment with the organizational mission

Innovative conceptual design

Impacts

Recommendations

Positive: the ERP was developed in the context of a totally new planning process which enable the planning-evaluation process of the macro organizational processes

The introduction of new management processes simultaneously with the development of an ERP may help to consolidate the logic of new planning-evaluation processes

Positive: the design and implementation of an ERP adjusted to the organizational need

The ERP design and implementation process should be initiated by testing the funcionalities and obtaining the acceptance of the concept inviting the R&D Section most receptive to the new management approaches. Once the concept is proved and accepted then the ERP can be implemented involving the rest of the end users. Initiate an ERP implementation convincing effort by identifying within the Top Management Team who would sponsor such an effort. The positive results should be used as a benchmark. The difficulties will not be used

Negative: long design and implementation period of the new system

Top Management support

Positive: it is crucial for the success of the implementation Negative: when there is no consensus within the Top Management Team, the integration of the information systems, under the responsibility

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20 Sousa, W. H. de, Giardino, A., Trezza, M. A. H.

of the managers that do not fully support such an implementation, may be hindered.

against the implementation process

Management of expectations

Negative: when the main expected benefits do not come true, structural aspects of the ERP software may be totally redesigned

It is better having conservative expectations and â&#x20AC;&#x153;unexpectedâ&#x20AC;? good accomplishments than having high expectations and disappointing results

Outsourcing

Negative: 1. the challenge of designing the ERP attracted the attention of the internal system analysts staff and created barriers to outsource part of the information system development; 2. specificities of the RTO ERP require high tacit and difficult contractual specifiable knowledge

Knowledge organizations of a reasonable size (e.g.: more than 300 members of the workforce) may have many internal processes calling for modernization. Thus the internal system analyst team tends to be limited in terms of member numbers and qualification in order to meet the modernization demands to all supporting processes. These organizations need to define internal rules concerning what ERP modules will be outsourced or not.

Positive: when some technical deficiencies that put the ERP current development at risk appeared, consultancy help was accepted Project design and implementation Project champion

Positive: a project champion has a systemic view that information systems supporting managers and the design team may not have

The key aspect here is the identification of someone capable of translating the managerial process demands into software operational functionalities to be developed by the system analysts. This professional needs to have good management and technical skills.

Resources dedication

Negative: the system analysts team allocated to the ERP development after the web version had been launched was drastically reduced â&#x20AC;&#x201C; many of the following ERP implementations lasted years and are still being

When some of the programming services can be internally developed, the time allocation of the system analysts is always a source of internal dispute. When implementing an ERP, the

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The development of an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) for a research and technology institute: the case of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute IPEN

implemented, thus delaying the benefits of perceiving of such an implementation

future time allocation needs to be negotiated in order to assure subsequent additional smaller developments and maintenance activities the ERP will demand

Performance and lack of integration of the preexisting internal information systems

Negative: when the integration of the preexisting system is implemented, users may identify some data errors and may equivocally criticize the new ERP

The managers of preexisting system need to be aware of the fact that users will have an on line data access â&#x20AC;&#x201C; thus the importance of the supporting team updating the database as soon as the process changes its status because new data needs to be processed

Lack of integration of the preexisting external information systems

Negative: part of the highly skilled IPENÂ´s work force need to report their results to other governmental organizations. If the internal and external databases were integrated, common information would be inserted only once and these professionals would be released from these repeated bureaucratic time consuming activities

Whenever possible, the design and implementation of ERP databases should be compatible with external databases. When they are not compatible, end users must be communicated about the technical difficulties in integrating the internal database with the external one.

Innovation perception as a threat or reworking efforts

Negative: support process managers may resist to the integration of the system under their responsibilities

The reasons for this resistance need to be understood. Such an opposition may result from some process restrictions (e.g. additional training effort or low level workforce) which can be solved by some negotiation efforts.

Concurrence with other information systems being implemented

Negative: support process managers may prioritize another local information system part which is not connected to the ERP, especially if their superiors do not fully support the ERP implementation

The decision about which part of the ERP should be developed or upgraded first ( for instance, end users may demand new functionalities or supporting process owners may request modifications due to compliance changes )

Behavioral

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22 Sousa, W. H. de, Giardino, A., Trezza, M. A. H.

should be openly discussed or, at least, comunicated in order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings The key point here is getting unlimited support from the sponsor of the project (a member of the Top Management Team). He should make sure that the project will be implemented and the time allocated and efforts by system analysts will not be wasted

Attitude due to negative previous information systems experiences

Negative: bad previous experiences faced by the internal system analysts cannot be easily forgotten; thus the willingness to reengage in earlier interrupted projects - even if the scope is changed - may be low

Attitude due to complexities introduced by the system

Negative: final user perception that such an information system implementation represents only a new obligation: risk of incomplete data survey

The benefits for the users must be clearly communicated. Some evaluation and recognizing practices (e.g. an excellence award) may stimulate the data entering process by the users, especially those highly skilled

User training and education

Negative: all users can be fully trained in the new ERP but if the system is not user friendly or if it does not operate appropriately (slow speed or data loss) the system will be criticized and possibly abandoned

The lower the need of training, the higher the chance that the system will be accepted. If a slow answer or system overload happens, the causes must be immediately identified and solved

5. CONCLUSIONS AND FINAL REMARKS The literature reporting the implementation of non commercial ERP software packages is scarce - in R&D organizations it is even more restrict. In order to contribute to spreading this knowledge, the IPENÂ´s experience was reported and analyzed in relation to the three groups of selected factors â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1) strategic, 2) project design and implementation and 3) behavioral - their impacts in the case and recommendation for future similar developments. Summing up, this experience made it clear that managers interested in the design R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

The development of an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) for a research and technology institute: the case of the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute IPEN

and implementation of a ERP in a knowledge organization need to be patient as well as perseverant to pursue their objectives in spite of the difficulties – the implementation success comes in small victories; the perception of the benefits - although low paced by the entire workforce, from the operational level to the top management team – is crucial for such an undertaking and the motivation by challenge and project importance of the design team – even a small one – is decisive for the project success. Finally, the analysis and recommendations here presented were developed considering only one organization. New studies in other research and technologies institutes need to be carried out in order to confirm or restrict these analysis and recommendations. REFERENCES Bergamaschi, S., & Reinhard, N. (2008). Terceirização de TI: uma proposta de modelo de contratação e gerenciamento. In Proceedings of the XXXII Encontro da ANPAD 6th 10th September. Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Castro, A. M., Lima, S. M., Carvalho, J. R., & de Bacarin, E. (2000). Implantação do SIGER na EMBRAPA - Estratégia, Resultados e Lições. In NPGT, Proceedings of the XXI Simpósio de Gestão da Inovação Tecnológica 7th - 10th November. São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Chun, Y. C. (2003). The implementation of a total system for information in nuclear science and engineering. On line Information Review , 27 (4), pp. 256-263. Davenport, T. H. (1998, July-August). Putting the enterprise into the enterprise system. Harvard Business Review, pp. 121-131. Grossman, T., & Walsh, J. (2004, Spring). Avoiding the pitfalls of ERP system implementation. Information Systems Management , 21 (2), pp. 38 - 42. IPEN. (1999). Agenda IPEN 2000. IPEN. IPEN. (2000). Plano Diretor 2000. IPEN. Klaus, H., Roseman, M., & Gable, G. G. (2000). What is ERP. Information Systems Frontiers, 2 (2), pp. 141 - 162. Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (1999). Sistemas de Informação (4th ed.). Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: LTC - Livros Técnicos e Científicos. Looman, J. A., & McDonagh, J. (2005). Exploring management suport for the introduction of enterprise information systems: a literature review. Irish Journal of Management , 26 (1), pp. 163-178. Martins, G. A. Estudo de caso: uma estratégia de pesquisa. São Paulo: Atlas, 2006. McNurlin, B. (2001, Winter). Will Users of ERP Stay Satisfied? MIT Sloan Management Review , 42 (2), p. 13.

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Muscatelo, J. R., & Chen, I. J. (2008). Enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations: theory and practice. International Journal of Enterprise Information Systems , 4 (1), pp. 63-77. Rasmussen, L., Maddox, C. B., Harten, B., & White, L. E. (2007, December). A Successful LIMS Implementation: Case Study at Southern Research. Journal of the Association for Laboratory Automation , 12, pp. 384-390. Yin, R. K. Estudo de caso: planejamento e mĂŠtodos. Porto Alegre: Bookmann, 2001.

GEN: Teaching Section; GDC: Scientific Documentation Section; GCL: Commercial Section; NITEC: Technological Innovation Section; GPE: Human Resources Section e DAD: Management Directorship.

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JISTEM Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Vol. 8, No. 1, 2011, p. 25-50 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752011000100002

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE (BI) IMPLEMENTATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF INDIVIDUAL CHANGE Maria Amélia de Mesquita Fetzner Henrique Freitas Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, RS, Brazil __________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT Change is central in the implementation of Information Technology (IT). This paper reports on a study in which the aim was to examine the nature of change at the individual level with an analysis based on interviews with representatives from a Business Intelligence (BI) solution provider and a group of clients. The implementations seemed to have occurred without great difficulty, BI learning was quick, intuitive, and the process generated a positive affect. Changes occurred in work practices, in the relationships between professionals, with regard to information, and in decision making. The study uses different theoretical approaches and proposes the application of an analytical perspective that includes affective, cognitive and behavioral aspects in order to investigate IT adoption. On a practical level, the study contributes to the knowledge regarding a particular technology - BI and, consequently, provides professionals with the opportunity to expand their knowledge of the perceptions people have of technology, which can lead to reflection and differentiated practices.

Keywords: Individual change, Business Intelligence, Implementation, Information Technology, IT Acknowledgment: This study was supported by the Brazilian Government research agencies [CAPES and CNPq] and by the French Government [COFECUB] whose main goal is HR improvement and education. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Recebido em/Manuscript first received: 11/11/2008 Revised version received: 01/11/2009 Aprovado em/Manuscript accepted: 20/10/2010 Endereço para correspondência/ Address for correspondence Maria Amélia de Mesquita Fetzner, Psicóloga da Infraero – Regional do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. Doutora em Administração pelo PPGA/EA/UFRGS - Programa de Pós- Graduação em Administração da Escola de Administração da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, RS, Brasil Address: Rua Fabrício Pilar, 346/701. CEP: 90.450-040 - Porto Alegre, RS – Brasil Telephone: 51 3332-8084. E-mail: amelia.fetzner@gmail.com Henrique Freitas, Professor no PPGA/EA/UFRGS - Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração da Escola de Administração da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, RS, Brasil. Pesquisador com apoio CNPq e Capes, Doutor em Gestão pela UPMF/França Address: Avenida Washington Luis 855, sala 307. CEP: 90.010-460 - Porto Alegre, RS – Brasil Telephone: 51 3308-3482, e-mail: hf@ea.ufrgs.br

ISSN online: 1807-1775 Publicado por/Published by: TECSI FEA USP – 2011

26 Fetzner, M. A. de M., Freitas, H.

1. INTRODUCTION Change is central in the implementation of Information Technology (IT), whether because it is explicitly identified as an associated goal, or because effective implementation as a rule requires some degree of change on the part of the individuals and organizations involved. Therefore, issues relating to people, which are usually included in the topics covering human or social factors within the Information Systems (IS) discipline require attention, which did not escape the professionals who soon recognized the importance of involving users as participants in the development of systems and the implementation process (Nielsen, 2008). Theorists, in turn, have demonstrated that both the human agency and the material properties of technology need to be assessed in relation to technological change (Orlikowski & Barley, 2001; Barrett, Grant & Wailes, 2006). In this context, individual change is of critical importance because the organizational changes, improved practices and results from the IT, are heavily dependent on people changing their working methods, and their use of and reaction to technology. There are close links between micro and macro-organizational processes and organizational change is constituted by combinations of human actions on the individual level (Whelan-Berry, Gordon, & Hinings, 2003; Holt, Armenakis, Feild, & Harris, 2007; Walinga, 2008). Thus, change or organizational effectiveness depends not only on technology, but whether, how and which technologies are incorporated into practice (Orlikowski, 2000). Therefore, whatever the potential of a technology adopted to support organizational transformation, the evidence points to the importance of human agency in converting that potential into practice (Boudreau & Robey, 2005; Jasperson, Carter, & Zmud, 2005). In line with these ideas, this article examines the topic of change within individuals, based on interviews with a group of users of a Business Intelligence (BI) solution and representatives of its provider, in the post-implementation period. The objective was to examine what changes in the individual were linked, according to those involved, to the implementation of BI, in an attempt to understand, in particular, notions of the meanings, the role of affection and the kinds of changes observed. The article is intended to appeal to both professionals who deal with situations involving people and change at work on a daily basis, and scholars in the field, by contributing towards the knowledge regarding BI technology and on change at the individual level of analysis by employing an approach that illustrates the possibility of combining different theoretical approaches. Some approaches to IT implementation and conceptual elements of the process of individual change, together with the method and conditions of the study are presented below. The final sections contain a discussion of the results of the survey and the conclusions drawn, while also indicating the studyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s limitations and suggesting issues for further research.

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Business Intelligence (BI) Implementation from the perspective of individual change

IT IMPLEMENTATION

There are several theories concerning IT implementation, both at the individual and organizational levels of analysis. Current reviews (Jeyaraj, Rottman & Lacity, 2006; Williams, Dwivedi, Lal, & Schwarz, 2009) show that at the individual level the TAM model (Davis, 1989) and associated constructs dominate the research on adoption and diffusion. This has led the authors to suggest the exploration of new paths, within and outside the limits of the dominant paradigm (Jeyaraj, Rottman & Lacity, 2006) and the use by researchers of the available theoretical and methodological diversity (alternatives to the positivist paradigm), in order to avoid research into the topic from becoming homogeneous (Williams et al., 2009). Niehaves (2005) suggests that researchers in the area of IS assume two positions with respect to diversity when conducting research: there are those who advocate pluralism, allowing the combination of different methods coming from different paradigms and approaches, and others who argue that this would be theoretically inadequate due to â&#x20AC;&#x153;paradigmatic incommensurabilityâ&#x20AC;?, especially in terms of epistemological and ontological assumptions. Our position is in line with the possibility of combining different theories and approaches so as to obtain a richer picture of a phenomenon as multifaceted as the adoption of IT at the individual level of analysis. There is support for this argument among authors such as Mingers (2001) and Niehaves (2005), but the issue is subject to debate and difficulties, as mentioned by Benbasat & Weber (1996) and there is extensive debate regarding this matter. Although the approaches mentioned here can be viewed as being more aligned with one paradigm or another, what matters is what they say about people experiencing IT implementation, and this is the thread used to establish the complementarity between them. They are views that have some weight in the area, which focus on the individual level (although not necessarily exclusively), recognize the importance of people and significant changes at the organizational and individual levels in the implementation processes. The Structurational Model of Technology (Orlikowski & Robey, 1991), The Practice Lens (Orlikowski, 2000) and the Hospitality Metaphor (Ciborra, 2002) approaches provide a framework for understanding what happens to people, considering the social context and technology. Studies into Change Management (various authors) highlight the factors that contribute towards the success of these processes, while the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989; Venkatesh, Morris, & Davis, 2003; Venkatesh, Brown, Maruping, & Bala, 2008) identifies the cognitive factors related to individual adoption. The concept of individual change (George & Jones) provides a new dimension to the above-mentioned factors by integrating cognitive, affective and behavioral aspects. IT Implementation and Change: Focusing on People The fact that people influence the results of an implementation has caused many to see the change management as a means of confronting the difficulties and bringing about improvements in the processes and outcomes of IT projects, which has led to the Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 25-50

28 Fetzner, M. A. de M., Freitas, H.

development of several approaches to Change Management. However, although one can speak of an accumulation of knowledge on the subject, there is no consolidated conceptual reference and, perhaps for this reason, to date, the ‘Theory of Change’ has not been described in the site of the Association for Information Systems (http://www.isworld.org/). Studies from this perspective (Bartoli & Hermel, 2004, Malhotra & Galletta, 2004; Paper & Wang, 2005; Ruta, 2005, for example) and consulting approaches (CIO, 2008; PROSCI, 2008, among others) propose managing the process of change with the objective of controlling the conditions under which it occurs and thus ensuring the desired results. Most of the models used are based on the Lewin’s proposition (1965) on the three stages of successful change: unfreezing, movement and refreezing of group patterns. Studies applying this perspective have identified several factors that hinder or facilitate IT projects, such as: a) the experiences, perceptions, motivations, commitment and the position of individuals in the organizational structure, b) their degree of involvement in changing management initiatives, c) the political and organizational context of the process of change, d) the interpretations of the effect of the changes on their own work and the organization and; e) the emotional reactions of the people in the face of technical systems. In general, the studies emphasize the importance of aligning the organization and the individuals, seeking rational ways to influence and foster the necessary changes in attitudes, behavior and views or perceptions, by adopting actions designed to inform, stimulate awareness, facilitate communication and taking advantage of the influence of key individuals. In contrast to the Change Management focus, other perspectives have questioned the possibility of planning and controlling change, emphasizing its emergent and situational character, a consequence of both the unpredictability and complexity of the environment in which organizations operate and the continuous nature of change, as well as the complexity of the organizational contexts in which it takes place (Barrett, Grant, & Wailes, 2006). The Structurational Model of Technology (Orlikowski & Robey, 1991), emphasizes the character of IT as a social phenomenon, and introduces the concept of the duality of technology to express the idea that technology, on the one hand, is a product of human action in specific structural and cultural contexts, and on the other, it has a role in facilitating and restricting action, thus contributing to the shaping of those contexts. While the technologies may incorporate particular material and symbolic properties, it is only by repeated interaction with technology that certain properties become implicated in a structuring process, so that “the resulting recurrent social practice produces and reproduces a particular structure of technology use” (Orlikowski, 2000, p. 407). Such structures are known as ‘technologies-in-practice’. In this view, people are active, act reflexively and constitute technologies in practice based on knowledge, skills, power, assumptions and previous experiences. Emotion is seen as part of the experience, though it is not central in the analysis. When using a technology, people can change practices and social interactions, and the practices may include, in addition to that which the technology itself offers, R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

Business Intelligence (BI) Implementation from the perspective of individual change

improvisation in response to opportunities, challenges, problems and malfunctions. As they represent different technologies-in-practice, people change resources, rules and interpretive schemes related to technology. For Orlikowski (2000), there is the likelihood of finding some kind of generalization, linked to the context and circumstances, in terms of types of technologyin-practice that are more likely to be constituted by particular types of users with specific technologies. These would be identified by comparing conditions (interpretive, technological and institutional) and consequences (on work processes, technology or in the properties of the structures of the social system) related to technology. The consequences, in all cases, could be evidence of non-change, partial change or significant change in any one of the conditions. The Hospitality Metaphor (Ciborra, 2002) offers a critical alternative view to the traditional models of the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). In this perspective, adoption is seen as an open and evolving process that takes place over time, marked by unpredictability and improvisation and technology is perceived as being of dubious character, it could be seen as a friend or an enemy. Characteristics of the organizational culture and affordances of the technology guide the interaction between people and technology. In view of the Metaphor, people are active and act reflexively and, in touch with technology reinterpret their identities. Emotions and moods are present in the relationship people have with ICTs and, within the context of the adoption of technical, existential, social and humans elements, they interact in such a way that unforeseen circumstances arise, which may result from changes in the technology and in the people. Practice with a new IT raises various forms of learning and may include creative solutions, such as improvisation, bricolage and hacking. On the other hand, they may imply a lack of alternatives, if associated with states of panic/fear. At the individual level of analysis, the Technology Acceptance Model - TAM (Davis, 1989) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use Technology - UTAUT (Venkatesh, Morris & Davis, 2003) discuss adoption based on variables such as perceived usefulness and ease of use. The UTAUT Model gathers the variables that determine the behavioral intention (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence) and the variable facilitating conditions, within the usage behavior. These are influenced by the moderating variables (gender, age, experience with IT/IS, voluntariness of use), and the determinants of intention and behavior evolve over time. Recently, Venkatesh et al. (2008) discussed the limitations of these predictors and proposed a new predictor - behavioral expectation1 - and the concept of use of systems in terms of duration, frequency and intensity, and noted that the predictors operate differently on the three concepts. The resulting, tested model indicated that behavioral expectations mediate the relationship between behavioral intention and use, and that behavioral expectation is a better predictor for the adoption and initial use of IS, while

It concerns the subjective probability declared by an individual to adopt a specific behavior, based on the cognitive assessment of non-volitional and volitional behavioral determinants. Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 25-50

30 Fetzner, M. A. de M., Freitas, H.

behavioral intention is more accurate once experience has been gained with use. In the view of the acceptance models, people can understand and use technology differently over time and with experience, but changes in the technologies themselves are not highlighted. In these terms, people modify cognitive aspects when learning to use technologies and the emotional dimension, when mentioned, is secondary in the analysis. The concept of a process of individual change, proposed by George and Jones (2001), seems interesting as it shows the interrelationship between cognitive and affective aspects and behavior in new situations, i.e., it provides an integrated view of people ─ a difficulty found in IS ─ and because it sheds light on what underlies people’s reactions and the origins of both unpredictability and the possibility of influencing the change. In the model, change is seen as “an individual and group sensemaking process, taking place in a social context that is the product of constant and ongoing human production and interaction in organizational settings” (2001, p. 421). In the model, affect is represented by emotions and moods. Emotions are brief and intense affective states that appear in response to relevant unexpected stimuli (with implications on personal goals), which signal the need to focus attention on something and prompt the individual to act. Moods are less intense, positive or negative, states or feelings that influence behavior and thought processes, in the formation of judgments and the evaluation of scenarios. In cognition, the central concept is that of cognitive schemata. These are “abstract cognitive structures”, that are relevant to the knowledge of a stimulus or concept, its features or attributes and the relationships between them, formed after certain stimuli or concepts are repeatedly found. Later, when faced by some stimuli related to the concept, these schemes are activated and used to interpret the information (George & Jones, 2001, p. 421). In organizations, when people are able to understand, interpret and make sense of organizational life events according to pre-existing schemes, and find no discrepancies or inconsistencies, the tendency is to remain in a certain balance, with no impetus for change. However, when there is a perceived discrepancy related to something important to the individual, it can trigger an emotional reaction which may initiate a process of change. Thus, emotion is the trigger for change, not a mere influence or a by-product. The model put forward by George and Jones (2001) is cyclical, with steps that simultaneously involve affects and information processing and that can lead to change in schemas and change in perceptions, interpretations and behavior. When it comes to IT, the model suggests that people may not necessarily find discrepanc when faced by the work practices and situations resulting from the introduction of a new technology, and in this case, the new elements are accommodated within the sphere of existing schemas. But, as Goleman (1997, p. 79) says, schemas “like theories are liable to revision” and are “theories that test themselves” when faced with an ambiguous situation, and if the status of implementation creates an important discrepancy, mobilize emotions and direct the attention of the individual to deal with it. The change will occur or not, depending on the interaction between social and psychological forces and the outcome depends both on the condition of those involved, and on the situation itself as well as what it represents for each one, while it should be noted that the process occurs R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

Business Intelligence (BI) Implementation from the perspective of individual change

in the midst of social interactions in which influences on interpretations make themselves felt. Below we present a description of the present study in which the approaches outlined above are used in the analysis. 3

METHOD

A qualitative approach and exploratory objective was employed in the investigation which focused on understanding what changes occurred at the individual level and, in particular, the role played by affectivity and the meaning of change, from the view of the key individuals involved. The research context was defined based on the topic of interest and the assumption that, in principle, any type of IT would enable the investigation of the subject. We decided to conduct research within a client company and we believed that by asking a supplier company for suggestions we would increase the chances of finding companies willing to participate. The choice of technology and provider was influenced by suggestions and opportunities created by professors from the IS area and, in the end, the context was a Business Intelligence company, SADIG 2 , and four of its client companies. There were some peculiarities regarding the composition of the field. The BI supplier only provided the opportunity to examine cases of BI post-implementation, which the researchers considered interesting since it provides grounds for future research. The supplier suggested a total of eight clients who could be asked to participate in the survey, which was done by phone and email. Of these, 50% confirmed their willingness to participate in the research while the others claimed to have difficulties or simply did not reply. Although the study has elements that make it appear similar to a case study, we prefer to characterize it as an interview method (Mingers, 2003), since this was the main instrument used for data collection. When choosing the method, the nature of the phenomenon being observed was taken into account together with the importance of the interview as a means of accessing the interpretations of the participants in relation to events and actions that had occurred or were underway, as well as views and aspirations (Walsham, 1995). In accordance with the description proposed by Mingers (2003), the method employed in the research had the following features: an interpretive background, qualitative data and an intensive idiographic approach guided by data rather than by the previous existing theory. Regarding the latter point, the intention was to openly address the field, using suggestions and items identified in the literature as very general guides to data collection. In these terms, it was hoped that by combining the view of the IT providers with that of the users it would be possible produce a richer context for understanding the research topic.

For more information on the company access its homepage: http://www.sadig.com.br/ Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 25-50

32 Fetzner, M. A. de M., Freitas, H.

Data collection was conducted between July and August 2008. The interviews were recorded and, on average, lasted 1h30min. The questions included general topics, such as the context of the companies at the time of BI implementation, the reasons for adoption, the implementation process and actions taken to deal with the changes, which the users were involved in, and more specific topics, such as the perceptions of interviewees regarding the type of changes and their significance for the organization and users, moods, reactions and attitudes in relation to the BI and the outcomes for people and the organization arising from its use. The questions were adapted according to the roles of the respondents and, while the focus was maintained, there was sufficient flexibility to follow any ideas that arose during the interview. In two cases there was more than one participant in the interview. Interviews were held with two directors from the supply company and eight participants from the client companies, among them users and IT professionals and managers. The interviews in the companies were held with people directly or indirectly involved with the BI, such as those responsible for the IT area, operators and executives. The supplier company’s contact at each of the client companies suggested the names of representatives who might be willing to be interviewed. Participation depended on the willingness of the companies to participate; executives from the non-IT areas were not available to participate. Table 1 shows the characteristics of the client companies and interviewees from the companies. Companies Business

Client No. 1 Clothes retailer

Client No. 2 Manufacturing

Time and Region/ No. employees Time using BI Structure of IT area team

36 years RS/SC About 300 About 3 years

51 years RS/SP About 600 About 1 year

6 employees, 1 outsourced

4 employees, 1 outsourced

Areas where the BI is used

MKT, Supplies Finance, Purchasing Presidency

Interviewees: functions, time at the firm, experience with IT

IT Coordinator. (1 yr) Analysts Adm., previous experience with IT: Supplies (2 yrs) Marketing (1 ½ yrs)

Sales, Finance, Purchasing, Quality, Production IT Coordinator (10 yrs)

Client No. 3 Insurance (group) 34 years RS/SC/Paraná About 400 About 4 years

Client No. 4 Agri-business (group) 34 years RS/Mato Grosso About 400 About 2 ½ years

14 employees, plus outsourced services Product Development, Accounts, Claims, Tech Superintend Development Manager

9 employees

Systems Analyst Responsible for BI (4 yrs)

Management boards of the companies in the group and the holding company IT Director (20 yrs) Marketing Analyst, with previous experience of IT (8 yrs)

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Business Intelligence (BI) Implementation from the perspective of individual change

Educational background of the Head of IT

Computer Science/ Specialized in IT Management

Computer Systems Mechanical Science / Analysis/ Engineering/ Specialized in Specialized in IT Specialized in IT Business Strategic administration Management Management

Solution Adopted

SADIG analysis

SADIG analysis /

Manager (M2)

Manager (M3)

Manager (M4)

Analyst (A3)

User (U4)

Identity code Manager M1 used in the User U1a presentation of the results User U1b

performance

SADIG analysis / performance

Table 1 - Characterization of client companies and the interviewees Data analysis was influenced by the ideas of Walsham (2006, p.325), for whom the Grounded Theory is an option when one intends to learn from the data (as opposed to the situation where data collection is more strongly guided by theory). However, he follows a more flexible approach, recording his impressions during the research and producing a more organized set of themes and issues after an important group interview or field visit. From there, he seeks to consider what he learned from the field data, claiming that the mind of a researcher is his or her best tool, and is supplemented by the minds of other people those others when the ideas and work are exposed to them. That is what we have attempted to do in this study. Hence, the analysis involved listening carefully to the interviews in order to identify and organize themes within a report intended to provide insights into the interviewees’ experience with the BI. The organization emerged out of both the initial research protocol and as a result of what was reported by the interviewees. Thus, certain issues acquired a degree of relevance that was initially unforeseen, as was the case with the topic learning the BI. The analysis benefited from both the exchanges among the researchers, in which one acted as a reviewer of the article, and also the dialogue with the anonymous reviewers of the article, whose views have led to reflection and substantial changes in the content and format of the final text. The results of the study are shown below. 4 THE PEOPLE’S EXPERIENCE WITH THE BI We begin this section by describing the supplier’s observations (the interviewees are identified by the codes S1 / S2). The previous table gives the coding for the customers. 4.1

THE SUPPLIER’S VIEW SADIG is a business intelligence solution for generating information based on Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 25-50

34 Fetzner, M. A. de M., Freitas, H.

data from the ERP 3 system or other computerized system, working with the understanding and accumulation of these data, analyzed according to a profile of questions asked by the user. It has three products with BI characteristics: one focused on analysis, for ad hoc surveys, another in business performance indicators and a third made up of panels with consolidated information. For the directors, the BI is more of a concept than a software and S2 notes, “If you can’t engage people, this is no good. You can have the best software in the world, but at the end of the day it will be of no use, it is just an accessory.” The idea of adopting the solution can come about due to the interest of a company executive or the IT area. As a self-management tool, it allows independence from the IT area and in this sense, the IT department can either be an “ally”, seeing BI as something that relieves them from the day-to-day user requests (reports) or a “spoiler” because “if it is incompetent, it will tend to protect itself and try to keep as if information were a black box” (S2). Generally, they seek to foster partnership with the IT areas, which are seen as increasingly smaller, overwhelmed and often suffering from low skills and market pressure for manpower. When an executive has the idea of adopting the BI, it is very productive, but it may also be the case that the person responsible for IT is also connected with business and then he or she sells the tool properly, “showing the advantages, features, speed and accuracy”(S1). To succeed, a project depends heavily on its sponsor. The implementation time may be quite short and the “product can start small, modularized” (S2), but varies widely from one customer to another. Usually they start with the sales area, the “neediest in the company” (S2). By comparison, the impact of the entry of an ERP into a company is “much worse” (S1) than that of a BI, because access to this solution is restricted to a few people. Information can be synthesized or much more analytical when the BI resembles an ERP. It can support the operational area of a company, but its primary purpose is to generate management information. One of the differences between the two is that the BI tool allows data, including data histories, to be manipulated as desired by the user. When using the solution, an executive must be aware of the need for information. The profile of the buyer and user of the solution is closer to a company executive than to that of the company: a professional executive, with minimal training, be it academic or empirical, with a systemic view of the nature of the business, the interrelationship of information, preferably proactive, since such people “can use the tool not only to see what happened in the past but also to infer what might happen in the future.” If the executive has no professional training, he has “no idea what he can ask” [...] “moreover, he doesn’t even know what to do if I give him the information” (S1). The executive may be open to using the BI, someone for whom the information is an asset, but the people who run the BI (not usually the executive) cannot generate the desired information due to lack of knowledge of the solution (because of insufficient training, oversight, replacement). There is “resistance to training” by clients, to avoid spending money, which sometimes results in them saying “if only the product could do such and such a

Enterprise Resource Planning R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

Business Intelligence (BI) Implementation from the perspective of individual change

thing ...” [and they don’t know], “but it can” (S2). The quality of use depends largely on who uses it, “whether or not he is going to add intelligence” (S1). In the solution, “the hardest thing is to know what I want, so there are two ways, ask someone or do it knowing what you are doing.” Perhaps the most important reason for the emergence of BI was that “the executive didn’t have the sequence of answers to the sequence of questions being created as the numbers were emerging.” The tool“is dying to answer questions that you don’t know you are going to ask” (S1). Sometimes it is difficult for people to know what they want, and one thing they do is to demonstrate “ready-made models”, providing the client with a basic idea (S2). In the observed changes, the executive “acts differently because he acquires a different work structure, he no longer has the excuse ‘I do not have the figures, I'm not sure’.” People continue to interact, but more productively, “they will meet to discuss a figure that is already defined by the company.” The change in behavior is the “professionalization of decision making” because the methodology makes “the people use meetings to discuss what needs to be done and not to get stuck on a number” with a radical change in the quality of decision: “you have the exact figure at the right time, democratized within the organization, everybody looking at the same figure” (S1). “The solution removes ‘knots’ in the thinking process, because it provides perspectives regarding the information the executive needs and then “there is time left over to be a director, a manager, to ‘manage, think’ (S2), and make the decision when he is satisfied, free of doubt” (S1). It is like “coming out of the dark and turning on the light”, the manager “has the company in his hand” (S2). There are managers who still want reports left on their desks and in this case “the BI has improved his life, but not changed the way” [of working] (S2). On the other hand, there is the executive who liked it so much that he spends the whole day looking for problems, and this is “a way to improve the company”(S2). Regarding the reaction of the users in general, one of the directors mentions that people react differently, but fear of losing the job is a big motivation. People may react against the tool for reasons that have nothing to do with the tool itself, whether internal or external to the organization, and make as little use of it as possible. The supplier is concerned with aspects that he defines as political, behavioral and motivational. The supplier company’s consultants are advised to be aware of the reaction of the staff to the BI, resistance, etc. and provide feedback to their manager, who is very experienced and perceptive. Another director notes the difficulty in changing working practices, because “people are very accustomed to doing things their way and are resistant to change” even if it means less work (S2). Age has an influence, and there are still companies in which there has been the transition of management and “you get 60-year-old managers, for whom IT is completely alien” (S2). If the manager thinks it is important, it is shown in the structure. In general, there more people willing to improve things, open minded, but there are always those who block changes and one aspect that has an impacts today is the level of stress and the demands placed on people at work, especially in large companies, which affect their mood.

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The company uses surveys to assess customer satisfaction and “people love them” (S2). Ease of use, convenience and simplicity are important features in the product. Following analysis, suggestions can be incorporated into the product as a whole. However, although some changes can be made, they are not “in order to retain the essence of the product” (S2). 4.2

THE CUSTOMERS’ VIEWS

The views and experiences of the interviewees are similar with respect to the use of the BI. In the companies, it serves both strategic and operational purposes, directing the day-to-day routines. The basic data for its operation are extracted from corporate systems. In three companies, the decision to adopt SADIG was an idea of the IT staff in order to meet the needs of the area in relation to internal service delivery and the business. In client No. 1, the BI was implemented prior to the current IT manager joining the company, however he explains that the BI is used “to drive the business forward” (M1) in this case the mounting of shop windows and displays. In client No. 2, the decision came about in response to the company's need for growth and was associated with an exchange of a business system for a new ERP. The manager was very knowledgeable about BI and “was aware of the great advantage of having a BI in the enterprise” (M2). In client No. 3, the intention was to meet the information needs of the strategic level, so that it could “make decisions quickly and respond quickly to marketing variables” and at the same time it would reduce requests made to the area, as this was deploying an ERP (M3). In client 4, the adoption of SADIG was a strategy developed by the IT manager in order to make the need for a BI apparent in the company, when the staff did not value technology and were unaware of the benefit it could bring. Though thinking of replacing it later with another tool, it is a means by which people can start to use BI, understand its value and then “instead of IT having to push for this type of investment, the users would start to demand it” (M4). The Users are mostly business managers and technicians, in the role of analysts. In the retail company, SADIG is available for all the administrative areas and not for the stores. The users have varied positions such as secretaries and directors, the most important users being in the areas of marketing and supplies. In client No. 2, the manufacturer, BI is mainly used by some analysts, and also by coordinators, managers and executives. Many managers want “the thing ready,” but they all learned to use the BI and “you can certainly say that 90% of the management team uses it a lot”, whereas the difference in usage is maybe due to “a matter of interest” (M2). In client No. 3, the insurance company, it is primarily used by managers, but given the nature of the activity, it is even used by trainees in the actuarial area (A3). In the agribusiness group, “some managers use it and several don’t use it” and it is also used by the operational area, such as the interviewee, an analyst in the commercial area (M4). The views of clients in relation to specific aspects are presented below. Receptivity and learning the BI The users express both misgivings related to the use of the technology and interest in the possible gains in terms of ease and agility on the job, as we see in the accounts R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

Business Intelligence (BI) Implementation from the perspective of individual change

below: “they are a little hesitant to start working with the tool, normal, something new, but then they see the result and begin to be satisfied and it ends up becoming a routine for them,” [...] “at first it appears like something completely alien,” [then] “they want to know more and more and the queries become more specific, he begins to loosen up” [...] “a cool thing with SADIG is that you show a little bit and they get going, when you look again, they are mounting increasingly detailed reports ... they don’t even ask for help” (M1). “What drew attention was the acceptance, the staff loved the tool” [...] “the guy who never had contact with anything like that thinks ‘it’s what I have always wanted’, even more the person who works with Excel, it’s similar” [...] “it was very clear to the company that we needed to change, improve processes,” [the implementation of BI was associated with and facilitated by that of the ERP] “the people themselves wanted it,” [...]. [The manager jokes referring to the ERP consultants] “…they sweat blood”, those from the BI “get the applause” (M2). “Like any tool, in the beginning there is an adjustment period ... because the concept of information supply [they had] changed”, “a client was used to receiving information” [and] “now he has an open universe in front of him and he has become the master of his own information” (M3). In client No. 3, the head of a department that made a lot of demands on the IT services took up the idea and, though he was the only user for a long time, he ended up “forcing” his team of managers to use it (M3), and so helping to change the company culture regarding the new technology (A3). The positive reception is exemplified in the opinion of a new user, who “found it very nice to have something ready”, instead of having to gather various reports and spreadsheets (A3). In client No. 4, the main factor that led to its adoption was that “one of the owners of the company began using it, which made the managers feel uneasy” (M4), because they didn’t have the same information. It began to be used out of “curiosity,” “now he can get the information he didn’t have before without asking anybody, he gets it himself” (M4). Now, this director no longer needs to use SADIG, because the managers are using it. As for learning the BI, in all cases the IT departments provided training and supported its use, but users also learn from colleagues and personal practice, “using it routinely” (U4), and effective mastery occurred with time. The prevailing view is that it is easy, although there are details and it continues to require assistance from the IT people for new developments. In the opinion of one of the managers this last point Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 25-50

38 Fetzner, M. A. de M., Freitas, H.

represents a limitation of the BI, since it has “closed” modules, it means that users need assistance from IT, while with more powerful tools “the user creates what is needed for the analysis” [...] “dragging icons” (M4). With regard to the details, they are acronyms, nomenclature “that you pick up as you go” (U1a), but represent a difficulty, as is the lack of a “data dictionary”, saying “such and such information is in table X” (U4). Some comments illustrate the perceptions about the ease of using the BI and the learning process: “…very practical for the user, intuitive, you teach the user for 15 minutes and he gets the hang of it” (M1). “M. taught until it became a mechanical thing to use” (U1b). [Thinking] “I understood everything,” [...] “knew nothing” [it was then I began learning, alone and with the help of IT]. “But it's easy for you to sit, give a little thought to it and there you go”, “it’s logical” [...] “within a short time you get a lot of information ... then, after that, you have to go back and do it, there you’re going to really understand how it works, how it thinks” (U1b).

Learning also depends on each user, and users sometimes find it difficult because they use the tool sporadically (A3), or as noted by another user (U4): "It’s not a difficult tool to use,” [but there are] “people that don’t make any effort to learn [and it's not the tool]. [They are] “…people with a resistance to other technologies, any new program, software. [learning implies a] “little difficulty” and “anyone who doesn’t use it every day loses the habit”. BI Use (types of users, frequency, how, for what purpose) Users use the solution daily or sporadically, in making decisions pertaining to their level or to support other levels, depending on the value and necessity of the tool in their work. Some limit themselves to the direct collection of predefined information, others use it for analysis. The system is essential in all companies. For most of them, IT managers are not heavy users. Table 2 describes the made use of the BI by the clients.

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Business Intelligence (BI) Implementation from the perspective of individual change

Clients

Description of the use

In client No. 1, there are five licenses and they are used in two ways: for specific or routine purposes. The BI is used in association with other systems. It is essential for the work and the greater the mastery the greater the demands of the system.

There is “the person who routinely uses it to make day-to-day decisions and the people who use SADIG to make a strategic decision that would be more occasional,” as in the case of Vice President, when deciding whether to open a new store or to draw planning scenarios (M1). The supply department works daily with BI, because “the corporate system is more inflexible, with SADIG you can judge more things at once” (U1A) and in various ways, including things you cannot see using the corporate system. The MKT area uses it for “strategic decisions” to define the quotas set for the stores. Neither one can do the job with the BI alone and “will move from SADIG to Excel, a little bit of everything” (U1b). There are combinations of information that are unavailable in the current modules, which will assist the There are unused, work, as U1a says: “I think there are things in the SADIG option unknown and as yet to customize a little more, everything is possible.” The need of the system increases with its use and “the person enters SADIG undeveloped and has an overview of it, will filter, using the full range of features. options and soon it says, it needs more, but the extra can be developed, it is flexible” (U1a). They do not use features such as sending emails or text messages, “it has nothing that can distribute information to people at the same time” and “each one ends up focusing on their area,” but “we sit and integrate information” (U1b).

In client No. 2, there are five licenses and the strategy was to develop performance indicators in the BI overnight that are distributed by e-mail daily throughout the company. The BI is used in association with the intranet and it is essential for the work. They continue developing personalized panels.

The BI is used only to “look at something in more detail, an item of information” (M2). The users also work on the information from the BI when reporting for the Intranet. They are more complex reports, “customized”, used by analysts, managers and coordinators. Today is a tool that we cannot live without”, it is an “infinitely better tool [compared to ERP] for making reports, statistics” (M2). They usually create personalized panels, at the request of the areas in general, and of the IT (M2).

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40 Fetzner, M. A. de M., Freitas, H.

In client No. 3 there are two licenses and all modules are geared toward business. The use of the BI is essential and they continue developing new personalized panels.

There are “enshrined panels”, but there are new requirements that the IT department wants to deal with. However, at times, “they [the users] don’t come” [to the IT department], “or they get lost in the dust back in their jobs or they don’t have the time or they prefer you to give them the start and they pick it up as they go.” But, “the BI is not like that [...], the user has to state his need” (A3). Today there is little demand for strategic level information from the IT area, they use their own tools, because the BI is “not fully technologically compatible with the other technologies they have, a question of databases, etc. (M3). The usage is daily, but it decreases over the month because the BI updates are monthly. The areas “become highly dependent” due to the flexibility of the tool in comparison to the ERP and the time gains (A3).

In client No. 4, there are six Web and four Windows licenses. It is used by directors, managers, and also by people from the operational area. The use of the BI by managers is distinguishable, according to their IT experience, interest in it as a day-to-day tool and the manager and cognitive characteristics of the manager. The use of BI is essential, but the system has features that are not used.

In the branches the access is via the Web. It is difficult for the manager, because of the ‘hard’ interface and response time, “but it takes the information,” while over the network it is faster, there are more features and interaction. There are “zero technology” clients and others who had some contact with BI before and “upstate companies are more complicated.” Some managers are capable, but you realize that “there is no continuity of use, they’re not interested in making that tool something to be used in work”, on a daily basis. Another difficulty is the change of managers in the sales and marketing areas. In operations the tendency is to want to use the BI for reports and then it has limitations, such as field boundaries. The difference in the use by managers is when the manager “is unable to ask questions’. He is only accustomed to answer and “this deficiency begins to appear in the manager, who cannot create, invent or innovate, they only do what they’re told”. The only user of the performance indicators, the IT manager is unable to use SADIG in meetings held outside the company headquarters. The solution is considered a success and ‘”there are areas that don’t how to look at anything without the BI” and “have fully adopted SADIG” (G4). The marketing analyst makes daily use of it to make decisions in his area and provide information for decisions by other levels. The system goes beyond the pre-formatted report and lets you see the desired information, “there is less work placing the information and expanding afterwards” (U4). They do not extract reports by e-mail. Table 2 – BI usage characteristics

R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

Business Intelligence (BI) Implementation from the perspective of individual change

The meanings and emotional reactions related to the tool The BI has a powerful meaning within the context of the companies and is an essential resource. All the companies consider themselves dependent to a great extent on the system, although it varies in importance among the potential users, as shown below: Clients

Examples of the statements

“SADIG gives you the data and then you categorize the information from that” (U1b), “it In client No. 1, the BI is the base of the day-today work and the gives you the background to help decisionmaking ... the human being draws the decision support feature is conclusion” (G1). emphasized.

“People want everything from SADIG, easiness, In client No. 2, the objectives are faster information processing, reports, statistics related to the speed and uniformity ...” [The goal with ERP and the BI] “…to have the same information for everybody” [...] of information as well as it being a “centralize information in a database and base tool for auditing. our guidance, our indicators on that” (M2). “If you do not run it at night, it’s a problem for everybody, which proves the dependency and the great benefit of SADIG” (M2).

In client No. 3, SADIG other BI tools are used in the organization’s core activity, which involves analysis, and also to improve the data quality (by comparison with those provided by the corporate system). Updates and response time are faster in the other tool. There are differences in the usage made by users.

[Differences in usage are attributed to three factors], “the user has to be trained, regardless of the tool, he must know how to ask: ‘what do I want?’”; he needs to master its use and be personally willing, because “the individual must be willing to use the tool and see the results, to improve his/her work process” (A3).

In client No. 4, the BI generated a [today] “…for the billing department, it is the “rather large management change” foundation of the work, without it they do not and underlies the work. work” [some things are done directly via BI, no longer in ERP, while in others] “it is just an information gatherer” (M4).

Table 3 - Examples of the meanings and emotional reactions in relation to the Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 25-50

42 Fetzner, M. A. de M., Freitas, H.

BI Reactions to the BI characterize, above all, moods, as shown below: “No one speaks of routine when it comes to the BI [...] it is the cherry on the cake, you work on improvements, not on a skeleton, the makeup itself. [...] an ERP is more radical. When you adopt a BI you’re looking for excellence. An ERP changes your basic structure. “[As a result, you see] “people working with more pleasure, working with less trouble, creating less friction than with an ERP” […] “It's not that people worship them, they create less hindrance than a day-to-day system” (M1) [comparing the BI to the ERP]. “I was anxious, pretty nervous, we work hard, Sundays, holidays, but everyone believed it would be good [...] the go-live process was very stressful, “but with SADIG it was “much more calm, because it only provides misinformation if it is indicated as such [...] SADIG is well validated” (M2) [recalling the experience with the ERP]. For the analyst at client No. 3, the issue involves any technology, recalling the situation in which they introduced electronic analysis, with staff reductions, and in these cases “it is important to fit the people and leave a tranquil atmosphere”, while “there will always be gains and losses.” In client No. 4, the BI coincided with an external crisis.There were few users, managers, “people anxious for information” who “viewed this as something that would help them improve management,” although people at the operational level had some difficulty accepting computerization, due to fear of losing jobs and lack of training in other activities. As a resource, “it is good to use for analysis,” although it lacks some graphical tools and you have to ask the IT staff to make changes. But it is ‘‘an excellent tool to work with, keep data history and for analysis. You can surf in it’’ (U4). Changes associated with the BI The comments from the interviewees provide positive descriptions, as shown: Clients

Interviewees comments

“It will improve my productivity in the company” (...) and, furthermore, it “gives answers” and the user is more satisfied, because “there’s scientific proof of his In client No. 1, change is intuitions” (M1). Without SADIG “there would be much associated with more work” (U1a), and it would take longer to make a productivity, satisfaction, R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

Business Intelligence (BI) Implementation from the perspective of individual change

easiness and efficiency.

decision because “there you can see things in a broader aspect, while with the corporative system you would have to see more reports to get the same information” [. ..] you could use EXCEL, but SADIG “cuts the distance”, and “there is not a day without the BI (U1b).

In client No. 2, change is associated with easiness, speed at work, with greater availability and unity of information and independence when obtaining them, which is reflected in the quality of the decisions.

“…a unique place where you focus the information, the information is processed very fast, easily.” In a certain way the nature of the work changed, because “things got easier, checking information, generating reports.” Before, the users had to ask IT for reports, it took time and today they are independent, which brings independence to IT the area. Once they reach a consensus that an item of information “is cool” they place it in the daily email (M2). They achieve greater “quality in the decisions” they get more information than before” and “perhaps, the best of all is that the information is unique from just one place. Before they went to a meeting and brought the information in different formats and from different sources. ‘Which was correct?’ Now we know the source” (M2).

In client No. 3, the change brought about improvements in work processes, making BI indispensable to many areas.

“There are areas that can no longer work without the tool, they are extremely dependent” and “if the BI server stops they’re lost” [...] “they work with 1 year, 2 years search periods, and without the BI they couldn’t manage it.” It represents “an improvement of the activity, the business process and is currently required to develop products (A3).

In client No. 4, the results and information have become more widespread and visible, reflecting on the relationships between managers.

[information] “…began to permeate more, to everyone” certainly [...] “curious things happened,” the opportunity to seek information “that was hidden,” changed the way information was handled: “instead of you presenting your figures you go there to explain the figures” (M4). For U4, with SADIG work became faster and information became easier to obtain, allowing for analysis that would not be possible without the tool. And “suddenly you begin to play” and realize that other analyses, “begins to rotate the globe to see the world from another side.” Another change is that managers can analyze information directly, it is a “results tool”, while the former corporate system was unfriendly.

Table 4 - Comments from the interviewees about changes associated with BI The future of the BI in the client companies Despite the satisfaction, the continuity of the BI in enterprises, with the exception Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 25-50

44 Fetzner, M. A. de M., Freitas, H.

of the manufacturer, is uncertain. Client No. 1, will evaluate whether to keep the current BI or replace it as they plan to acquire a new ERP by Jan/2009 and “if the BI that comes from that purchase does the same thing as this BI, great; we won’t need this one” (M1). In the manufacturer, the solution is seen to have fewer features and functionality when compared with others, only “for what the companies need for the day-to-day routine, the cost-benefit doesn’t even justify the comparison” and he does not even think about such things, “it’s so useful” (M2). This year they expect to deploy ‘SADIG performance’, if there is maturity, involving the tool itself (data, users, information, whatever you want), the new processes and new business units, and how they are going to create analyses and share time with other processes because there are not staff resources available to do so today. Client No. 3 expects to have a larger structure, encompassing other sectors and use the solution on the Web (A3). At client No. 4, they may swap what they have for “a more powerful tool” (M4). The IT people would like to have more flexibility, though they understand that the development effort for this is not the seller’s proposal. They want a more online solution and maybe the IT might upgrade the tool “to liberate the people who have already been conquered.” The subsequent section provides a discussion of the results. 5

DISCUSSION

The results describe how the decision to adopt the SADIG was made, the types of users and usage, responsiveness and learning from BI and the future of the solution in the companies as well as the meanings and emotional reactions related to the tool and the changes associated with the BI. In turn, the theoretical approaches help in the analysis of these results from different angles and on the whole, provide a richer view for the contextualization of the investigated subject and understanding of the factors related to change. Starting from the adoption context, in the reports there is mention of the variables of the Technology Acceptance Model, such as expected performance, expected effort and social influence, as factors influencing usage. There are also references to evolution of intention and usage behavior over time, with greater experience and mastery the BI features begin to be more clearly perceived and the tool is used more intensively to the point where its “limit” is reached. The interviewees also analyze the solution in terms of cost-benefit, a topic found in Technology Acceptance Model studies as well as in those of Change Management. These findings are expected based on previous studies, but it should be noted that they, not surprisingly, reflect the influence of the rationality both in the field of organizations and in the field of IS. As we know, organizational rationalism is influential in the IS research agenda related to the management and value of IS (Avgerou, 2000). The discourse based on productivity and demand is dominant in the business world and certainly influences how people interpret the context and technology, which is evaluated in terms of improved productivity, speed and the degree to which it facilitates work activities. Organizations buy IT with the aim of improving their productivity and the staff is subjected to increasing demands; therefore, it is only to be expected that people assess the effects on their own performance and the costR. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

Business Intelligence (BI) Implementation from the perspective of individual change

benefit for themselves and for the company when adopting an IT. Apparently, there was no intense or planned effort involved in change management, and most implementations took place as part of an integrated and continuous change in the dynamics of everyday life in the organizations. This was helped by the fact that the use of BI is predominantly voluntary, easy to operate at the basic level, limited to a small number of people and its adoption does not affect the usual work structure. However, even without an intentional effort, we see aspects highlighted in the literature on change management: the context reinforcing the need for businesses to rely on resources in order to improve management (companies experiencing crises of development or in their business sector), the existence and involvement of a strong sponsor in the process (from the IT departments or business managers), the provision of further training and support to users. The IT departments were convinced of the need for BI and did not mention any concern about how it would be received. All these aspects are related to successful experiences and allude to the alignment between technology, business needs and organizational infrastructure. What can be inferred from this is that, even unintentionally, companies were able to effectively â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;manageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; the meaning of BI, conveying the need for it and taking actions consistent with the idea. Nevertheless, it should be remembered that with organizations and people the reactions can be diverse. In this context, BI has been met with varying degrees of hospitality, with reactions ranging from receptiveness to disinterest on the part of users. As the Hospitality Metaphor shows, the existential condition is constantly present in the contact of the individual with technology, as seen in the references to people that do not react to BI or to any technology; people who do not know how to ask questions, and when the meaning of BI depends on its role in the job as perceived by the individual as well as his or her previous experience with IT. They are evidence of the nuances of meanings that the technology or the associated change have, depending on strictly singular factors. The users constituted distinct technologies-in-practice, as shown by the varying extent to which the BI was used, in the same company and even for the same job. This was influenced by the requirements of the job and the interests and individual cognitive characteristics of the users. Regarding the possibility of finding some generality in the types of technologyin- practice constituted, we consider it is possible to identify some trends in the BI/SADIG, despite the contextual differences and the lack of more comprehensive data. There are some similarities in the type of conditions involved and the consequences associated with BI among the different companies. In all cases, the respondents had prior knowledge of IT, an interest in BI and awareness of its conditions in order to support, improve or transform work, individual or organizational processes. And in fact, BI has led to productivity gains and contributed towards making communication, decision making and work organization more efficient in all the companies. There were some changes to standard practice, as mentioned in relation to the interaction during meetings and in relation to resources, as the BI, alone or in combination with other tools, has became essential for work purposes, but it is within the manufacturing company that it has favored more substantial structural changes. We did not find major changes in the properties of the technology itself. Perhaps Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 25-50

46 Fetzner, M. A. de M., Freitas, H.

because the BI technology in itself presupposes openness and ease of use for improvisation (analysis carried out in different ways, based on necessity and intention of the users, at different times), although with limitations imposed by the characteristics of tool. In order to circumvent difficulties and limitations, people make use of other resources, such as Excel, in activities like bricolage. What happens, in our view, is that the openness of BI, along with its purpose, leads to being used according to the cognitive characteristics of the users, i.e., it shapes itself to the user’s style of knowledge acquisition. Considering the specific questions that have guided the study, the results allow us to highlight the nature of the changes and the cognitive and affective elements involved in the experience with the BI. For the individuals the changes were related to: a) Work practices: reduction of time in performing tasks, greater ease of application, replacing multiple tools, b) Relationship between employees: independence, transparency of information, focus on the discussion and explanation of shared data, a change of attitude, from waiting to receiving ready information to independent searching; c) Relationship with the information and improved decision making: information availability, possibility of building their own paths in search of information and enlarged analysis; decision based on broader, more reliable information for decision making. As for affectivity, we see that it is expressed by the interviewees in terms of moods, such as satisfaction, tranquility and pleasure, while the interviewees did not use expressions that refer to emotions. In a sense, this can be expected in the postimplementation period, because emotions are more diffuse and transient states, which over time give way to moods and, if mentioned, they would be in the form of memories. Regarding the cognitive components, the study itself has not given us sufficient evidence to make statements in the form of “the schema, before and after”, but the changes mentioned by the interviewees suggest the types of schemas affected. Because there is a known relationship between attention and schemas, to the extent that when we decide to pay intention to something, dormant schemas are activated in the memory and these, in turn, guide the focus of our attention to certain aspects of the situation (Goleman, 1997), we can speculate that what attracted the most attention, the cited issues, were concerned with the activated schemas. The topics were mainly focused on information, which becomes a unique item of information, from a recognized source, dealt with transparently; work practices, altered by a specific tool, which leads to a faster pace and ease of execution; and decision making, based on the more comprehensive, accessible and reliable elements. These findings are consistent with the proposition suggested by Venkatesh et al. (2008), that the behavioral intention becomes more accurate as a reflection of experience, since vagueness and uncertainty decreases and there is an increased sense of control with respect to a system. But here, instead of measuring the presence of variables, we see the specific meanings assumed by the interviewees and the relationships between these factors and the work context. The variables that predict use can be better understood when looked at in terms of schemas. Learning the BI involved “learning by doing’, as described by Ciborra (2002) and Orlikowski (2000), and may have led to the accommodation and expansion or the formation of new schemas. To understand what happened when they “changed the R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

Business Intelligence (BI) Implementation from the perspective of individual change

concept of the supply of information” the concept of learning cycles from Argyris and Schon (1996) is also useful. According to Argyris (1999, p.12), “people have two types of ‘theories of action’ that tell them how to behave”, they are: those they embrace (espoused theories) and those they actually use (theories in use). The theory in use can follow a ‘single loop’ or ‘double loop’ learning model. Generally, the first involves instrumental learning that changes strategies of action or assumptions that underlie these strategies, without changing a theory of action, while in the second, strategies and assumptions are changed along with the values of the theory in use. It would seem valid to think, therefore, of learning in relation to BI in terms of both cycles. The change occurred within a rule, when the amount of information available, the ease and time of access to that information was enhanced, though the operational model remained unquestioned. But when the rules of the game were redefined, by the direct search for information and the freedom to formulate queries, or by the greater transparency given to information by the exposure of the results and performance, which allows another management focus, the change reached a new level and was no longer incremental, because it changed the operational model. At the individual level, in which the predominant behavior was that of acceptance and use, this probably came about because, for many of the people involved, implementation was perceived as a discrepancy (in relation to the pre-existing expectations) that positively affected their well-being, goals, personal objectives, and the change and even the redefinition of the rules and the transition of values was a tranquil experience, as it was consistent with values, skills, beliefs and personal goals. According to George and Jones (2001), when a positive discrepancy triggers the process of change, as it seems to have been the case for the interviewees here, the information processing in relation to the challenge of an existing schema tends to be focused on opportunities. 6

CONCLUSION

In the observed cases, the implementation of the BI proceeded without great difficulty, learning was quick, intuitive, and the process has generated a positive affect. Users developed new skills related to the main purpose of the BI technology and mentioned changes in working practices, the relationship between professionals and with the information, and decision making. The study shows that not every change associated with IT leads to resistance, or at least it does not need to reach organizational proportions, though there may be people here and there who individually refuse to accept and, instead, reject a new situation. The interpretations are individual and change happens when something new, like a new IT or its usage, makes sense to people. People are not passive when faced by IT and they examine it and position themselves in relation to technology in the context of their life circumstances. We see a great similarity among the experiences of the different interviewees with the BI. Why did this happen, if the change in the individual has unique traits? We assume there are two main reasons. Firstly, because the schemas used to interpret new situations, even though individual, are built from experiences, meanings and understandings developed throughout life, and in many respects shared between people Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 25-50

48 Fetzner, M. A. de M., Freitas, H.

within a society. For example, productivity linked to the use of IS is a culturally conveyed meaning, and this feature is facilitated by the fact the solution supports the cognitive style of the users. Thus, even if there is a difference in what one or another person designates as productivity, both see that this goal is met with the use of BI. Secondly, because we are talking about a solution that has been on the market 20 years ago, and since then its design has incorporated the experiences of users, which is made apparent by the supplier’s knowledge regarding the users and their perceptions. The theoretical contributions of the study are to exemplify the possibility of analysis based on different theoretical approaches and suggest a lens that takes into account affective, cognitive and behavioral aspects through which the individual adoption can be analyzed. In practical terms, the study contributes by describing a specific technology, in this case a BI, in use, as perceived by its users and, therefore, it allows professionals to expand their knowledge about people’s perceptions of technology, which may lead to reflection and the development of alternative practices. Nevertheless, what they can do with studies like this certainly depends on how they evaluate the information and how they decide to use it. To illustrate this, we highlight one finding that emerged during the study that has implications that could be considered by the supplier of the studied solution regarding the management of the business: the apparent paradox that is created when satisfaction with the solution leads to dissatisfaction, due to the growing need for the solution aroused by its use. The major limitations of the present study are that data was collected in a time slice and that was a restricted contact with users, which prevented a deeper analysis of the organizational and institutional context and the observation of how the process of change evolved. The results should be viewed as preliminary and we suggest that future research should adopt the case study approach in order to obtain a better understanding of the process of change and studies in other contexts or with other types of BI, to confirm or deny what has been observed in this study. REFERENCES Argyris, C. (1999). O aprendizado de duas voltas. HSM Management (17), 12-20. Argyris; C., & Schön, D. (1996). Organizational learning II: Theory, Method, and Practice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Longman. Avgerou, C. (2000). Information Systems: what sort of science is it? Omega 28, 567579. Barret, M., Grant, D.; Wailes, N. (2006). ICT and Organizational Change: Introduction to the Special Issue. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 42 (6), 6-22. Bartoli, A., & Hermel, P. (2004). Managing change and innovation in IT implementation process. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 15 (5), 416-25. Benbasat, I., & Weber, R. (1996) Rethinking “diversity” in information systems research. Information Systems Research, 7, 389–399. R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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Boudreau, M.C., & Robey, D. (2005). Enacting Integrated Information Technology: A Human Agency Perspective. Organization Science, 16 (1), 3-18. Ciborra, C. (2002). The labyrinths of information: Challenging the wisdom of system. New York: Oxford Press. Davis, F. D. (1989).Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13, (3), 319-339. George, J., & Jones, G. (2001). Towards a process of model of individual change in organizations. Human Relations, 54, (4), 419- 440. Goleman, D.(1997). Mentiras essenciais, verdades simples. Rio de Janeiro: Rocco. How a Marketing Firm Implemented an Enterprise Wiki. CIO. Recuperado em 30 setembro, 2008, de<http://cio.uol.com.br/cio_worldwide/2008/06/30/uma-historia-deimplementacao-de-wiki/> Holt, D., Armenakis, A., Feild, H., & Harris, S. (2007). Readiness for Organizational Change: The Systematic Development of a Scale. J APPL Behavioral Science, 43(2), 232-255. Jasperson, J.; Carter, P.; Zmud, R. (2005).A Comprehensive Conceptualization of the Post-Adoptive Behaviors Associated with IT-Enabled Work Systems. MIS Quarterly, 29 (3), 525-557. Jeyaraj, A., Rottman, J., & Lacity, M. C. (2006). A review of the predictors, linkages, and biases in IT innovation adoption research. Journal of Information Technology, 21(1), 1 – 23. Lewin, K. (1965). Teoria de campo em ciência social. São Paulo: Pioneira. Malhotra, Y., & Galletta, D. (2004). Building systems that users want to use. Communications of the ACM, 47(12), 89-94. Mingers, J. (2001). Combining IS research methods: towards a pluralist methodology Information Systems Research, 12, 240–259. Mingers, J. (2003). The paucity of multimethod research: a review of the information systems literature. Info Systems 13, 233-249. Niehaves, Bjorn. (2005, May). Epistemological Perspectives on Multi-Method Information Systems Research. Proceedings of the Thirteenth European Conference on Information Systems, Regensburg, Germany. Paper 120. Nielsen, J.F. (2008). Models of Change and the Adoption of Web Technologies: Encapsulating Participation. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 44, 263-286. Orlikowski, W. (2000). Using Technology and Constituting Structures: A Practice Lens for Studying Technology in Organizations. Organization Science, 11(4), 404-428. Orlikowski, W.,& Barley, S. (2001).Technology and Institutions: What Can Research on Information Technology and Research on Organizations Learn from Each Other? MIS Quarterly, 25 (2), 145-165. Orlikowski, W. & Robey, D. (1991). Information technology and the structuring of Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 25-50

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organizations. Information Systems Research, 2 (2), 143-169. Prosciâ&#x2C6;&#x2019;Change Management Learning Center. ADKAR: a model for change in business, government and our community. Recuperado em 30 set, 2008, de <http://www.change-management.com/tutorial-adkar-overview.htm>. Ruta, C. D. (2005). The application of change management theory to HR portal implementation in subsidiaries of multinational corporations. Human Resource Management, 44 (1), 35-53. Venkatesh, V., Morris M., Davis, G., & Davis, F. (2003).User Acceptance of Information Technology: Toward a Unified View. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425-478. Venkatesh, V., Brown, S., Maruping, L., & Bala, H.(2008). Predicting Different Conceptualizations of System Use: The Competing Roles of Behavioral Intention, Facilitating Conditions, and Behavioral Expectation. MIS Quarterly, 32(3), 483-502. Walinga, J. (2008). Toward a Theory of Change Readiness: The Roles of Appraisal, Focus, and Perceived Control. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 44(3), 315-347. Wang, B., & Paper, D. (2005). A Case of an IT-Enabled Organizational Change Intervention: The Missing Pieces. Journal of Cases on Information Technology, 7(1), 34-52. Walsham, G. (1995). Interpretive case studies in IS research: nature and method. European Journal of Information Systems, 4, 74-81. Walsham, G. (2006). Doing interpretive research. Eur J Inform Syst, 15 (3), 320-330. Whelan-Berry, K., Gordon, J., & Hinings, C.R. (2003). Strengthening Organizational Change Processes: Recommendations and Implications from a Multilevel Analysis. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 39(2), 186-207. Williams, M.D., Dwivedi, Y., Lal, B., & Schwarz, A. (2009). Contemporary trends and issues in IT adoption and diffusion research. Journal of Information Technology, 24(1), 1-10.

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JISTEM Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Vol. 8, No. 1, 2011, p. 51-72 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752011000100003

A VISION OF ORKUT´S USERS: STUDYING THIS PHENOMENON THROUGH COGNITIVE ABSORPTION Mauri Leodir Löbler Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Monize Sâmara Visentini Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Vania de Fátima Barros Estivalete Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil __________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT

This study aims to identify the influence that Cognitive Absorption has on the intention of using Orkut. It happens due to the fact that Cognitive Absorption is related to the state of deep involvement users carry with an individual task, performed with the support of Information Technology (IT); it corroborates the study on this virtual community. Therefore, through descriptive research with a quantitative character and with the aid of structural equations, 645 Orkut users were investigated. After the identification of suitability of all indexes tested and fit for both constructs and the final model. The conclusion drawn is that Cognitive Absorption explains the 41% intention of using Orkut, emphasizing that for this kind of IT the Cognitive Absorption seems perfectly adequate to measure the Intention of Use. Keywords: Cognitive Absorption, Orkut, Information Technology, intention of use, structural equations.

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Recebido em/Manuscript first received: 25/05/2010 Aprovado em/Manuscript accepted: 10/02/2011 Endereço para correspondência/ Address for correspondence Mauri Leodir Löbler, Doutor em Administração pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul e Professor Adjunto do Departamento de Ciências Administrativas da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM) Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, E-mail: mllobler@hotmail.com Monize Sâmara Visentini Doutoranda em Administração pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul e professora da Faculdade Palotina(FAPAS), Brazil E-mail: monize.s.visentini@gmail.com Vania de Fátima Barros Estivalete, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil E-mail vaniafbe@terra.com.br

ISSN online: 1807-1775 Publicado por/Published by: TECSI FEA USP – 2011

LĂśbler, M. L., Visentini, M. S., Estivalete, V. de F. B.

1. INTRODUCTION In order to keep itself active in the entrepreneurial environment, according to Gilbert and Cordey-Hayes (1996), the enterprise needs to use tools allied with Information Technology (TI), having its assessment from the users significantly contributed to achieve the competitive advantage (Mathienson; Ryan, 1994). Before such a fact, the acceptance of IT has drawn special attention since the past decade. According to Agarwal; Karahanna (2000) some models have been developed to better understand and explain the attitudes and individual behaviors related to IT, like the Theory of Innovation Diffusion (Brancheau and Wetherbe, 1990; Rogers, 1995); the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989; Davis et al., 1989); amd the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1988; Ajzen e Madden, 1986), among others. The Technology Acceptance Model - TAM - is highlighted, developed by Davis (1989), which has been applied to many studies and empirically tested. TAM is basically supported by two constructs: the Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use (DAVIS, 1989), which aim to assess the variables that determine or influence the attitudes towards the use of a certain type of technology. This model has the objective of representing the impact on external factors related to IT on those internal individuals with the beliefs, attitudes, and intentions of use (Costa Filho; Pires, 2005). Davis, Bagozzi and Warshaw (1989) affirm that this model has a practical value in terms of assessment of Information Systems (IS), guiding administrators to reduce the problem of the lack of use of such systems, due to the fact that they cannot improve the performance of the organization if they are not used. The authors affirm that the use of computers depends on the intentions of the people and consider the main determiner of the intentions to use the perception of utility, and the secondary determiner, the perception of using facility (Davis; Bagozzi; Warshaw, 1989). The Perceived Usefulness is influenced by Perceived Ease of Use (Dishaw; Strong, 1999). This paper will address the acceptance of IT, being the term used with a more general focus. Turban, Rainer, and Potter (2005) define IT as the set of resources of information in an enterprise, its users, and the managerial department that supervises it. It also includes IT infrastructure and other Information systems in an organization. Thus, the use and acceptance in this paper might be related to hardware, nets like Internet and Electronic Trade, and Information Systems. For such, broader use of IT, no difference in terms of type has been pointed out and its acceptance is guaranteed regardless of its type) SaadĂŠ and Bahli (2005) highlight the fact that many studies prove that the perceptions and convictions of the users of IS have a significant influence on its use, but there are still gaps to be analyzed in this area, being important to explore more the theme of cognition allied with the use of IS. However, according to the authors, there is a lack of studies linking the investigation of acceptance of technologies to the holistic experiences of the IT user, being necessary an improvement of the research on the topic. Before this scenario, Agarwal and Karahanna (2000) developed a model to verify the intention of use of IT that is linked to the variables of the Technology R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

A vision of Orkutâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s users: Studying this phenomenon through cognitive absorption

Acceptance Model (TAM), aggregating the original factors (Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness) aspects like the interest in technology from the users and the traits of personality of the individuals that are emphasized when they use the system. In this model, what is highlighted is the construct of Cognitive Absorption, which suggests that the involvement of the IT users contributes to the assessment of IS and for the probable reaction that the user has when using it. Constructs like this enable the expansion of the considerations regarding the involvement of IS users analyzing intrinsic characteristics of the individual. According to Galluch and Thatcher (2006), the study of Cognitive Absorption is perfectly set in the analysis of intention of use, since the immersion that the net might give the individual and the impact it has brought to the modern society. According to the authors, for many years, internet technology has played an increasing role in the life of people, both personally and professionally. Regarding personal use, communication with friends and family, virtual purchases, researches, and banking management, for instance. The Professional use is emphasized by the use of the net to bring customers and enterprises closer, give information on the organizational environment and management of basic entrepreneurial processes, like purchases and personnel recruiting. Another important tool of the internet, which has widely contributed to the changes of interpersonal relationships are the virtual communities, like Orkut. This social networking website kept by Google, according to the Folha de Sao Paulo (2008) is the market leader in Brazil, with an average of 16 million accesses every month. Sachitanand and Bhattacharya (2008) affirm that a survey conducted by the newspaper Business Today showed that Orkut is the favorite social networking service for all kinds of groups, ranging from students to executives, who use it to contact friends, look for a job, and even recruit applicants. Due to this fact, this paper brings a new problematic questions of investigation with the following question: â&#x20AC;&#x153;What is the influence of Cognitive Absorption on the intention of using Orkut?â&#x20AC;?. Given the complexity of this theme and before the social impact Orkut has caused, mainly in Brazil, and also considering that the construct of Cognitive Absorption enables the verification of the immersion level of the individual as a performed task with the support of IT, this study aims to identify the influence that the Cognitive Absorption has on the intention of using Orkut. It is highlighted that the research assumes an innovative character since the basic construct of the research, Cognitive Absorption, as predictor of use, was little explored in Brazil and the study of intention of using Orkut is also new in this context. According to the newspaper Associations Now (2010), Orkut is among the top-10 most visited websites in Brazil, being the dominant social network in the country (Gallagher, 2010). In addition, Kharif (2007) points out that nowhere else in the world you access to Orkut as much in Brazil. Social networks are the new phenomenon when considering the INTERNET. Orkut is one of the representatives of this phenomenon, so, Brazil is an ideal place to study social networks due to their wide use. In order to present this study, this paper was structured, besides this introduction, in four more sections. The second and third sections present the theoretical basis for the development of the study. Section four presents the methodology. The fifth section Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 51-72

LĂśbler, M. L., Visentini, M. S., Estivalete, V. de F. B.

addresses the results obtained, followed by the final considerations. Finally, the bibliographical references are pointed. 2 COGNITIVE ABSORPTION: WIDENING THE COMPREHENSION ON THE INDIVIDUAL INTENTIONS ON THE USE OF TECHNOLOGICAL INFORMATION The study on the behavior of IT use, according to Paim and Nehmy (1998), is becoming one of the most relevant topics for professionals and researchers in administration, due to the increasing availability of data enabled by the new technologies. Because of the fundamental role played by IT on the enterprises, Zhang, Li, and Sun (2006) affirm that the identification of technology acceptance by its users and their behavior became essential. Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw (1989) also emphasize that to explain and improve the acceptance of the IT user, it is necessary to know the reason why these people accept or reject computers. Some authors emphasize that it is extremely important to analyze the intrinsic factors that motivate IS users to use them. Relevant studies on the theme, mainly in psychology, are found. An example is the research addressing the enjoyment when using the computer, intrinsic innovation, and emphasis on human affection and emotion of users (Zhang; Li; SUN, 2006). Wau, SaadĂŠ and Bahli (2005) affirm that a new holistic focus aims to capture constructs like the individual level of fun while interacting with IS and the way time is perceived in the session, phenomenon known as temporal dissociation. These experiences have been described as the construct of Cognitive Absorption (CA), in which the variables represent the intrinsic motivation of the IS user, and the behavior is given by himself, demanding experiences of pleasure and satisfaction with the performed activity (Vallerand, 1997). Cognitive Absorption refers to the deep involvement with the individual task that is being executed with IT support, being a personal factor that contributes to the understanding of the individual intentions and the use of technological information (Galluch; Thatcher, 2006). IT, in the context of CA, has been investigated as managerial courses, university websites, internet, e-learning, and electronic commerce, among other systems that use technology as a basis for its work. The construct of CA might be assessed under the perspective of five dimensions: Temporal Dissociation, Focused Immersion, Elevated Pleasure, Control, and Curiosity (Agarwal and Karahanna, 2000). Temporal Dissociation refers to the lack of capability of the individual to perceive time passing, due to his interaction with IS (Agarwal; Karahanna, 2000). Li and Browne (2006) state that this dimension is related to the level of perception of time going by, in which the person notices the demands of the task. The authors still emphasize that although time is objectively measured by the clock, the experience of time is highly subjective, where the perception of psychological time is a function of the amount of memory used to process information during the activity. The definition of Focused Immersion is related to the moment at which the R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

A vision of Orkut’s users: Studying this phenomenon through cognitive absorption

individual shows total immersion in the task he is performing, while other activities are ignored (Agarwal; Karahanna, 2000). For Chen and Injazz (2001), Focused Immersion is the excess of concentration in a limited stimulation field, being related to the notion of absorption. The dimension characterized by Elevated Pleasure aims to demonstrate the state of pleasure the interaction with IT provides to an individual whenever performing a certain activity (Agarwal and Karahanna, 2000). In this dimension there is absorption and capture of pleasure and fun the user feels manipulating a system. Agarwal and Karahanna (2000) affirm that the perception of the individual “in charge” of the system and able to perform another activity without being “stuck” to it is called Control. Soule, Shell, and Kleen (2003) emphasize that a high level of perception of control contributes to increase the “addiction” to access it. The fifth dimension refers to Curiosity, which might be influenced by the reach the experience allows, generating a cognitive curiosity in the individual (Agarwal; KARAHANNA, 2000). Loewenstein (1994) says that Curiosity is a motivation intrinsic to the user, which reflects the desire to obtain information and passion to learn. Agarwal and Karahanna (2000) also refer to what determines the individual experience of Cognitive Absorption, citing “Vivacity” and “Personal Innovation”. Vivacity was defined by Webster and Martocchio (1992) as the degree of a spontaneous action when the user is using a technologic system, and thus it may be a signifying influence in achieving CA. Thus, this study seeks to determine whether: Hypothesis 1: Vivacity has a positive effect on the Cognitive Absorption with IT. Personal Innovation was described by Agarwal and Prasad (1998) as an individual characteristic that reflects a great will of trying any technology. This way, it is believed that the ones who have an innate tendency to be more innovative with computers will be more inclined to experience CA. Based on these considerations, the Hypothesis 2 says that: Hypothesis 2: Personal Innovation positively affects Cognitive Absorption. In relation to Cognitive Absorption, Agarwal and Karahanna (2000) point out that it is expected that it will have a positive influence on the Perceived Ease of Use, due to the five dimensions of which it is composed. While the user experiments with the Temporal Dissociation, he/she imagines him/herself as having a long time to finish his/her task, which influences on the perception of the Perceived Ease of Use of IT. The Focused Immersion suggests that all the attention of the user is focused on the task, reducing the cognitive tension related to the task’s performance and making it easier. Concerning Curiosity, the action of interacting with the system creates excitement about the available possibilities in its execution. The sensation of Control over IT decreases the perceived difficulty performing the task. At last, the Elevated Pleasure suggests that the most enjoyable tasks performed in a system are seen as less difficult (AGARWAL; Karahanna, 2000). These findings lead to the construction of Hypotheses 3, 4 and 5. Hypothesis 3: Cognitive Absorption positively affects the Perceived Usefulness of IT. Hypothesis 4: Cognitive Absorption positively affects the Intention of Using an Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 51-72

LĂśbler, M. L., Visentini, M. S., Estivalete, V. de F. B.

established technology. Hypothesis 5: Cognitive Absorption positively influences the Accessibility to IT. The model of CA developed by Agarwal and Karahanna (2000) indicates that Cognitive Absorption is a determining factor in the intention of using IT, as well as its Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness, which also influence the intention of use. The Perceived Ease of Use reflects how easily a single person can interact with a specific system, representing an intrinsic motivation for the interaction with the computer (Davis, 1989). Thus, this study seeks to determine whether: Hypothesis 6: Accessibility has a positive effect on the Perceived Usefulness of the system. The Perceived Usefulness is defined as the degree in which the person believes he/she can improve his/her performance at work by using a certain IT (DAVIS, 1989). The author still adds that the Perceived Usefulness has a signifying influence on the use of IS, because one has the conviction that there is a relation between the fact of using and oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance. Agarwal and Karahanna (2000) affirmed that many studies pointed the significance of the Perceived Ease of Use and the Perceived Usefulness in the intention of use of IT. Based on these considerations, the Hypotheses 7 and 8 indicates that: Hypothesis 7: Accessibility positively affects the Intention of Using IT. Hypothesis 8: Perceived Usefulness has a positive effect on the Intention of Using IT. In the context of this research, Cognitive Absorption will be studied through the involvement of users with the Orkut website. The choice for this hedonic system of entertainment happened due to the fact that usersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; satisfaction in an online environment is higher than in traditional ones, because of the easiness to obtain information (LIN, 2008). Thus, the verification of the influence the Cognitive Absorption has on the intention of using a certain technology will be easily verified. Besides, virtual communities, according to Beeching (2006), are currently considered as a vital aspect of the internet in this new generation, enabling social interaction and exchange of information among the users of the net. Still, adds the author, many of these communities are original, funny, innovative, revolutionary, and provocative; contributing to visualize the influence of Cognitive Absorption on the intention of use. According to Van der Heijden (2004), the results generated by models of acceptance in a general way are limited according to the nature of the system the individual uses (utilitarian or hedonic), possibly darkening other beliefs of the user. Wakefield and Whitten (2006) corroborate this statement, emphasizing that other researchers also agree on this topic (Webster; Martocchio, 1992; Agarwal; Karahanna, 2000). Thus, the authors suggest that the analysis on the motivators intrinsic to the individual like Cognitive Absorption and Vivacity might contribute to identify the precedents of the use behavior, mainly when hedonic systems are analyzed, that is, those that are not used for work but for fun, like Orkut, for instance, used in this paper.

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A vision of Orkut’s users: Studying this phenomenon through cognitive absorption

3 VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES AND ORKUT: INTERACTING AND SHARING COMMON INTERESTS The virtual communities, according to Lin (2008) are formed on the internet with the objective of fulfilling the need of communication, information, and entertainment of their members, enabling them to chat, make friends, exchange ideas, and share specific knowledge and topics. Virtual communities, like real communities, bring together in the cyberspace people who share common interests, through communication mediated by computer networks. However, according to Añaña et al. (2008), since joining is a choice, members of virtual communities are able to leave them with no warn and with low personal cost. The authors highlight that members join communities because they identify with their purposes and values, enabling virtual communities to considerably influence in the characterization of a person. It is the case, for instance, of Orkut, the most accessed virtual community in Brazil. 15.13 This piece of software, named after its creator, Orkut Buyukokkten, was launched by Google in January 2004, enabling logged users to list friends, form communities, and create a profile where pictures, details of their personality, and description of personal preferences can be posted (Recuero, 2004). This profile, according to Añaña et al. (2008) is visible to the other members, who can even visualize the direct connections (friends) and indirect (friends of friends), as well as invite the friends of this person to be part of their personal net. Still, there are many ways of interacting through forums, private and public messages, etc. According to Kugel (2006), in the New York Times, Orkut is a “cultural phenomenon” in Brazil, with more than 15 million users in the country, considering the fact that only 12 million Brazilians access the internet at home. Sachitanand and Bhattacharya (2008) emphasize that in May, 2008, 54% of Orkut users were Brazilian, followed by Indians 17%. These indexes corroborate the affirmation of Beeching (2006) that Orkut presents in Brazil a “fanatic group of followers”. This illustrated scenario also supported the choice of Orkut as the IT of analysis in this research. 4 RESEARCH METHOD This study, following a quantitative approach, is characterized by the descriptive research which, according to Aaker, Kumar, and Day (2004), has the purpose of obtaining precise information either about a certain aspect of the market or a specific population. Thus, the descriptive research aims at providing the researcher with data from groups, estimating the proportions of certain characteristics and verifying the existence of relations between the variables (Mattar, 1993). The investigated population was composed of students from a federal university in the countryside of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The reason for this sample is due to the large proportion of these students who participate in Orkut, taking into consideration that there are approximately 850 communities on Orkut which are related to the institution’s name. This way, for having a high number of researched members as Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 51-72

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a characteristic, this study will be guided by the survey method, which is used for collecting primary data when we need information on a great number of people (HAIR et al., 2005b). The researched sample reached a total of 645 university students. The questionnaire used in the survey was based on the validated and presented methodology by Agarwal and Karahanna (2000), passing through a process of translation and reevaluated by two specialists in the area of Information Systems. Still, before the studyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s implementation, 10 students analyzed the questionnaire and made a few suggestions for improvement, especially regarding the way some issues were described. 4.1 Model of research The model of research used in this study, following the suggested by Agarwal and Karahanna (2000), verifies the hypothesis that Cognitive Absorption is a determining factor in the intention of using the IT, as well as its Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use, which also influence the intention of use. It is highlighted that, in the researched model, 39 questions were used aiming at identifying each one of the 6 constructs already represented in Picture 1, they are: (1) Cognitive Absorption; (2) Perceived Ease of Use; (3)Perceived usefulness; (4) Personal Innovation; (5) Vivacity and; (6) Intention of Use. The five factors (temporal dissociation, focused immersion, pleasure, control and curiosity) which constitute the Cognitive Absorption Construct are composed of a total of 19 variables. However, after the collection of data, these variables were submitted to a confirmatory factor analysis, making it possible to verify the mentioned factors. After this verification, each of the five factors were considered a a variable pertaining to the Cognitive Absorption construct, according to the methodology used by Agarwal and Karahanna (2000), with the purpose of enabling the analysis of existing relations among the constructs of the model. Because of this, we see in Picture 1 a slight different representation of data. It should be noted that, as these constructs were presented in the literature review, in this section they are just described. The other constructs were composed directly of the other highlighted variables, considering that the factors of Accessibility (FAC), Perceived Usefulness (Util), and Personal Innovation (Ino) are composed of 4 variables each. The Vivacity (Viva) factor is composed of 5 variables and the Intention of Use (Int) factor is constituted of 3 variables.

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A vision of Orkutâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s users: Studying this phenomenon through cognitive absorption

Picture 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Composition of Variables Construct/Factor

Temporal Dissociation

Focused Immersion

Cognitive Absorption (AC)

Variab. Code

Variable

Dis

Sometimes, I lose control of time when I am visiting ORKUT.

Dis

Time flies when I am visiting ORKUT.

Dis

Many times, when I am accessing ORKUT, I end up spending more time than I had planned.

Dis

I frequently spend more time on ORKUT than I had intended.

Imer

While I am visiting ORKUT, I do not perform any other activity.

Imer

I keep focused on ORKUT while surfing the WEB.

Imer

When I use the tools of ORKUT, I keep immersed in this activity.

Imer

When I am surfing ORKUT, I get distracted by other things easily.

Imer

When I am visiting ORKUT, my attention is not easily diverted.

Praz

I have fun when I am visiting ORKUT.

Praz

Using ORKUT gives me a lot of distraction.

Praz

I enjoy the moment using ORKUT.

Praz

Using ORKUT is boring.

Cont

When I use ORKUT, I feel in control of the situation.

Cont

I feel that I do not have any control over my interaction with ORKUT.

Cont

When I am visiting ORKUT, I believe to have higher control over my knowledge of information science.

Curi

Using ORKUT increases my curiosity.

Curi

I become curious using ORKUT.

Curi

Using ORKUT awakens my imagination.

Pleasure

Control

Curiosity

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Lรถbler, M. L., Visentini, M. S., Estivalete, V. de F. B.

Fa1

Learning to deal with ORKUT was easy for me.

Fa2

I find it easy to use the tools of ORKUT to perform my tasks.

Fa3

It was easy to get skills using ORKUT.

Fa4

In a general way, I think ORKUT is easy to be used.

Util1

Using ORKUT develops my academic performance.

Util2

Using ORKUT increases my productivity at school.

Util3

I find ORKUT useful for my academic activities.

Util4

Using ORKUT increases my productivity in a general way.

Ino1

If I hear something about a new piece of information technology, I find ways to try it right away.

Personal Innovation

Ino2

I hesitate to try new technologies.

(Ino)

Ino3

Among my friends, I am always the first to try new technologies.

Ino4

I like to technologies.

Viv1

When I am using ORKUT, I am spontaneous.

Viv2

When I am using ORKUT, I am imaginative.

Viv3

When I am using ORKUT, I am flexible.

Viv4

When I am using ORKUT, I am creative.

Viv5

When I am using ORKUT, I am playful.

Int1

I plan to use ORKUT in the future.

Int2

I have the intention of using ORKUT in the future.

Int3

I expect my use of ORKUT to continue in the future.

Accessibility(FAC)

Perceived Usefulness (Util)

Vivacity (Viva)

Intention of Use (Int)

experiment

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with

new

A vision of Orkut’s users: Studying this phenomenon through cognitive absorption

It is still worth pointing out that Agarwal and Karahanna (2000), besides these 6 constructs, shown in Picture 2, added to the model of the construct of Self-Efficiency, an individual characteristic that reflects one’s confidence in performing a specific task. However, as the authors pointed out, this construct only influences the Perceived Accessibility, and it does not modify Cognitive Absorption, the factor focused on this study. Thus, it was decided not to measure the Self-Efficiency construct, the Model of Cognitive Absorption adapted from Agarwal and Karahanna (2000), as a predictor of the Intention of Use of IS presented in Picture 2. It is still worth saying that Agarwal and Karahanna (2000), besides these 6 constructs, shown in Picture 2, added to the model the construct of Self-Efficiency, an individual characteristic that reflects one’s confidence in performing a specific task. However, as the authors pointed out, this construct only influences the Perceived Ease of Use, and it does not modify Cognitive Absorption, the factor focused on this study. Thus, it was decided not to measure the Self-Efficiency construct, the Model of Cognitive Absorption being adapted from Agarwal and Karahanna (2000), as a predictor of the Intention of Use of IS presented in Picture 2 and already discussed in section 2. Picture 2 - Model of Cognitive Absorption as a predictor of the Intention of use of the IS e22

e23

e24

e25

Fa1

Fa2

Fa3

Fa4

Efa e1

Dis

Imer

Praz

Cont

Curi

Fac

Eint

e19

e20

e21

Int1

Int2

Int3

Int

H5 Eac

H3 Util H2 H1

Util1

Util2

Util3

Util4

Eutil Viva

Eviv

Viv1

Viv2

e14

e15

Viv3 e16

Ino

Eino

Viv4

Viv5

Ino1

Ino2

e17

e18

e10

e11

Ino3 e12

Ino4 e13

Source: adapted from Agarwal and Karahanna (2000) As it can be observed, the model of research indicates the existence of simultaneous dependency relations, making it necessary the use of structural equation modeling (SEM), presented by Hair et al. (2005a) as a useful technique when dependent variables become independent in subsequent relations of dependency. Moreover, Chin (1998) states that SEM presents better results than the first generation techniques (multiple regressions, for example) in the identification of relations, due to the higher flexibility that the researcher has in the interaction between theory and data. Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 51-72

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The result analysis was realized in two steps: the first step involved the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to the construction of the measuring model. Afterwards, the relations among the factors were evaluated, indicated by the hypotheses which constitute the structural model (Anderson; Gerbing, 1998). Hair et al. (2005a) show that in the CFA the variables which describe each construct are specified by the researcher, and it is used in the assessment of reliability and validity of constructs. Reliability indicates the degree of internal consistency among the multiple indicatives of a construct, referring to the extension in which an established measure instrument produces coherent results after many measurements (Schumacker; Lomax, 1996), and validity refers to the extension in which the measurements define a certain construct (Churchill, 1979). The assessment of the construct reliability was realized through the calculation of Extracted Variance and Reliability, which must reach values equal to or higher than 0.7 and 0.5 respectively so that the construct can be considered trustworthy (Hair et al., 2005a). The structural model evaluates the relations between factors and groups of hypotheses. This step involves the absolute and comparative measurements of adjustment. The absolute measurements of adjustment evaluate the degree in which the model predicts the matrix of covariance or the observed correlation (Kline, 1998). One of the adjustment absolute measurements is the x2 (chi-square), which evaluates the significance of differences between the observed matrix and the estimated matrix (HAIR et al., 2005a). The expected is to find a non significant chi-square (x2>0.05), indicating that the data are adjusted to the model (Schumacker; Lomax, 1996). To reduce the sensibility of this test to the size of the sample, some researchers divide the chi-square value by the degrees of freedom, and the values equal to or lower than 5 are acceptable (Pedhazur; Schmelkin, 1991). Still, we have to evaluate the measurements of Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) which must present values lower to 0.08 and the Goodness-of-fit (GFI) which could vary from 0, predicting a bad adjustment, to 1, perfect adjustment, considering the values higher than 0.9 very good (Kline, 1998). The comparative measurements of adjustment compare the proposed model with the null model, and they enclose the following indexes: Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Normed Fit Index (NFI) and Tucker-Lewis Index or Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI), which must present values higher than 0.9. For the data analysis it was used as a support the statistic pack SPSS and the software for structural equation modeling AMOSâ&#x201E;˘. 5 RESULT ANALYSIS The sample used in the research has been composed by 645 university students, 68.9% between 19 and 24 years of age, corroborating the information given by the Orkut website (2008) that 61.41% of its users are between 18 and 25 years old. It is still highlighted the fact that 38.9% of the researched students have been users of the website for 2 or 3 years. Besides, 54.1% of the sample uses the internet more than once a day. With the same frequency, 34.6% access their emails. Such information enables an inference that the university student is frequently using technological resources, being R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

A vision of Orkut’s users: Studying this phenomenon through cognitive absorption

this sample valid to the purposes of this research. Initially, the reliability indexes, measured through Cronbach’s alpha, temporal dissociation factor, focused immersion, pleasure, control and curiosity, in the construct of Cognitive Absorption were satisfactory, that is, higher than 0.6, indicating the internal consistency of the factors (Malhotra, 2006). It is important to mention such factors, since they were transformed into variables of the construct of Cognitive Absorption. After this procedure, the next step is the individual validation of the studied constructs of the model. Through a confirmatory factor analysis, it was possible to confirm the variables composing each factor. Table 1 presents the results of the indexes of model adjustment and reliability. Table 1 – Final result of the adjustment indexes Adjustment Indexes Qui-square Freedom Levels GFI CFI NFI NNFI RMSEA Extracted Variance Reliability Cronbach's alpha

AC 22,634 p=0,000 5,000 0,987 0,971 0,964 0,942 0,074 0,740 0,37 0,7225

FAC 5,939 p=0,051 2,000 0,995 0,996 0,995 0,989 0,055 0,850 0,58 0,8378

Constructs Util Viva 3,700 11,505 p=0,54 p=0,021 1,000 4,000 0,997 0,993 0,998 0,994 0,998 0,991 0,991 0,986 0,065 0,054 0,820 0,800 0,5 0,42 0,8951 0,8605

Ino 2,661 p=0,264 2,000 0,998 0,999 0,995 0,996 0,023 0,730 0,41 0,7214

Int 4,000 p=0,135 2,000 0,997 0,999 0,998 0,997 0,039 0,950 0,35 0,934

The composition of the factors came from the model originally proposed. Based on that, it was calculated the initial adjustment indexes, extracted variance, level of reliability, and Cronbach’s alpha. The option for the calculation of Cronbach’s alpha, for each of the studied constructs happened because of the fact that the reliability indexes have values below the expected. Thus, Baumgartner and Homburg (1996) suggest calculating the alpha to verify the reliability of the construct. All the constructs have satisfactory values. It is emphasized that the values presented in Table 1 are representative of the final constructs, since the initial constructs of Vivacity (Viva) and Perceived Usefulness (Util) needed some adjustments, as suggested by the analysis software. The other ones did not require any adjustment, having all the analysis indexes satisfactory. In the construct Vivacity (Viva), initially, the RMSEA was 0.123, value higher than the one considered adequate. This way, the relationship between the variables Viva.5 and Viva.4 was included, where the first has a relationship with the second.. Considering such a change, all the adjustment indexes were within acceptable limits. The initial construct of the Perceived Usefulness (Util) presented a significant qui-square, and the relation between those values and the levels of freedom are higher than acceptable. Thus, the model requires adjustments. Still, the NNFI was 0.845 and Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 51-72

Löbler, M. L., Visentini, M. S., Estivalete, V. de F. B.

the RMSEA 0.262, indexes considered unsatisfactory. It was then included a variable relation from Util3 to Util4, where observed significant improvements in the indexes of the model were observed (Table 1). It is emphasized that no variables exclusions wrtr necessary (Table 1), since the Cronbach’s Alphas were acceptable for all the analyzed factors. Considering these explanations, the standard coefficient and the variable significance forming the final constructs are shown(Table 2). Table 2 – Standard coefficients and significance Construct variables AC Dis Imer Praz Cont Curi FAC Fa1 Fa2 Fa3 Fa4 Ino Ino1 Ino2 Ino3 Ino4

standard coefficient 0,691 0,609 0,626 0,447 0,624 0,726 0,616 0,866 0,818 0,767 0,467 0,633 0,654

Construct Variables ¹ Util Util1 12,168** Util2 11,848** Util3 8,948** Util4 11,999** Viv Viv1 ¹ Viv2 14,68** Viv3 19,383** Viv4 19,088** Viv5 ¹ Int Int1 9,952** Int2 12,004** Int3 12,34**

Standard Coefficient 0,879 0,958 0,662 0,51 0,789 0,691 0,861 0,55 0,549 0,926 0,871 0,940

Z ¹ 31,424** 19,508** 13,732** ¹ 17,558** 21,274** 12,576** 13,293** ¹ 35,06** 31,27**

¹ value of Z was not calculated since the parameter had been set in 1.0. **significant at the level of 1%. After performing the individual validation of the constructs, the hypotheses of the study were assessed. It was considered the idea of model improvement, based on the suggestions of the software AMOS™. This way, it was included a new relation between the factor Vivacity and the factor Innovation, which was not in the original model of Agarwal and Karakanna (2000). Agarwal, Sambamurthy and Stair (1997) affirm that in the study of Agarwal and Prasad (1996) a positive correlation between these constructs was found; however, it was very low, generating verification suggestions of the veracity of such a relation. Agarwal, Sambamurthy, and Stair (1997) emphasize that this relation might be possible since the individuals tend more to try new technologies, and they also tend to interact with them in a very spontaneous way – characterizing the construct of Vivacity – perceiving it as being easily used. After this procedure, the improved final model presented the levels of adjustment observed in Table 3. In addition, we tested two alternative models, (1) a model designed with second order variables, composed of temporal dissociation, focused immersion, pleasure, curiosity and control; and another model (2) with these five independent dimensions, ignoring the uni-dimensionality of AC, working on it as a multi-dimensional construct. The test of alternative models aims to identify whether there are indices for the best fit of the model, indicating changes in it. Table 3 – Indexes of adjustment of the improved model

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A vision of Orkutâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s users: Studying this phenomenon through cognitive absorption

Index Qui-square Levels of freedom GFI - Goodness of Fit CFI - Comparative Fit Index NFI - Normed Fit index NNFI - Non Normed Fit Index RMSEA - Root Mean Squared Error of Aproximation

Proposed model Value 667,039 p(0,000) 264 0,922 0,948 0,917 0,941 0,049

Second order model Value 1765,361 p(0,000) 686 0,870 0,908 0, 858 0,900 0,049

Five dimension model Value 1983,567 p(0,000) 671 0,852 0,888 0,840 0,976 0,055

It is perceived that the final model had a significant qui-square, it is then performed the relation between the qui-square and the levels of freedom, presenting ratio lower than 5.00 (2.5), an acceptable value according to Pedhazur and Schmelkin (1991). All the other adjustment indexes present satisfactory results. The two alternative models tested, the second order and the five dimensions, presented fit indexes lower than the proposed model, indicating its consistency. Thus, the standard coefficients are presented, as well as the levels of significance of each analyzed hypothesis of the proposed model (Table 4). Table 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Standard coefficient and hypotheses significance Hypothes H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8

Viv. Ino. AC AC AC FAC FAC Util.

Relation ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> ---> --->

AC AC Util Int. FAC Util. Int. Int.

Coef. 0,654 0,197 0,521 0,413 0,228 -0,235 0,202 0,171

Z 7,912 3,527 7,559 5,849 4,833 -3,902 3,374 3,859

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

***,significant at level 1%. The relation between Vivacity and Personal Innovation, added to the initial model had standard coefficient of 0.522 and Z equals to 7.254***. Before these results, the final model of this research is shown in Picture 3.

Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 51-72

Löbler, M. L., Visentini, M. S., Estivalete, V. de F. B.

Picture 3 – Improved final model e22

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Picture 3 shows that Cognitive Absorption explains 41 % in the intention of use of an established technology, in this research, Orkut. Cognitive Absorption had an explanation index higher than the other two constructs, predictors of the intention of use - Perceived Usefulness and Accessibility – suggesting that this is an adequate construct to measure the intention of use of IT. Another interesting aspect observed is that, among the variables that influence Cognitive Absorption, Curiosity presented a very high level, of 0.90, which is the most important aspect for the formation of the construct. This result is probably from the investigated system, Orkut. The relation between the constructs Vivacity and Personal Innovation was very significant (0.52), as well as the one between Cognitive Absorption and Perceived Usefulness (0.52). This relation had not been found in the research of Agarwal and Karahanna (2000), and rises in this research as a motivation for new studies since they address new behavioral aspects of IT users. Another fact that corroborates this statement is the fact that the relation between the construct Vivacity and Cognitive Absorption was 0.65, the highest identified in the studied model. Before the results presented in Picture 3, it was established a summary table (Table 5) that presents the hypotheses tested and their acceptance or rejection. All the hypotheses were significant at level 1%.

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A vision of Orkut’s users: Studying this phenomenon through cognitive absorption

Table 5 – Summary of the tested hypotheses Hypothes es

Relation

supported

Hypothes es

Relation

Supported

Viv. AC

Yes

AC FAC

Yes

Ino. AC

Yes

FAC Util.

AC Util.

Yes

FAC Int.

Yes

AC Int.

Yes

Útil. Int.

Yes

It is possible to notice through Table 5 that only H6 has not been supported, since it was found, in this research, a negative relation between Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived usefulness. These results show that there is no relation between intrinsic motivations to interact on Orkut with the performance improvement of the conducted activity. 20 52

6 CONCLUSIONS This paper aimed to identify the influence that Cognitive Absorption has on the intention of using Orkut. It is interesting to highlight that, according to Morais and Rocha (2005), Brazilians are the majority of participants on Orkut due to the idea of cordiality that this system transmits. Thus, according to the authors, there is a relation between the huge participation in communities and the great number of ‘friendship’ connections in the website, as being an expression of the ‘cordial man’, who is also hospitable, and friendly; characteristics usually attributed to Brazilians. Initially, the aim was to search for the reliability of the five factors composing the construct of Cognitive Absorption: Temporal Dissociation, Focused Immersion, Pleasure, Control, and Curiosity. Through Cronbach’s alpha, it was impossible to prove the consistency of each of these factors, since all of them had acceptable levels, that is, higher than 0.6, indicating the internal consistency of the factors (MALHOTRA, 2006). These factors were transformed into the variables responsible for the explanation of the construct of Cognitive Absorption. This way, through the analysis of the structural equations, it was identified that the variable curiosity presented a higher explanation index (0.9), indicating that great part of the intrinsic motivation of the Orkut user was due to this variable. Such a result is corroborated by Ibrahim (2008), who affirms that one of the reasons for the success of the virtual communities is the fact that it is possible to visualize a person’s profile and get information on them without being identified. Other relations were also tested in order to verify the research hypotheses. Thus, 7 out of 8 tested hypotheses were proved, being the only hypothesis rejected (H6) due to the negative relation observed between Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 51-72

LĂśbler, M. L., Visentini, M. S., Estivalete, V. de F. B.

Usefulness, which according to the model of Agarwal and Karahanna (2000) should be positive. A significant and considerable relation was also found (0.52), not cited in the research, between the constructs Vivacity and Personal Innovation. Since this relation had not been found in the research of Agarwal and Karahanna (2000), it comes in this research to encourage new studies, since it had also been identified by Agarwal and Prasad (1996 apud Agarwal; Sambamurthy; Stair, 1997). All the adjustment indexes tested, both for the constructs and the model were satisfactory. For a system like Orkut, Cognitive Absorption showed to be perfectly adequate to measure the Intention of Use, since CA explains 41% of the intention of using this kind of IT. The Perceived Usefulness does not explain much of the Intention of Use, it is necessary to consider that young people using Orkut do not perceive this relationship. The Perceived Ease of Use, factor that should explain better the intention of use, also does not appear as very relevant, Perceived Ease of Use is inherent to surfing the internet, which is not a predictor of the Intention of using this IT. Due to the same above-mentioned reason, Perceived Ease of Use is inherent to the young people and not an explanation for another behavior. This way, the relationship between Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness showed to be inversely proportional (negative). Perceived Ease of Use does not explain the Perceived Usefulness of Orkut, whereas the model shows a curiosity, the Perceived Usefulness of Orkut has a standard coefficient of 0.521 in the relation with Cognitive Absorption, while the same CA presents a standard coefficient of only 0.228 in the relation with Perceived Ease of Use. Thus, the previous discussion is back: accessibility is not explained in a system like Orkut by the nature of the user and by the function they give to this kind of IT. A criticism of Cognitive Absorption is the fact that it does not use variables that have much meaning for organizational systems, as transactions processing or new ERP systems, since they are not more used because of the necessity of the organization than any other intention of the user. Thus, the inclusion of the factor Cognitive Absorption, a central object to this study, does not improve this matter, since it has as precedent constructs the temporal dissociation, focused immersion, pleasure, control, and curiosity, which are more related to the systems with a hedonic character than to the management systems. Still, we didn not test the intention of use Orkut with non-users of the site, which can be considered a limitation of the study because the construct is relevant to those who do not use this technology. However, we note that the non-users have many other constructs that could not be evaluated; evaluating the two groups *users and nonusers) in the same study is risky.â&#x20AC;?

As a suggestion for future research, the investigation of other types of IT and IS could be presented, in order to broaden the research on Cognitive Absorption, mainly in the national context, to which the model brings an innovative approach for the area of IS. Also, it is emphasized again the relationship found in this research between the constructs Vivacity and Personal Innovation, to be investigated in a deeper way, in order to identify the reliability of such an influence.

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A vision of Orkut’s users: Studying this phenomenon through cognitive absorption

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JISTEM Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Vol. 8, No. 1, 2011, p. 73-86 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752011000100004

DATA INFORMATION SYSTEM TO PROMOTE THE ORGANIZATION DATA OF COLLECTIONS – MODELING CONSIDERATIONS BY THE UNIFIED MODELIGN LANGUAGE (UML) Eduardo Batista de Moraes Barbosa Centro de Previsão de Tempo e Estudos Climáticos - CPTEC Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais - INPE Galeno José de Sena Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP __________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT It can be argued that technological developments (e.g., measuring instruments like software, satellite and computers, as well as, the cheapening of storage media) allow organizations to produce and acquire a great amount of data in a short time. Due to the data volume, research organizations become potentially vulnerable to the information explosion impacts. An adopted solution is the use of information system tools to assist data documentation, retrieval and analysis. In the scientific scope, these tools are developed to store different metadata (data about data) patterns. During the development process of these tools, the adoption of standards such as the Unified Modeling Language (UML) stands out, whose diagrams assist the different scopes of software modeling. The objective of this study is to present an information system tool that assists organizations in the data documentation through the use of metadata and that highlights the software modeling process, through the UML. The Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata will be approached, widely used to the dataset cataloging by scientific organizations around the world, and the dynamic and static UML diagrams like use cases, sequence and classes. The development of the information system tools can be a way to promote the scientific data organization and dissemination. However, the modeling process requires special attention during the development of interfaces that will stimulate the use of the information system tools. Keywords: Information systems; Scientific data; Data dissemination; Modeling process; UML _____________________________________________________________________________________ Recebido em/Manuscript first received: 23/06/2008 em/Manuscript accepted: 10/02/2011

Revised version received: 31/12/2010 Aprovado

Endereço para correspondência/ Address for correspondence Eduardo Batista de Moraes Barbosa, Centro de Previsão de Tempo e Estudos Climáticos – CPTEC, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais – INPE Rod. Presidente Dutra, Km. 39 - Cachoeira Paulista - SP - 12630-000 E-mail: eduardo.barbosa@cptec.inpe.br Galeno José de Sena, Universidade Estadual Paulista – UNESP, Faculdade de Engenharia de Guaratinguetá – FEG Av. Dr. Ariberto Pereira da Cunha, 333 - Guaratinguetá - SP - 12516-410 E-mail: gsena@feg.unesp.br

ISSN online: 1807-1775 Publicado por/Published by: TECSI FEA USP – 2011

74 Barbosa, E. B. de M., Sena, G. J. de

RESUMO Pode-se afirmar que a evolução tecnológica (desenvolvimento de novos instrumentos de medição como, softwares, satélites e computadores, bem como, o barateamento das mídias de armazenamento) permite às Organizações produzirem e adquirirem grande quantidade de dados em curto espaço de tempo. Devido ao volume de dados, Organizações de pesquisa se tornam potencialmente vulneráveis aos impactos da explosão de informações. Uma solução adotada por algumas Organizações é a utilização de ferramentas de sistemas de informação para auxiliar na documentação, recuperação e análise dos dados. No âmbito científico, essas ferramentas são desenvolvidas para armazenar diferentes padrões de metadados (dados sobre dados). Durante o processo de desenvolvimento destas ferramentas, destaca-se a adoção de padrões como a Linguagem Unificada de Modelagem (UML, do Inglês Unified Modeling Language), cujos diagramas auxiliam na modelagem de diferentes aspectos do software. O objetivo deste estudo é apresentar uma ferramenta de sistemas de informação para auxiliar na documentação dos dados das Organizações por meio de metadados e destacar o processo de modelagem de software, por meio da UML. Será abordado o Padrão de Metadados Digitais Geoespaciais, amplamente utilizado na catalogação de dados por Organizações científicas de todo mundo, e os diagramas dinâmicos e estáticos da UML como casos de uso, sequências e classes. O desenvolvimento das ferramentas de sistemas de informação pode ser uma forma de promover a organização e a divulgação de dados científicos. No entanto, o processo de modelagem requer especial atenção para o desenvolvimento de interfaces que estimularão o uso das ferramentas de sistemas de informação. Palavras-chave: Sistemas de informação; Dados científicos; Disseminação de Dados; Processo de modelagem; UML

1. INTRODUCTION In the last decades, the technological development of new materials and advanced computing devices have allowed universities and research centers to produce and acquire great amount of data in a short space of time. In general, the growth of the database occurs from the aggregation of new data to the system, as well as of the data resulting from the generation of analyses and/or the maintenance of what already exists in database. Data should be considered as the main assets for research organizations and therefore they must be easily accessed by their users. The necessity of locating and accessing specific data inside great datasets is common, which makes data collection documentation and organization releveant. As a consequence, organizations that do not document their data are subject to the overlapping of efforts in data collecting and maintaining, as well as vulnerable to problems like inconsistencies. 12 55 A solution that has been adopted by some organizations is the development of information system (IS) tools to assist users in the datasets documentation, location and analysis. In the scientific scope, the IS tools contain descriptive information about the dataset. The development of these data IS (DIS) has obtained success in the scientific information management, due to the easiness in allowing the users to analyze the data without the necessity of acquiring them. As examples of very successful implementations that use these concepts, one can mention the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research with the IAI-DIS (URL: R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

Data Information System to promote data collection organizations – Modeling considerations by the Unified Modeling Language (UML)

https://iaibr3.iai.int/twiki/bin/view/DIS), the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia in the LBA-DIS (URL: http://lba.cptec.inpe.br/beija-flor) and the Geonetwork tool used by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics as the data access interface (URL: http://www.metadados.geo.ibge.gov.br/geonetwork). The objective of this study is to present an information system tool that assists organizations in the data documentation through the use of metadata (data about data) and to make some considerations about the IS modeling process, according to the Unified Modeling Language (UML). The Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata, widely used in the data cataloging by scientific organizations around the world, will be approached. The use of metadata standards can prenvent the same data from being described in different ways by organizations, what could vary widely from one to another. In this sense the metadata technology makes it possible for the conception of an interface between data producers and users, allowing for the common agreement about the data (Barbosa & Sena, 2008). The process of the IS tool modeling will be highlighted in this work through the use of the UML. The UML, standard by the Object Management Group (OMG, 2003), uses a standardized graphical notation to create abstract models of a system, through several types of diagrams that can increase the understanding of an application under development. 2. INFORMATION SYSTEMS OVERVIEW The data volume generated by organizations is high and therefore they should seek for efficient means for data management, in order to prevent the loss or repurchase of data already owned. The database technology is described as one of the fields which is rapidly developing in the computer and IS areas (Elmasri, 2003). Database systems have been expanded to several areas and specific features were added to improve information dissemination, mainly through the Internet. In the scientific scope, the IS should store information – using database technology – to assist the dataset description (content, scope, geographical coordinates, quality, etc.) and to allow a preliminary data analysis (Barbosa & Sena, 2006; Callahan & Johnson, 1995). That is, its primary feature is to enable users to make preliminary data analysis, without the need to acquire them. In this way, the IS should promote and assist the data collection organization process and encourage its dissemination among organizations. As a result, the wide information dissemination should minimize duplication efforts and promote dataset knowledge in research organizations. 2.1 METADATA STANDARDS Metadata, the layer of data abstraction (Shankaranarayanan & Even, 2006), is among the most enigmatic elements in IS, since people have vague and sometimes conflicting views of its role and value. However, recent studies (Even et. al, 2006; Fisher, et. al, 2003) have explored the effects of metadata on decision-making efficiency, Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 73-86

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and pointed that its use may promote the data quality evaluation both objectively and subjectively. Moreover, the use of metadata is pointed by the scientific community as an efficient solution to the information description (Moura & Campos, 2002). In the earth sciences scope, data can take different representations â&#x20AC;&#x201C; e.g., numerical measurement from instruments (balloons, radars, sensors) and/or from simulations (mathematical models for weather and climate forecasting). In that context, metadata must contain information to describe the content, quality, condition, geographic coordinates and others characteristics to identify the data (Callahan & Johnson, 1996; Hart & Phillips, 1998). There are, actually, several metadata standards in order to meet the needs of resources description. The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) (URL: http://dublincore.org/) contains a set of terms to describe the electronic resources from the Internet. Its original intent was to provide descriptions for networked resources, but it may be applied to other resources, depending on how closely their metadata resembles typical Internet documents and on what purpose the metadata is intended to serve. An example of specific metadata standard is the Government Information Locator Service (GILS) (URL: http://www.gils.net), whose purpose is to identify and describe information resources throughout the Federal government and to provide assistance in obtaining the information. Another example is the Machine-Readable Cataloguing (MARC 21) (URL: http://www.loc.gov/marc), used for storing and exchanging bibliographic records and related information in machine-readable form. In the scientific scope, the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (GEO), provided by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) (URL: http://www.fgdc.gov/metadata), is quite complete and specific for digital geospatial data description. 2.2 THE CONTENT STANDARD FOR DIGITAL GEOSPATIAL METADATA The Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (GEO) was developed jointly by the FGDC and the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM). Its purpose is to supply elements for digital spatial data information. These elements should specify labels that would be used by geo-processing programs, aiming to facilitate the search, the attainment of results and the presentation of geospatial data. The development of GEO was initiated by the ASTM in 1990 and, in 1992, the FGDC joined its development. In 1994, GEO was approved by the FGDC as a standard for data documentation in the United States. The version developed by the ASTM was incorporated into the GEO through the alphanumeric and numerical markers that must be used in the data research and presentation (Nelbert, 2000). The GEO has 334 elements that, in some cases, are inherited from other standards (GILS and MARC 21). However, it has its own set of elements that cannot be mapped by other standards. The elements numbered between 1 and 1999 have been inherited from MARC 21, elements between 2000 and 2999 have been inherited from GILS and the several other elements, numbered between 3000 and 3999, are GEO specific. The elements in the standard are classified into three categories, namely: (i) relation elements, to allow the relationship between the searched term and its position in R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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the metadata; (ii) structure elements, to specify the metadata that will be searched; and (iii) truncation elements, used to truncate the words in the text. The structure of GEO is divided into seven groups, where only the first group (Identification Information) and the last one (Metadata Reference Information) are essential for a minimum metadata description. The objective of each group is summarized below. 1. Identification Information This group contains the basic goal-information on the dataset as, for example: • Textual description; • Time period information; • Spatial reference; • Keywords; • Point of contacts (person and organization); and • Access restrictions. 2. Data Quality Information This group contains general information on the dataset quality. 3. Spatial Data Organization Information This group contains information about what mechanisms that have been used to represent the dataset spatial information. 4. Spatial Reference Information This group contains information on the system projection coordinates. 5. Entity Attribute Information This group allows the user to describe the dataset information. 6. Distribution Information This group contains information on options for data supply. The supplier corresponds to the same point of contact (person/organization) listed in the Identification Information group. Some information includes the ways to access the dataset (e.g., ftp, email, etc.). 7. Metadata Reference Information This group contains information on the last metadata update. 3. THE UNIFIED MODELING LANGUAGE – UML The UML is being extensively used in software projects, due to the facilities to represent diverse aspects from the projects. The UML is defined as a language for the specification, construction, visualization and documentation of the system artifacts (Booch et al., 2006). The language includes thirteen diagrams divided into three categories: (i) behavior diagrams (which depict behavioral features of a system or business process), (ii) interaction diagrams (which represent different aspects of the Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 73-86

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systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interactions) and (iii) structure diagrams (which show the static structure of the system being modeled) (OMG, 2009) (URL: http://www.omg.org). Each diagram provides a partial representation of the system, semantically correct, with the aim of assisting the understanding of its architecture. Generally, the UML diagrams are used to represent the system characteristics (dynamic and static) and to provide the communication between different people involved in the development process. In the next few sections, the modeling process will be presented using the three diagrams categories (behavior, interaction and structural) considered during the implementation of the Data Information System (DIS), as well as an example of the IS application. 3.1 FUNCTIONAL REQUERIMENTS MODELING The functional requirements of the DIS will be presented through a use-case (UC) diagram from the UML (Fig. 1). The goal of a use-case diagram is to describe what the system does from the standpoint of an external observer. UC diagrams can be considered as the basic concepts for specifying functional requirements of the IS (Langlands & Edwards, 2008). In summary, they can be used to improve the high-level communication of the functions of a system as well as of its scope (Bell, 2003) during the development phase. UC diagrams are composed by actors (who will interact with the system) and scenarios (examples of what happens when an actor interacts with the system), connected by relationships. Initially, it has been identified the following functions, or UC, for the DIS: metadata maintenance (insert, update and delete) and metadata search.

Figure 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DIS use-cases

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Data Information System to promote data collection organizations â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Modeling considerations by the Unified Modeling Language (UML)

To use the system (Fig. 1), an actor should be either a researcher, who carries out tasks related to the metadata maintenance and search, or a simple user, who may make only metadata searches. However, the metadata maintenance tasks can be carried out only by researchers previously registered in the DIS authentication system. Table 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Use case (metadata search) specification NAME:

Metadata search

DESCRIPTION:

Search for dataset previously registered in the dis

Actor (s):

Simple user or Author

PRIMARY SCENARIO 1. The system presents a form with optional fields to be filled 2. The user should fill at least one form field and identify its localization in the text 3. The user can combine the filling of more than one field of a form 4. The user clicks on the search button (submit) 5. The system sends the query 6. The user gets the response to the query in a friendly format 7. The user can access the metadata details by clicking on the link details ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO 5a. Before sending the query the system checks whether the user has filled at least one field. If not (none filled), the consultation should not be sent and a warning page should be presented

The UC, usually, must be followed by the descriptive scenario (Table 1), whose goal is to specify the steps for the UC completion. The scenarios should contain fields to provide better understanding of a UC, such as its name, purpose, actors (who will activate the process) and steps (primary and alternative scenarios). In this way, each UC (metadata maintenance and search) should contain a descriptive scenario associated with it. Table 1 shows the steps needed for any user (simple user or author) to make a metadata search. These steps can be graphically represented by means of the UML interaction diagrams (Fig. 2). The interaction diagrams are used to present the interactions between system objects. These diagrams are classified as sequence, communication, temporal and overview, and share the common properties of the other system objects, like name and Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 73-86

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content. Sequence diagrams (Fig. 2) are based on a bi-dimensional graph, where the Y axis includes the messages exchanged between objects in time and the X axis, the objects (aligned on the top). From Figure 2, one can observe the interactions between system objects to perform a metadata search, specified previously in Table 1. In this example, the Web Form is an interface between an actor (user/author) and the system classes (keyword and dataset), where the metadata can be showed in a friendly format. The messages are calls to the services (operations) provided by the system objects.

Figure 2 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DIS metadata searches 3.2 STRUCTURE MODELING The data model elements of the DIS (Fig. 3) will be presented using class diagrams from the UML, which represent an alternative way to the entity-relationship diagram (Chen, 1976). In these diagrams, a class is presented through a box with two sections, with the object name (or entity name) included in the upper section and its attributeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name and data types shown in the lower section. In this project, the database system is used to store the metadata and to facilitate the tasks related to their management (query, insert, update and remove). The data stored in tables, projected in compliance with the relational model restrictions (Date, 2000; Silberschatz et al., 2005), guarantees both agility and flexibility to the data access. The data model (Fig. 3) is composed of the following relations (or tables): Author, Dataset, Contact and Keyword, whose attributes, most of them, are associated with the described groups from GEO (Section 2.2). The Author table stores information about the person responsible for the metadata generation (group Identification Information). Information about the contact person for the data users is recorded in the R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

Data Information System to promote data collection organizations â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Modeling considerations by the Unified Modeling Language (UML)

Contact table (group Distribution Information). Dataset contains information concerning the datasets and its attributes have been extracted from the diverse described groups from GEO. The Keyword table stores keywords used to the dataset description.

Figure 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DIS class diagram 4. A DIS BASED ON THE UML MODELING 10:19 This section presents some of the screens designed to query a scientific metadata DIS, whose implementation was based on the UML modeling (Section 3). For a more complete description of the DIS, we refer the reader to the works of Barbosa and Sena (Barbosa & Sena, 2008; Barbosa & Sena, 2006). The DIS uses friendly interfaces for the accomplishment of metadata search. The standards adopted were Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Common Gateway Interface (CGI) that make it possible for the presentation of dynamic Web pages, generally, with the results of database queries. The database system integration with the Internet was carried through a DBI module, a generic interface from the Perl language (URL: http://www.perl.org). To carry through metadata search, the users must define the terms that will be used, as well as, identify their location in the text, the data time variation or the area covered by the data (Fig. 4).

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Figure 4 – DIS search form The available options to consult terms in the text are: (i) any part, (ii) title, (iii) abstract and (iv) keyword. The users must choose one of these options using combo boxes located to the right of the page (Fig. 4). There is the possibility to combine terms using Boolean operators: “and”, “or” or “except”. In addition to the text search fields, one can see in the form fields for the time and the spatial coverage of the searched metadata. The web page with the search results (Fig. 5) to the term “temperature”, located in the keywords, presents initially summarized information about the data. At the beginning of the page, a table contents is showed referring to the information of the search (database name, search status and the results).

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Figure 5 – Metadata search results (a)

(b)

Figure 6 – Dataset details (The metadata identification information view) Above, a list containing the metadata title is showed, followed by the option Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 73-86

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“Details…” (web link format), that makes it possible the metadata access in its complete form, for a detailed analysis (Fig. 6). The screens above presented, which structure a query (Fig. 4) and metadata access (Fig. 5 and 6), were developed in accordance with the UML model, in the following sense: the UC diagram (Fig. 1) and the descriptive scenario (Table 1) support the specifications of the steps to the query, while the sequence diagram (Fig. 2) defines the sequence of objects that should be accessed during a metadata query. 5. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS The metadata standards may be used to create a common grammar for the data description. This conceptualization must provide a potential integration between organizations in order to promote the interchange for the scientific data exchange. This paper presented a DIS intended to query scientific metadata based on the GEO standard. The work emphasized the system modeling (their specifications and interactions) through the use of the UML. With the use of the UML, as a standard graphical language, it is possible to abstract the essential details of the underlying problem, in order to better characterize the IS modeling process. Yet, with respect to the IS modeling, this paper presents the three types of diagrams provided by the UML (behavior, interactions and structure) and emphasizes their use in the implementation of the system. These diagrams were used to assist the development of friendly electronic interfaces that will stimulate the DIS use. Through the interfaces, tasks such as search and data analysis, as well as metadata maintenance, can be carried through in an easy and agile way. Through the UML diagrams it is possible to develop modular systems, easily adaptable to the needs of users. The development of the DIS by research organizations can be a way to promote and to facilitate the scientific data dissemination, to prevent the duplication of efforts in their attainment, as well as to stimulate the reuse of the collected, already processed and stored data. It should be noted that the modeling techniques of IS described in this work can be easily adapted to the development of other systems, with other metadata standards, regardless of the platform used in the implementation of the systems.

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REFERENCES Barbosa, E.B.M. & Sena, G.J. (2008). Scientific Data Dissemination – A Data Catalogue to Assist Research Organizations. Ciência da Informação. 37, 1. Barbosa, E.B.M.& Sena, G.J. (2006). Um Banco de Metadados para Auxiliar a Disseminação de Dados Científicos em Instituições de Pesquisas. In: 3rd CONTECSI International Conference on Information Systems and Technology Management and 11th World Continuous Auditing, São Paulo. Anais. Bell, D. UML basics (2008): An introduction to the Unified Modeling Language. URL: <http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/769.html>, 2003.Boock, G., Rumbaugh, J. & Jacobson, I. (2006). UML Guia do Usuário. Campus. Callahan, S.D. & Jonhson, B.D. (1995) Scientific Data Set Catalogues. In: Proceedings of Second AGSO Forum on GIS in the Geosciences, Canberra, (29-31). Callahan, S.D. & Jonhson, B.D. (1996). Dataset Publishing – A Means to Motivate Metadata Entry. In: First IEEE Metadata Conference, Silver Springs, Maryland. Chen, P.P. (1976). The Entity-Relationship Model – Toward a Unified View of Data. ACM Transactions on Database Systems, (9-36) Date, C.J. (2000). Introduction to Database Systems,. 7th. Ed. Addison Wesley Professional. Elmasri, R., Navathe (2003), S.B. Fundamentals of Database Systems. 4th Ed. Addison Wesley. Even, A., Shankaranarayanan, G. & Watts, S. (2006). Enhancing decision making with process metadata: Theoretical framework, research tool, and exploratory examination. In: Proceedings of the 39th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-39). IEEE Press, Los Alamitos, CA. Fisher, C., Chengalur-Smith, I., & Ballou, D. (2003). The impact of experience and time on the use of data quality information in decision making. Information Systems Research. 14, 2, (170-188). Hart, D., Phillips, H. Metadata Primer – How to Guide on Metadata. Implementation. URL: http://www.lic.wisc.edu/metadata/metaprim.htm ,1998. Accessed: Jan/2007. Langlands M., Edwards, C. Business vs System Use Cases – Part One. URL: http://www.requirementsnetwork.com , 2008. Accessed: May/2008. Moura, A.M.C. & Campos, M.L.M. A Metadata Approach to Manage and Organize Electronic Documents and Collections on the Web. Journal of the Brazilian Computer Society, 1, 8, (16-31). Nebert, D.D. Z39.50 Application Profile for Geospatial Metadata, 2.2 URL: <http:www.fgdc.gov/standards/projects/GeoProfile>, 2000. Accessed: Jan/2007. OMG, Object Management Group, Inc. Introduction To OMG's Unified Modeling Language (UML). URL: <http://www.omg.org/gettingstarted/what_is_uml.htm>, 2009. Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 73-86

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Accessed: Jun/2010. Shankaranarayanan, G. & Even, A. (2006). The Metadata Egnima. Communications of the ACM, 49, 2. Silberschatz, A., Korth, H.F. & Sudarshan, S. (2005). Database Systems Concepts. 5th. Ed. McGraw-Hill.

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JISTEM Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Vol. 8, No. 1, 2011, p. 87-108 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752011000100005

CRM AS A SUPPORT FOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP Silvana Toriani University of Southern Santa Catarina, Brazil Maria Terezinha Angeloni Pierre Mendès France University, France __________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT This paper aims to analyze the role of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as a support for Knowledge Management (KM) and the Customer Relationship Strategy Definition in an Information Technology (IT) Company. This work is based on theories of KM, IT, and Relationship Marketing. Our survey uses a descriptive approach, in which data is gathered by means of content analysis of semi-structured interviews. The study results have shown us that the company implements an effective system for CRM, in which the system users transform data into information and knowledge in order to support decision-making and strategy definition. Keywords: Customer Relationship Management, Knowledge Management, Relationship Marketing, and Customer Relationship Strategy.

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Recebido em/Manuscript first received: 16/03/2009 Aprovado em/Manuscript accepted: 23/07/2010 Endereço para correspondência/ Address for correspondence Silvana Toriani, Master in Business Administration from the University of Southern Santa Catarina Professor and coordinator of the Senac Commercial Management Course Rua: Silva Jardim, 360, Cep: 88020 -200 - Prainha - Florianópolis Phone: 48 9119 0635; 48 3229 3247/ Fax 48 3229 3215 E-mail:

siltoriani@yahoo.com.br Maria Terezinha Angeloni, PhD in Business Administration from the Pierre Mendès France University -Grenoble, France; Professor and researcher in Knowledge Management Phone: 48 – 9969 1020 E-mail: angelggc@hotmail.com

ISSN online: 1807-1775 Publicado por/Published by: TECSI FEA USP – 2011

88 Toriani, S., Angeloni, M. T.

1. INTRODUCTION In Brazil, the opening of borders and the process of globalization have more effectively happened since 1990, when the fierce competition and the constant changes meant that organizations had to adopt new forms of management. The changes that have contributed to the organizational development emphasized the importance of the human element in the organization: it is the passage from the second to the third wave, cited by Toffler (1980), i.e. from the industrial wave to a wave of information and knowledge. In the second wave, the competitive advantage was obtained by means of the location and access to cheap labor, natural resources and the financial capital, and in the third one, the management of information and knowledge, the use of Information Technology and the relationship with the customer are considered important factors in organizational performance and they result in obtaining a competitive advantage. Vera and Crossan (2005), besides addressing how knowledge becomes a sustainable competitive advantage, they study the process by which it is created, developed, stored and transferred in a constant cycle of processing of data into information and information into knowledge according to Smit and Talamo (2007). Therefore, managing knowledge and relating to customers seeking their loyalty have become one of the prerogatives for the organizations that want to survive the competition. It is notably observed that companies are faced with the challenge of competing in a world where knowledge adds value to organizations being considered by Wiig (1997), Hansen, Nohria and Tierney, (1999), as the fourth factor of production, with superior pertinence to traditional land, labor and capital. Based on the foregoing, this study seeks to examine the role of CRM as a support for Knowledge Management and to develop strategies of relationship with the customer, based on the assumption that they are determining factors for organizations that wish to have quality and fast delivery of products and services to customers. Consequently it is necessary to know how CRM can be used to generate knowledge and to support strategies of customer relationship. To achieve the proposed objective, the article is structured from this introduction, followed by theoretical assumptions that underlie the study, the methodology and data analysis. In the final considerations, the main results and reflections on the study are presented. 2 . THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The study is supported on three theoretical foundations: Knowledge Management-KM, Technologies Customer Relationship, and Relationship MarketingRM.

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CRM as a support for knowledge management and customer relationship

2.1 CRM as a knowledge management support Knowledge Management (KM) is not considered as a new practice by authors such as Hansen, Nohria and Tierney (1999). For them, new is the "aware" practice of Knowledge Management in organizations. Davenport and Prusak (1998) also believe that, even before this subject matter became commonplace, good managers already valued the experience and the know-how of their employees, that is, their knowledge. According to Sveiby (1998, p. 3), "Knowledge Management is no longer a fashion of operational efficiency. It is part of the corporate strategy ", which leads to think about Knowledge Management as a strategy. The interest in KM has generated countless scientific and practical work. They can be classified into two approaches, the functionalist and the interpretative. The first approach emphasizes the explicit knowledge, treating it as a manageable "object" (Dhaliwal; Benbasat, 1996; Gregor; Benbasat, 1999; Zhao; Kumar; Stohr, 2001). The authors dealing with Knowledge Management in the functionalist perspective aim to create ways to disseminate and expand the knowledge from the support of different technologies (Easterby-Smith; Lyles, 2005). The second approach emphasizes the tacit knowledge, treating it as a "process" (George; Iacono; Kling, 1995; Schultze; Boland, 2000; Stenmark, 2001; Von Krogh; IchijĹ?; Nonaka, 2001; Alvarenga Neto, 2010; Cassapo, 2009). The authors dealing with KM in an interpretative perspective must focus on people and consequently in building an environment of interaction between individuals through the creation of "Ba", which can be interpreted according to Nonaka and Konno (1998) as space, or context, shared for new relationships. Therefore, when speaking about Knowledge Management there are the two types, the explicit and the tacit, considered by Polanyi (1998) as parts of a cycle in which the person gets explicit knowledge, incorporates and uses it such as tacit, and generates new explicit knowledge, which can be absorbed by another person. Based on the assumption that the creation of knowledge occurs through interaction of tacit knowledge with the explicit, Nonaka and Takeuchi (1997) postulated four modes of conversion of knowledge into a business, creating what he termed as "spiral of knowledge". The modes are: socialization (from tacit to tacit); outsourcing (from tacit to explicit); combination (from explicit to explicit); and internalization (from explicit to tacit). Aiming to support the spiral of knowledge, Rodriguez y Rodriguez (2002, p. 122) present some technologies related to modes of conversion of knowledge as in table 1.

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From: Tacit Knowledge

From: Explicit Knowledge

Socialization Knowledge maps

Externalization Groupware Workflow Intelligent bases of Knowledge CRM Internalization Combination Innovation support CRM tools Intranet Electronic Management of Documents Business Intelligence

Table 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Knowledge training Source: Rodriguez y Rodriguez (2002, p. 122) Analyzing the frame, we can observe the presence of CRM as a technology support to the outsourcing of knowledge, which can be exemplified by the explicitation of tacit knowledge about customers and the person who is just in the minds of the employees who have contact with them. As CRM is powered, knowledge becomes explicit and may be used by other industries or employees who require data and information about the customer. CRM also supports the combination of explicit knowledge, because an explicit knowledge can be used in conjunction with other explicit knowledge such as rules or standards of the company in dealings with customers, number of contacts, operations, purchased products, etc., forming new knowledge. Therefore, one can conclude that CRM supports two forms of conversion of knowledge presented by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1997), namely the outsourcing and the combination. All the arguments presented so far have the goal to demonstrate the dynamics of the transformation of supplied or made available data by the technological CRM tool in information and knowledge that could be used by organizations. This will become a benefit as a whole only when the technological tools are used to the fullest and when knowledge is transformed from tacit into explicit and vice versa, disseminated, transferred, shared and applied to organizational activities. 2 .2 CRM-information technologies to support customer management Contemporary management models have been benefited from the development of Information Technology. Among the many changes offered by the technological progress is the development and improvement of databases on customers. Improvement because you can search, in the recent past, management practices carried out manually, through notebooks, binders, and request blocks. Fortunately there are a variety of R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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technologies and software to manage the relationship with customers and Zenone (2010) highlights that CRM is not exclusively a technology, or "just a software application", noting that the technology is important to enable the deployment of CRM but it does not guarantee success or failure of implementation. In the same sense, Richers (2000, p. 105) considers that CRM extends beyond a technology. To the author, CRM is a business strategy designed to increase the profitability and the company's revenue through the increased level of satisfaction of those who use the goods and services marketed by it. " Gummesson (2009, p. 23) states that "CRM are the values and strategies of MRwith special emphasis on the relationship between the customer and suppliertransformed into practical application and dependent on human action and Information Technology." Scott (2001, p. 2) adds, CRM is a business strategy focused on the understanding and anticipating the needs of present and future customers of a company. From a technology perspective, it involves capturing customer data throughout the enterprise, consolidates all data captured internally and externally in a central database, analyzes the consolidated data, distributes the results of such an analysis to the various points of customer contact and uses this information by interacting with the customer through any point of contact with the company.

The inputs to the implementation of this strategy focused on the customer are the transformation of data into information management; such a process was facilitated by the development of Information Technologies. Under this perspective, CRM is a process that searches for customer data and transforms them into relevant and up-to-date information to support relationships, generating knowledge. Teixeira (2003) states that the key point of efficiency is the use and integration of knowledge and relationship models (CRM, BI â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Business Intelligence, and KM â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Knowledge Management) that give companies valuable information and guide decisionmaking and strategic settings by providing timely and accurate information about customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; consumption habits. This is one of the reasons why CRM should be integrated into all actions of the company, providing the costumer with agility and reliability. CRM is not a product or service, i.e. it does not bring profits directly; it serves as a business strategy to manage the relationship with the customer in the search for the maintenance and retention of the relatioship, generating long-term and indirect results. For this strategy to be successful, according to Norris and Hurley (2001), the company must take into account a set of variables, because its implementation requires skilled people, well-defined processes, cultural changes and new attitudes from the employees with regard to the data supply in the system. Kotler and Armstrong (2007) add that CRM should involve the management of detailed information about customers. For the implementation of CRM, Peppers and Rogers (2001, p. 28-31) propose four steps. The first consists in identifying each customer by the company, as a prerequisite, since each customer requires a different type of relationship.Thus, the acquisition of customer knowledge to start a relationship becomes imperative. The second consists of the differentiation of customers by value and by needs. The purpose of differentiation is Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 87-108

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to identify customers of most value (CMV) and with the costumers of most potential (CMP), to develop a long-term relationship with the more profitable ones. As for interaction, the third stage occurs after the identification of the CMVs and the CMPs. The fourth and last step is customization. After getting the data in relation to the needs of customers, it is up to the company to customize the services and products offered. The four steps to CRM implementation demonstrate the importance of knowing the customer, to distinguish them better to meet their needs, to interact to create a relationship with them and to customize products, services and the care to retain the costumer. This model of CRM implementation is complete and enables the companies to contemplate the customer holistically. For Peppers and Rogers (2000, 2001), companies can use, depending on their needs, one or more types of CRM. Operational CRM is the application of Information Technology to improve the efficiency of company-customer relationship, and it should include the integration of back office with mobile or virtual office. Collaborative CRM covers the main forms of contact with the customer of all areas of the company. The forms of contact must be prepared to ensure the adequate flow of data across the organization. Analytical CRM is the source of all the processâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; intelligence, being used to adjust the strategies of differentiation of customers, as well as for the monitoring of their habits. It uses analysis tools, data mining, and analytic reports that have as data source the data warehouse. The concept of data warehouse arose from the need to integrate business data spread across different platforms and operating system environments to make them accessible to all decision-making levels users (FELISONI, 2004, p. 97). For Stone, Woodcock, and Machtynger (2001, p. 228), "Data warehouse and data mining are not purposes themselves, but evidence to support the development of strategies and more competitive operations ". Based on the types of CRM and the concept of conversion modes of knowledge in organizations, operational CRM aims to capture tacit customer data, which implies in its outsourcing of the organization. Currently, these given data will be analyzed by analytical CRM, combining them with other existing data in the organization. From this systematization, there is the need to socialize them by the Organization, through the Collaborative CRM. Finally, after their socialization, this knowledge is internalized reaching its competitive differentiator. The primary goal of the adoption of three types of CRM in an integrated way is to streamline and optimize business processes. However, to be aligned with CRM it is necessary that the center of the data model be the customer and not the product, as in conventional processes and until now prevailing within organizations. 2.3. Relationship marketing The companiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; relationship with their customers has gained importance in the world business. The trend in the 21st century, according to Boone & Kurtz (1998) and Rapp & Collins (1996), is that the company understands the need of its customer and manage the relationship, what to Bretzke (2000) means "care and caring" relationship. R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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Relationship Marketing according to Dias (2003) is a strategy that aims to build a lasting relationship between customer and supplier, based on trust, collaboration, commitment, partnership, investment and mutual benefits, resulting in returning optimization to the company and its customers. For Schultz, Tannenbaum and Lauterborn (1994), since the companies and customers learn more with each other through various forms of interplay and communication systems, the integration of marketing communications occurs naturally. Individualized marketing communication is the key factor in the relationship between the customer and the organization, since, if this process fails, the customer will certainly cut this link. Contemporary organizations prioritize best management practices and communication to optimize the relationship with customers. This form of desired relationship transcends the simple relationship marketing and aims to know the customer fully to meet their needs, expectations and to establish lasting bonds. Kotler & Armstrong (2007) highlight the importance of continued involvement of members of the organization with each of its customers and in particular with the best customers in order to serve them with excellence, not combining, according to Rapp and Collins (1996), with short-term thinking. According to the authors, years of work can be destroyed in a moment by organizations with immediate vision. Kotler and Armstrong (2007) stress that building lasting relationships is the key to the creation of superior values and satisfaction for the customer, and satisfied customers are more likely to become loyal customers. Mckenna (1993) supports this argument and adds that creating solid and lasting relationships is an arduous task, difficult to maintain in a world where the customer has so many options that a personal relationship is the only way to keep them loyal. Lovelock (2005, p. 150) considers loyalty as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;voluntary decision of a customer to continue supporting a specific company during an extended period.â&#x20AC;? However, this loyalty, according to the author, cannot be taken for granted, because the customer only remains loyal to the company while he thinks that he is getting the best price in relation to quality, otherwise he will be open to change suppliers; but, for Zenone (2010), if the company creates intimacy with the customer and knows him deeply, the tendency is the unwillingness to seek new suppliers. D'Angelo, Schneider and Laran (2006) emphasize that for the adoption of Relationship Marketing, the Company must be mature, full of ideals and commitment to certain principles that are regarded as fundamental to the business success, as part of its plan of action, and then it will engage in choosing and format the resources needed for the MR implementation. The authors highlight the importance of a customerfocused culture, which is complemented by Zenone (2010) by highlighting the relevance of variables, processes, people and technologies focused on Customer Relationship Management, making MR a style of doing business. Thus, it is up to the marketing strategist, to define strategies based on the analysis of these variables, for which the expected targets are effectively met. The ideal situation is that companies that get support from the relationship with the customer as a Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 87-108

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business strategy and that use both technological tools such as CRM go without neglecting the importance of empowering people to use generating knowledge and act strategically to maintain and build lasting relationships. Talking about relationship is the same as talking about loyalty, which consists of a big challenge for organizations, but the biggest challenge is to succeed to apply these concepts and gain competitive advantage. 3. SURVEY RESEARCH METHOD The reasearcher needs a method as a guide to perform scientific research, which must indicate the steps to be followed in the process. This survey is characterized as a case study with a descriptive main focus. For Franco (1986) and Godoy (1995), a case study is indicated when you want to portray a certain situation or unit and, subsequently, to make an analysis of this situation. In this survey, the unit to be studied is an Information Technology Company, located in Florian贸polis, Brazil. Sellitz (1987) classifies the survey research according to the type of knowledge that can be achieved depending on the object to be investigated: exploratory, descriptive, and causal. The descriptive model used in the study provides a preliminary knowledge base and aims to describe the characteristics of the object, seeking to list and explain what was really found. The sample is composed of the President, three Vice Presidents and the subordinates of the Vice Presidency of Commercial Marketing (three directors, three managers, and three supervisors) in a total of 13 (thirteen) respondents who account for 15 (fifteen) positions, because the President also reports to a Vice President and the Vice President of Business Marketing reports to a Board of Directors. Both occupy two positions of different levels. The definition of the sample was intentional and involved all offices that participate in strategic decision-making within the company and the directors, managers and supervisors who take care of the customer. According to Richardson (1989), the intentional sample is one in which participants are selected according to certain characteristics provided by the researcher, as in the case of this study. The primary data were collected through semi structured interviews and direct observation and secondary data through documentation, records, files, databases, and bibliographic research. The interviews were recorded and performed in August and September 2008. After transcription, they passed through content analysis, which according to Bardin (1979) cannot be based on an exact model, following some rules of interpretation of different directions in the accounts.

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4 . DATA ANALYSIS Company characterization - the study was conducted in an Information Technology Company, founded in 1977. The head office located in Florianópolis in the State of Santa Catarina, focuses its activities on manufacturing and developing telecommunications solutions through 100% national high-tech. It counts with the presence of 498 employees, of whom 334 (three hundred and thirty four) perform their activities in the haed office and the other employees are in regional offices located in São Paulo and Ribeirão Preto, in the State of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro,in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brasília - Federal District, Recife, in the State of Pernambuco, Curitiba, in the State of Paraná, Porto Alegre, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, and São José, in the State of Santa Catarina. The commercial and marketing Vice Presidency is characterized by a conglomerate of diverse knowledge, such as technical expertise, commercial, legal and administrative, and mainly data about customers. To generate these findings, the team uses a variety of information provided by various sectors within the organization itself, regional offices and affiliates, in addition to the database about customers. The database about customers is a multifunctional system, called TICO, developed by the company. TICO can be characterized as a large database where all customer information is stored. TICO structure is composed by sub-systems, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 – Presentation of TICO and Information Technology Company subsystems Source: Company documents SUP: Technical support management. ACL: Customer monitoring. Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 87-108

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SSC: Call service center support. SAT: Technical assistance service. CCO: Commercial contracts. EMS: Costumer’s personal and financial data. The system was developed to meet the needs of the customer service in light of the particularity of marketed products and services. The company does not sell commodities, it sells a tailored communication solution; therefore, it needs an effective and complete database on the customer. To ensure reliability and perfect functioning of that system, all employees have passwords and login to access subsystems in which all daily activities related to the customer are recorded. After the characterization of the company studied and the presentation of the relationship with the customer, we pass on to the results of the goals aimed at. The first of the specific objectives of this study “aims to understand the usage of CRM in customer relationship management.” In order to answer it respondents were questioned about what customer relationship technological tool the company uses: V1 - Yes, it has been 10 years of investment in this tool that is fantastic and TICO that was built for us. V2 – (....) we are currently upgrading the system to adapt it as business as needs increase. D3 - The information about the customer are in TICO, this is our CRM. G3 - The Company works with its own software called TICO developed by the company's analysts. TICO is a melting pot of customer’s information. Based on data we can infer that the company has a technological tool called TICO, developed by the company itself and that contains all the customers’ data. Recalling everything that was substantiated by CRM, we can affirm that the studied company has a technology base that addresses the customer with the concept of Cruz (1998) that calls CRM computerized technology support for cooperative work. What was substantiated as an ideal CRM is not only to have a technological tool for data storage, but to have the database to use effective relationship with the customer. Respondents were asked about the use of CRM, and we got the following answers: V4 - We use TICO whenever we need to have contact with customers; in the customer base we have all the contact with the customers - whether they called or whether the after-sales service contacted them. The after-sales sometimes identifies new needs solutions that end up generating new business (...). G2 - TICO is used to meet customer demands, as we sell custom solutions, our system R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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has more than just the function of accumulating customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s point; it is the database that develops new solutions for the customer. S3 - This is our system where any activity, any record, any action to be done, I have everything within that system (. ..) The answers to this question demonstrate agreement with concepts of Pepper and Rogers (2001) who claim that when focus is on the customer, each customer is unique and as such the customer needs to be dealt with individual and two-way communications. Respondents were asked aboutAs for the type of data that are obtained by means of the tool, we got these answers: V4 - On TICO I got everything that happened with the customer, from the moment they were potential customers to the moment they became actual customers, I have the whole history, all contacts, financial situation, I know if I can offer a new solution ... everything. D2 - When you enter into the customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; environment everything is there, the strategic importance for the company, the frequency value, financial situation, customer satisfaction, all the history that they have had with us, all of the contacts they have had with us, contracts (...) It is noticeable the importance of the system to work in the company, the type of business suggests the personalized service to customers. TICO is the system used by the Company in relationship with the customers and provides data on them, such as type, value, length of contract, service requests, technical assistance, etc. Ultimately, all customer data are in the system and developers use them according to the activities, the position and the type of action they perform. The use of the system is effective while it is accessible to employees; Bretzke (2000) says this is a strategy in the globalized economy where individual relationships with customers are critical to the survival of the organizations. Respondents were asked about how frequently the company uses the customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s relationship data, and the answers were: V2 - At all times, it is very difficult to think of developing new solutions without thinking of the customers, today we are very much geared to anticipate customer needs to maintain the current and conquer new ones. G2 - Our vision is that CRM customizes customer services, so it is used daily; everything that is done depends on the access to the system. S3 - Everyday, in any action that you are going to make you need to extract some information about the customers whether it is a technical analysis for system expansion, or seeking their whole technical history. At the time to do a maintenance contract you have to check additives, all information that is there is used daily. The relationship tool is used daily, as described above, the company works with Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 87-108

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customized products and services that require a good customer database which is used daily in all actions related to them. The media used in relationship with customers are: V2 - We have direct channels, such as e-mail, phone service, and voip. We also go to fairs, send materials by post, and other ways of communication, like MSN, and the important thing is to maintain communication with the customer. D3 - We use e-mail, phone, contracts go by mail, chat, and voip. G3 - Miscellaneous, voip, email, phone, and direct contact. S3 - There are several types, I use the telephone, email, and voip. This question sought to understand what happens to communication with customers to understand if there is an effective use of CRM and concluded that the company uses various channels for direct contact with the customer, which is something very positive, according to the concept of Swift (2001), who suggests that the company should have as an objective to increase the opportunities of direct access with the customers. Respondents were asked if the company believes that the tool provides competitive advantage and we got the following answers: V3 - We would not have different services we if we did not have TICO; it helps a lot to provide distinctive services to customers, which is a super advantage. D2 - No doubt, TICO is very useful for customer care, and when we take good care of the customer it is possible to gain competitive advantages. G2 -The system gives us an advantage as it allows us to make customers become loyal through personalized and distinctive attention. S3 - I think so, because with the information that TICO provides we are able to do a lot, so if well used we can get some advantages. In relation to the use of the CRM tool for a competitive advantage in the marketplace, most respondents stated: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yes, the tool provides a competitive advantage, because it allows us to have a personalized and distinctive customer who generates a good competitive advantage in today's fierce competition. Seeking to meet the first objective of â&#x20AC;&#x153;understanding the use of CRM in the customer relationship management processesâ&#x20AC;?, we realize that the studied company's information technology uses the concept of Bretzke (2000), where the individual relationship with customers is a priority. The company has developed a system that meets the recommendations of Kotler and Keller (2006), where CRM is the management of information about each customer, and of Scott (2001), who states that CRM involves capturing customer data throughout the enterprise. By the results of the interviews it can be said that the company uses, according to Peppers and Rogers (2001), the operational CRM, since inside TICO all data about R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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customers are stored (contract type, payment services, SSC or SAT) as well as collaborative CRM, because it is used by professionals who have contact with the customer (via telephone, e-mail, fax, among others). In general, one observes the use of TICO as a fundamental tool for customer services as the company develops customized products and services, and is also being used frequently by employees who serve customers. To meet the second goal of the study that consists of “checking if the CRM data are transformed into knowledge,” we asked if the data obtained in the CRM tool are shared by all sectors of the company; they replied: V4 - In TICO there is customer data; the sharing of data depends on the access to and processing capacity to obtain knowledge from data system. G3 - TICO is used by all sectors, but by levels of access through login and password, the commercial sector, for example, can see everything, but production cannot see the price of the equipment. So for each manager and for each employee there are levels of access. S3 - Yes, all people have access to the system, but they rely on the login and password to know what type of access. Unanimously all respondents said that developers have access to the system, to different levels of access depending on the position and the function they perform, what allows us to infer evidences of practice of knowledge management practices in the enterprise, which is, according to Borghoff and Pareschi (1998) and Von Krogh, Ichijō, and Nonaka (2001), the transformation of information into knowledge through a social and human process. When enquired about the main shared data: V3 - Each employee uses a type of data, for example, customer service; the SAC (Costumer Service) has access to all customer information which allows it to provide a distincitve and personalized service because they know the whole history (...) G1 - It depends, everybody shares it by access levels, and even when someone does not have access to certain information, this will require a justification of the service manager. S1- All data are in the system, when you do not have the information in the system I will get it from the people. Or when I do not have access to that information or I do not know where the information is, because today within our system everything is there as long as you know how to navigate and obviously have a login and password for access to do so (...) Access to the data happens in different ways according to the perception of the respondents; each person has an access type defined by the login and password. Supported by Ruggles (1998), for whom “share is transferring existing knowledge to other parts of the Organization”, we can say that the company shares knowledge, because the financial team has access to quantity and incoming calls recorded in SSC or SAT and this knowledge is necessary for granting or not a financial benefit in the monthly fee, for example. Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 87-108

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When respondents were asked if the data of the CRM tool is transformed into information and knowledge: V2 - We use many data to generate information and knowledge for decision making; they are very useful and necessary for the administration. D1 - My team does it, not as it should, but it does it ... There is information that could be better used to have knowledge. S3 - It varies from person to person, each has a goal with TICO’s data, for example, I need to have information, but I don't know if others do it too. In the enterprise, people have access to data, but the transformation of data into information and knowledge depends on each person, this is the assertion of most of the respondents, and this agrees with Tanaka (2000) and Stenmark (2001), for whom the knowledge always originates in people; without them the data is just data, without the processing there is no information and no knowledge. It was also noted that some of the respondents know the difference between data, information and knowledge, and for some vice-presidents and directors it would be the ideal if all the employees could use the tool to generate information and knowledge. When respondents were asked about how the system data are used: D1 - Here we use the data to meet the clients needs. G2 - In my case, for example, that I take care of important customers, and since I am strategic, I use a lot of data from TICO, although I have a lot of tacit knowledge I also use the explicit one from the system. G2 – I think that, in most cases, to meet the customer’s needs and even to analyze the data for decision-making, because everything we need we take from the system, but I also think that there are a lot of things that are only in people’s heads. S1 - We use it for everything that you may think regarding customer service, all the data about the customer are in the system. About the use of data, it is clear in the respondents’ answers that each person uses the system their own way depending on the position and the activities they carry out. The interviews allowed us to realize the diverse uses; while vice presidents and directors use data for result analysis, managers and supervisors use data to serve customers. When respondents were asked if the company has a knowledge management program: V2 - Knowledge management has always existed here, for we sell knowledge indirectly, our solutions require knowledge, so we have a good knowledge management that is normally because of the professionals who work here. V4 - This is still new to us with that name, but how to sell knowledge indirectly I believe that we have used knowledge management to maintain the business growth. D2- Knowledge management is one of the toughest terms you can conceptualize. We do R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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knowledge management, but tacit knowledge is a reality in parts, we are trying to improve the structure, the knowledge we have structured is available to all levels within the company, i.e. it is explicit. S3 – (...) now we're waking up to this, we have a lot of information, but I don't know if it is applied as it should, you understand, but I believe so, I believe, although the company is very dynamic, so that part of management must be very well crafted here. To answer if the company has a knowledge management program, we rescued the Nonaka and Takeuchi (1997) concept, in which Knowledge Management lies in the ability to relate information and apply it by the people in the company. According to this concept, there is evidence that the company works with Knowledge Management, maybe not the way initiated by some contributors, but essentially they have processes that allow relating the information and applying it, which to Davenport and Prusak (1998) originates in documents, routines, processes, and organizational practices. Meeting the second specific objective, to “check if the CRM data are transformed into knowledge”, we can say that the Information Technology Company uses a model of Knowledge Management. For Linde (2000), knowledge means nothing unless you know how to keep it, administer it and use it on a daily basis in the organization. Daily practices as well as data storage and administration for the knowledge generation have been identified in the studied company, but supported by Wah (2000), Dhaliwal and Benbasat (1996), and Easterby-Smith and Lyles (2005), we infer that the choice was by the technological way of gathering, capturing and storaging customer‘s data through a system enabled to meet the company’s needs. The third specific objective “seeks to identify if the strategic actions developed by the companies are based on the data from CRM.” When respondents asked if the CRM data are used in the construction of strategic planning, the following answers were given: V1 - We use it for planning, whenever we need information we access the TICO system, we have filters on the database to stratify the data to strategically use the information. V3 -They are fundamental to the definition of strategies and for performance monitoring. D1 - We use some data to make the planning of this Board. D3 - Yes, we use a lot of data to define new actions. G3 - Yes, TICO’s data are used for the preparation of planning, we do different analyses from those data. S2 - I know that someone does this, but I do not know who or how. The responses show that the people involved directly in the construction of strategic planning use the TICO tool to define strategic actions. On a supervisory level, as they do not participate directly in the planning, there are some questions about the use. This statement regarding supervisors was only possible after the answers were given about the Company dynamic construction of strategic planning. Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 87-108

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V1 - We do the planning annually, each year has a new planning. D1 - This board makes its plan once a year. G1 - We do it annually. G3 - The Company does not have the culture to make a long-term strategic planning. We consider the fact that product that it works with is a technological product and that we never can predict what will happen in 4 or 5 years. Our planning is annual. When respondents were questioned about who participates in the making of the strategic planning, these are the answers we got. V1-First comes the planning of each Board with their data, and then the Vice Presidents make the planning for the company. V3- First, each sector does it individually, then, we finish focusing on the company objectives. D1-I call the managers and we do it together. D3-Each sector makes a preview, but we are the ones who finish it. G1-We help the Board, but the end is done by the vice-presidents together with the President. G2-Managers together with directors make the planning that is forwarded to the vicepresidents and to the President. S3-As far as I know it goes the managers and directors and then it goes to the vice-presidents. Strategic planning involves the participation of managers and directors.The strategic planning is reviewed and finalized by the Vice-Presidents and directors. The same strategic planning is implemented top-down as well as decisions that are taken in the same way in the Company. It is a model used by several companies, but questioned when considering that there is the participation of operational and tactical levels for greater commitment in the implementation. As for the manner the strategic planning is structured, we got the following answers. V3-For instance, we want to grow in 2009, so we look at what happened in 2008 to define the strategies to achieve the goals of the year. V4-each sector makes a pre-strategic planning and we finish it. D1-once we do it, we forward it to the Vice President who makes the planning for the entire company along with the other vice-presidents and the President. G1-Each Board has to make their own strategic planning and then the President and the Vice-Presidents define the strategic planning of the company. When respondents were asked about the importance of the CRM tool for developing strategies the answers were: V3-I consider TICO crucial because with the increase in competitiveness in all sectors R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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there are no more products or solutions that are unique, you have to do better management of the sales force and of needs that the customer may have and the decisions they may make (...). D1-On the basis of our type of product the customer database is critical to make strategic actions. G1-our system has very important data about customers, and I think it's important to decide the company's strategies. The interviews show that the company has a customer relationship software application with lots of data and information, and that it considers of utmost importance the data use for the making of the strategy. This is seen as ideal by Teixeira (2003) and Kotler & Armstrong (2007). When respondents were asked if CRM is used as a knowledge management strategy in the relationship with the customer, the following answers were given: V1-we use TICO to generate knowledge and act ... When everyone knows that a contract is coming in and everybody goes to the customer and proposes the replacement of certain equipment, we upgrade (....) the TICO system e-mails and warns the seller to talk with the customer. D2-I think that increasingly, now that this tends to intensify a lot, we do not explore all the available potential (...) G3-Actually TICO (company´s own application) is much more of a system to assist in customer relationship (....) but I do not know if it is used effectively to generate new knowledge and act strategically in the relationship with the customer S1-I think that we still do not use all the system information to generate knowledge and relate better with the customer. Some respondents argue that CRM is used as a knowledge management strategy, while others argue that we need to improve the practices of TICO use to generate knowledge and use it effectively in their relationship with the customer. The third objective “seeks to identify if the strategic actions developed by the companies are based on the data from CRM” we realize that the studied company uses the customer’s database to define strategies. According to Mckenna (1993), this Company’s behavior is considered ideal in globalised markets in which organizations must act strategically and develop lasting relationships with customers. According to the respondents, the company currently has a good participation in its business segment, and it is the largest Brazilian company in its type of industry. It has a portfolio of customers, in which 70% of them have long-term contracts, continues in constant updating to stay in the current position in Brazil and seeks new markets. 5. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

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To study the use of CRM is to understand the importance of effective care and zeal for the customer. Such a statement was for too long just a "nice" speech in most companies, but it can be perceived as something applicable in the case study conducted in the Information Technology Company. The first of the specific objectives of this study, "understanding the use of CRM in customer management processes" demonstrated that CRM helps the company to have distinctive services for their customers, providing personalized and interactive relationships that can provide security and credibility in relation to it. To support the development of its organizational activities, the company developed a technological tool that meets its needs. The studied company follows the teachings of Richers (2000), Gummesson (2010), and Scott (2001), who claim that CRM should be regarded as a business strategy focused on understanding and anticipating the needs of current and potential customers and should be designed to increase the profitability and the level of satisfaction of those who use the goods and services marketed by the Company; and from Peppers and Rogers (2001): when the focus is on the customer, each customer is unique, so, all the communication is two-way and individual. In the Company, the dialogue is developed bilaterally and customers are treated in different ways. The second objective of the study, to “check if the CRM data are transformed into knowledge”, demonstrated the suitability of the company’s practices in relation to the proposition made by authors Dhaliwal and Benbasat (1996), Gregor and Benbasat (1999), Zhao, Kumar, and Stohr (2001), that deal with knowledge management in the functionalist perspective. Among the ideal practices, the fact that all employees have access to the system is found; it provides data in a structured and organized manner, which facilitates the access of users, who can transform data into information and knowledge. The company uses tacit and explicit knowledge, although it is still possible to improve the practices with regard to the clarification of the strategic knowledge. Regarding the conversion of knowledge, according to Nonaka and Takeuchi (1997), the company works with four modes: socialization, externalization, internalization, and combination; however, it was evident in the interviews that the most commonly used modes are the externalization (tacit/explicit) and combination (explicit/explicit), concurring on the assumptions of Rodriguez y Rodriguez (2002). The third goal, “sought to identify whether the strategic actions developed by the companies are based on the data from CRM.” The result of data analysis demonstrates that the studied company´s structure and strategic planning are based on data of TICO. It was noticed that among its strategic objectives maintaining existing customers is included, which requires the effective use of customer data for personalized service, providing a differentiator for the company. The focus is on the customer and not only on the speech common to most companies, translated by daily actions and by technological and human investments that enable services that delight and make the customers loyal. About the overall objective of analyzing the role of CRM as support knowledge management and developing strategies of customer relationships in an Information Technology Company from Florianópolis, it is concluded that the company: (1) has an R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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excellent customer data management system supported by an appropriate technological tool and developed to meet the needs of the Company, and that ensures the use of data daily with customer contact; (2) it works with a model of knowledge management, it has a technology base and resourceful persons qualified for the conversion of knowledge; (3) it uses the data from TICO to define strategies for customer relationship and performance assessment. We can observe in the company the change from the era of effectiveness (focus on result) to the era of efficiency, i.e. concern geared not only to the satisfaction of needs, but rather the concern focused on overcoming the expectations of customers, seeking to make them loyal in relations of partnership and reciprocity. It is just not good enough for the customer to be faithful; it requires that the companies also be loyal to the customers both interms of goal and sale promises. This "partnership" relationship is only valid when it is good for both parties, because satisfied costumers are synonymous with good results for the company. The needs and expectations of customers and enterprises often are not common; each of them search for results, growth, profitability, and distinct solutions. The appropriation of technology coupled with the human differential provides gains in several aspects, such as cost reduction, agility in services, and proper data management to optimize resources and maximize customer relationship through interconnection. As a general conclusion we emphasize that the studied company is a good example of CRM use to support Knowledge Management and to develop strategies of relationship with the customer, but some actions are recommended to maximize the use of the CRM tool for strategic management of the company's organizational knowledge of Information Technology study including (1) the deployment of Business Intelligence to make better use of the TICO data and facilitate the generation of information and knowledge, which could facilitate the use of the resource that is already stored in the system, but that is currently manhandled in the company; (2) conducting trainings focused on activities geared to the generation of new knowledge and sharing of information and knowledge between employees of the company and between them and their customers; (3) more effective involvement of tactical levels in building strategic planning, pursuing engagement and commitment in the strategic planning implementation. The number of interviews made is considered as the limit of the study and the qualitative research prevents the results here recorded from extrapolating to the universe of Brazilian companies, even those in the sector of Information Technology. Therefore, it is recommended that a survey in Brazilian Information Technology be done on the use of CRM to support Knowledge Management and on the development of strategies for customer relationship. REFERENCES Alvarenga Neto, R.C.D. de. GestĂŁo do conhecimento no Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira. In Angeloni, M.T. GestĂŁo do conhecimento no Brasil: casos, experiĂŞncias e Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 87-108

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práticas de empresas privadas. Rio de Janeiro: Qualitymark, 2010. Bardin, L. Análise de Conteúdo. Lisboa. Edições 70, 1979. Boone, L. E., Kurtz, D. L. Marketing Contemporâneo. Rio de Janeiro: LTC. 1998. Borghoff, U. M; Pareschi, R. Information technology for knowledge management. Berlim: Springer, 1998. Bretzke, M. O Marketing de Relacionamento e competição em tempo real. São Paulo: Atlas. 2000. Cassapo, F. Gestão do conhecimento e transformação dos modelos de gestão – um retrato das experiências do Grupo Votorantim. In ANGELONI, M.T. Gestão do conhecimento no Brasil: casos, experiências e práticas de empresas privadas. Rio de Janeiro: Qualitymark, 2010. Cruz, T. Workflow em sistemas de gerenciamento eletrônico de imagens. São Paulo: Atlas, 1998. D'angelo, A. C.; Schneider, H.; Laran, J. A. Marketing de relacionamento junto a consumidores finais: um estudo exploratório com grandes empresas brasileiras. Revista de Administração Contemporânea [online], vol.10, n.1, pp. 73-93, 2006. Davenport, T.; Prusak, L. Conhecimento empresarial: como as organizações gerenciam o seu capital intelectual. Rio de Janeiro: Campus, 1998. Dhaliwal, J.; Benbasat, I. The use and effects of knowledge-based system explanations: theoretical foundations and a framework for empirical evaluation. Information Systems Research, v.7, p.243-361, 1996. Dias, Sérgio Roberto (Coord). Gestão de marketing. São Paulo: Saraiva, 2003. Easterby-Smith, M.; Lyles, M. Introduction: Watersheds of organizational learning and knowledge management. In: Easterby-Smith, M.; Lyles, M. (eds). Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management. Malden: Blackwell, p.1-15, 2005. Felisoni, C. D. A. Marketing de Relacionamento no Varejo. São Paulo: Saint Paul, 2004. 160 p. Franco, C. Avaliação, ciclos e promoção na educação. Porto alegre: ARTMED, 1986. p 172. George, J.F.; Iacono, S.; Kling, R. Learning in context: extensively computerized work groups as communities of practice. Accounting, Management and Information Techgnologies, v.5, p.185-202, 1995. Godoy, A. S. Pesquisa qualitativa: tipos fundamentais. Revista de Administração de Empresas. São Paulo. V.35, n.3, (p.20-29, 1995). Gregor, S.; Benbasat, I. Explanations form intelligent systems: theoretical foundations and implications for practice. MIS Quarterly, v.23, p.497-530, 1999. Gummesson, E. Marketing de relacionamento total. Porto Alegre: Bookmann. 2010. Hansen, M.; Nohria, N.;Tierney, T. What’s your strategy for managing knowledge. R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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Harvard Business Review. Harvard, vol.77 (p. 106-116, mar./abr. 1999.) Kotler F; Keller, K. L. Administração de marketing. São Paulo: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006. Kotler, P.; Armstrong, G. Princípios de Marketing. São Paulo: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Lovelock, C. Serviços Marketing e Gestão. São Paulo: Saraiva, 2005 MCKENNA, R. Marketing de relacionamento: estratégias bem sucedidas para a era do cliente. Rio de Janeiro: Campus, 1993. Nonaka, I.; Takeuchi, H. Criação de conhecimento na empresa: como as empresas geram a dinâmica da organização. Rio de Janeiro: Campus, 1997. Nonaka, I; Konno, N. The concept of “Ba”: building a foundation for knowledge creation. California Management Review, v. 40, n. 3, p. 40-41, 1998. Norris, G.; Hurley, J. e-Business e ERP: transformando as organizações. Rio de Janeiro: Qualitymark. 2001 Peppers and Rogers Group do Brasil. CRM Series – Marketing 1 to 1. Um Guia executivo para entender e implantar estratégias de customer relationship management. São Paulo, 2000. _______. CRM Series – Marketing 1 to 1.São Paulo: Makron Books, 2001. Polanyi, M. The tacit dimension. Londres: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1998. Rapp, S.; Collins T. E. 5ª geração do marketing: maximarketing II, o segredo para alcançar o objetivo maior do marketing: a fidelização da clientela. São Paulo: McGraw Will, 1991. Richardson, J. R. Pesquisa social: métodos e técnicas. São Paulo: Atlas, 1989. Richers, R. Marketing: uma visão brasileira. São Paulo: Negócio, 2000. Rodriguez y Rodriguez, M. V. Gestão do conhecimento nas empresas. Rio de Janeiro: E-papers Serviços Editoriais, 2002. Ruggles, R. The state of the notion. California Management Review. Berkeley, v. 40, n. 3, (p. 80-89, primavera 1998). Schultze, U.; Boland Jr., R.J. Knowledge management technology and the reproduction of knowledge work practices. Journal of Strategic Information Systems, v.9, p.193-212, 2000. Schultz, D. E.; Tannenbaum, S. I.; Lauterborn, Robert F. O novo paradigma do marketing: como obter resultados mensuráveis através do uso do database e das comunicações integradas de marketing. São Paulo: Makron Books, 1994. Scott, N. “Gartner’s CRM Vision: A roadmap for a customer – centric tranformation”. The Gartner Group CRM. Summit 2001, 19 mar. 2001.2. Sellitz, C.et al. Métodos de pesquisas nas relações sociais. São Paulo: EPU, 1987 2V

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Smit,J.; Talamo, M.F. Da impropriedade acadêmica de usar o termo gestão do conhecimento na opinião dos programas de Ciências da Informação. Revista de Ciência da Informação. V.3 n.5, out. 2007. Stenmark, D. Leveraging tacit organizational knowledge. Journal of Management Information Systems, v.17, p.9-24, 2001. Stone, M.; Woodcock, N; Machtynger, L. CRM Marketing de relacionamento com os cliente. São Paulo: Futura, 2001. Sveiby, K. E. A nova riqueza das organizações. Rio de Janeiro: Campus, 1998. Swift, R. CRM Customer Relationship Management. O Revolucionário Marketing de Relacionamento com o cliente. Rio de Janeiro: Campus, 2001. Tanaka, I. Gestão do Conhecimento. Rio de Janeiro: Campus, 2000. Teixeira, D.R. Gestão do Conhecimento nas Tecnologias de CRM. São Paulo: Edge Group, 2003. Toffler, A. A terceira onda. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 1980. Vera, D.; Crossan, M. Organizational learning and knowledge management: toward na integrative framework. In: Easterby-Smith, M.; Lyles, M. (eds). Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management. Malden: Blackwell, p. 122-141, 2005. Von Krogh, G.; Ichijo, K.; Nonaka, I. Facilitando a criação de conhecimento. Rio de Janeiro: Campus, 2001. Wiig, Karl M. Integrating intellectual capital and knowledge management. Long Range Planning, v. 30, n. 3, p. 399-405, 1997. Wah, L. Muito além de um modismo. HSM Management. Barueri, vol. 22, ano 4, (p. 52-64, set./out. 2000). Zenone, L.C. Marketing de relacionamento- tecnologia, processos e pessoas. São Paulo: Atlas. 2010. Zhao, J.L.; Kumar, A.; Stohr, E.A. Workflow-centric information distribution through e-mail. Journal of Management Information Systems, v.17, p.45-72, 2001.

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JISTEM Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Vol. 8, No. 1, 2011, p. 109-130 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752011000100006

EVALUATION OF PERCEIVED QUALITY OF THE WEBSITE OF AN ONLINE BOOKSTORE: AN EMPIRICAL APPLICATION OF THE BARNES AND VIDGEN MODEL Ueliton da Costa Leonidio Universidade Católica de Petrópolis, Brasil Roberto Marcos da Silva Montezano Faculdade IBMEC, Brasil Frederico A. de Carvalho Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil __________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT This paper’s objective is to evaluate the perceived quality of the Website of an online bookstore using the Barnes and Vidgen Model. Implemented over the Internet, this empirical research collected data on the perceived quality of the Website, used to sell products and online services. The questionnaire used to gather the data was answered by a convenience sample of 213 respondents. The importance of quality attributes and the dimension of perceived quality were investigated. The results indicate that the three dimensions named Reliability, Usability and Information were the most noticeable.

Keywords: Website Quality; Online bookstore; Online retail; e-Marketing; e-Commerce.

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Recebido em/Manuscript first received: 15/01/2009 Aprovado em/Manuscript accepted: 22/07/2010 Endereço para correspondência/ Address for correspondence Ueliton da Costa Leonidio, Universidade Católica de Petrópolis Rua Benjamin Constant, 213, Centro Petrópolis, RJ - Brasil - CEP: 25610-130 Telephone: (24) 2244-4000; (24) 2225-8368 E-mail: uleonidio@ibest.com.br Roberto Marcos da Silva Montezano, Faculdade IBMEC RJ Av. Presidente Wilson, 118 Centro – Rio de Janeiro - RJ CEP.: 20030-020 Telephone: (21) 3284-4000 E-mail: rmontezano@ibmecrj.br Frederico A. de Carvalho, UFRJ - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Av. Pasteur, 250 - sala 239 Praia Vermelha 22290-902 - Rio de Janeiro – RJ Telephone: (21) 3873-5112 E-mail: fdecarv@gmail.com

ISSN online: 1807-1775 Publicado por/Published by: TECSI FEA USP – 2011

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1. INTRODUCTION The growing importance of the Internet and its influence on the economy are undeniable (Cheung, 1998; Mcmanis, 2001; Barnes & Vidgen, 2002). With the advent of the Internet, the relationship between companies and consumers has suffered significant changes, mainly relating to e-commerce (Seybold, 2000; Sheth, 2002). In the context of new commercial exchanges, the search for quality has spread itself over the markets, traditional or otherwise, bringing new challenges in terms of the continuous improvement in technology and productive processes, as well as in terms of the aims and the internal values, to the organizations. In this case, the biggest applied contribution of this modern concept of quality is to combine the technical aspects of the products and services with the capacity to understand and to serve customers well (Gummesson, 1998). The evaluation of the quality of Websites based on customer perception is fundamental to obtain and maintain success over the Internet. Improving the quality in the eyes of the customer is rewarding to the companies (Lovelock & Wirtz, 2006). Based on this information, companies may direct their efforts toward better service to their targeted customers, offering adequate products and services based on significant information (Olsina & Lafuente, 2000; Peppers, 2001; Barnes & Vidgen, 2002). The attempt to participate in this “new market” without developing an appropriate business model of e-commerce has caused numerous failures. As a consequence, it has become relevant to understand that it was possible for companies – such as Amazon.com – to become so successful that, in a short time span, they have been present in several markets. In fact, they have been much more present than their competitors. Part of the answer lies on the strategic role that the Internet has played in the new ways to interact, becoming an activity and a necessity in itself for companies (Freitas et al., 2001; Peppers, 2001; Barnes & Vidgen, 2002). This competitive scenario demanded yet a specific reflection on the process and the supply of services through this new channel (Yakhlef, 2001). Consumers’ behavior over the Internet, their needs and their decisions to buy have received attention in several publications (e. g. Zeithaml, Parasuraman & Malhotra, 2002). There are analytical models to investigate and evaluate the production and distribution of services over the Internet. Among them, one deserves attention, the socalled WebQual-UK (Murad, 2006, section 2.4, p. 10-51), developed over successive versions by Barnes and Vidgen since 1998 (Barnes & Vidgen, 2003, p. 297) and today by them as well named eQual (Barnes & Vidgen, 2006, p. 767). Throughout this evolution, the authors propose and utilize a series of constructs in order to approach the measurement of customer perceptions as to the quality of ecommerce Websites. The objective of this paper is to empirically evaluate the perceived quality of the Website of a Brazilian bookstore by applying the WebQual-UK Model. The text is organized into five sections, including this introduction. In the second section, a brief bibliographical summary exposes the conceptual foundation of the paper. The third R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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describes the methodology. The fourth section presents and describes the empirical results, in conjunction with an international comparison. The conclusions are shown in the fifth section. 2. BACKGROUND 2. 1. The Internet and Consumer Behavior In any purchase, customers’ choice is influenced by several factors, mainly their perception of quality, price and convenience (Rust et al., 2001). Due to the Internet, it is possible to add value to the services based on the current needs and desires of customers as they are manifested in diverse browsing situations. Collecting, handling and managing information about customers have become simpler, for their purchasing history and their preferences may be registered in a central data base. In online stores, a consumer’s purchasing standards are transparent, once visits and purchases may be electronically “documented” (Reichheld, 2000). By providing this type of information, the Internet offers unprecedented opportunities so that a company may know their customers well and thus may customize products and services according to their preferences (Reichheld, 2000). Authors like Bhatnagar, Misra and Rao (2000), Case, Burns and Dick (2001), Lohse et al. (2000), Jarvenpaa, Tractinsky and Vitale (2000), Koufaris et al. (2002), Liao and Cheung (2002) and Peterson et al. (2001) have tried to identify the factors that influence attitudes and behaviors of online purchases. Even if in an intuitive manner, and sometimes only implicitly, these authors adopt classical models of consumer behavior, particularly the model proposed by Engel, Kollat and Blackwell, the EKB (Sheth et al., 1998), that tries to explain the behavior of online purchases from three large concept groups: (a) consumer’s profile, (b) the use they make of the Internet and (c) the attitudes they have toward online purchases. In what concerns users’ profile, in terms of their demographics, in Brazil or in other countries, the Internet user belongs to the social classes of higher levels of family income and education (Li & Zhang, 2002; Morgado, 2003). Li and Zhang (2002) state nonetheless that demographic characteristics do not have a strong impact on the behavior of online purchases. Another explanatory factor would be the availability of time to browse (Lohse, 2000). Variables like the level of knowledge of the Internet tools and of training seem to influence the use of the Internet for making purchases. Consumers that receive many emails search for information on products and services and use the Internet as a routine tool. These are the types that tend to consume more over the Internet (Li & Zhang, 2002). As for attitudes, it is noticed that perceived risk, perceived quality, security and privacy, and advertising over the Internet are the main elements that influence online purchases (Morgado, 2003; Grunert & Ramus, 2005). Online buyers have the tendency to view the Internet as part of their daily life, namely as a facet of being technology-oriented, and tend to buy from home, hence confirming the lack of time already mentioned (Li & Zhang, 2002; Grunert & Ramus, 2005). Consumers with more experience with the use of the Internet are more prone to Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 109-130

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purchase online. Consumers that make frequent online purchases are more oriented towards convenience and less oriented towards experience, convenience being perhaps the determining factor as to when deciding to purchase (Li, 1999; Li & Zhang, 2002). Reliability, reputation and the company’s size, technological orientation and innovation are also characteristics that help to explain decisions to buy over the Internet, as well as familiarity with salespeople, logistical support, product characteristics, technological characteristics of the sites, characteristics of the information and site format, all of which bring about a positive relationship with consumer behavior (Ho & Wu, 1999; Gefen, 2000; Grunert & Ramus, 2005). Therefore it becomes essential to investigate and to understand how to operationalize those perceptions that orient consumers’ decisions over the Internet. 2. 2. Service Quality over the Internet Services over the Internet are services delivered through the use of the Internet channel. This delivery places some challenges on firms that provide services. Firstly, the contact between employees and customers is lost and the delivery environment is completely different. In the case of services over the Internet, websites have become the “moment of truth” between customers and the company (Iwwarden et al., 2003). Thus, the website, which is the interface with the user/client, impacts in a relevant way upon the manner whereby the service is delivered to the customer. Together, customers evaluate “what” the company offers and “how” it is offered. Due to the inexistence of the face to face interaction while service is delivered, aspects such as the interface with the customer, the design, the plan and the scope of the site have gained importance – for the website is the place where the interaction occurs – and this may influence the global evaluation of the website by customers. For this reason, it is recommended that companies consider the design, the plan, the duties and the role of their websites. Otherwise, customers may become frustrated and, consequently, discouraged from visiting the website if it cannot be accessed or easily browsed. In addition, website content should be taken into consideration regarding online evaluations (Grönroos, 2000). In other words, service suppliers need to understand (a) what attributes are considered to be more relevant by the customer when they use Internet services; (b) which factors affect customer intention to use these services; (c) how these services affect the perception the customer has regarding the company (Zhu, 2002). In addition, in order to establish a good strategy, it is necessary to have a good business plan, a product or service that attracts people, adequate personnel and partners capable of implementing and using the technology in question (Shi, 2003). The quality of Internet services is defined as a global evaluation and judgment by the consumer regarding the delivery of services over the Internet (Santos, 2003). Companies that have experience and enjoy success with the delivery of services “via” the Internet are beginning to understand which factors of success or lack thereof – aside from their presence in a website and low prices – should be observed and understood because they are included in the quality of the electronic services (Yang, 2001; R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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Zeithaml, 2002). One of the reasons for the increase in importance of the quality of electronic services is that, since the advent of the Internet, it has become easier to compare the different special offers compared to the traditional channels. In reality, consumers expect a level of quality of services equal to or better than the traditional services (Santos, 2003). Albeit, the question remains â&#x20AC;&#x153;howâ&#x20AC;? the quality of electronic services is defined, what its determining factors are and how it can be measured (Kenova & Jonasson, 2006). Until recently, there was not much research or there were not many models directed at the quality of services over the Internet. When talking about online services, one cannot measure its quality simply by the research of already existing dimensions of quality, for there is no interpersonal contact, no personal contact with employees and some aspects of human interaction, which is inherent and common to the traditional services, cannot be transposed to technological services. For example, aspects such as courtesy, cordiality, attention, usefulness, commitment, flexibility, or clarity cannot be transposed. Thus, other aspects should compensate for the lack of human interaction (Cox & Dale, 2001). In this online space, the communication between customers and companies happens by means of information systems, hence, the importance of ease to browse, of interactivity and of ease to purchase. This places emphasis on the design of the website, all linked to the technical and marketing aspects which vary according to the product/service or the main focus of the business activity of the organization. Even before the user fills out a form or makes a purchase, the user will be already interacting with the website by browsing its pages. If the user encounters difficulties browsing the website, they will probably not return to it (Palmer & Griffith, 1998; Cox & Dale, 2001). 2. 3. Models of Evaluation of Websites The evaluation of websites has evolved with the growth and maturity of the Internet, evolving from the analysis of technical aspects to the gathering of information on user expectations and perceptions. Online consumers now represent the main evaluators and critics of the process of the delivery of services through the Internet, for they are the end-users of e-commerce companies. At every step of the process of browsing and of purchasing, voluntarily or otherwise, consumers evaluate the performance of the stores they use. This performance becomes a decisive surviving factor of the company in the online marketplace, for it will influence the consumerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision as to the first time and subsequent purchases online of the products and services of that company (Curi, Dias & Filho, 2006). With a quite varied theoretical foundation, several models were proposed for the purpose of evaluating the delivery of services, as well as the specific channel, the Website (Murad, 2006). For example, the eServQual, .comQ, Zhang, WebQual-USA evaluation models are models that evaluate consumer perceptions that base themselves on the premise that the quality of a service is measured by the comparison between the expectations and the perceptions of the user.

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According to a note by Stabey (1990), the models that base themselves on the opinion of consumers in general are founded on the so called QFD (Quality Function Deployment). Its objective is to add value to the productive process, always offering products based on consumer demands (Stanton, 2002). The question that needs to be answered is: how do we define the needs and the demands, since what we vie for is to make offers directed at and focused on consumer demands? Without this answer one cannot create a relevant content from the technical-functional point of view. Although it is never simple to answer this question, the QFD is an approach that may provide clarity (Barnes & Vidgen, 2000; 2001-a). QFD’s philosophy rests on the gathering of information, through user workshops, where they refine and define what is relevant or not, case by case. After this process, it is recommended the making of questions to be asked in the questionnaire to be used – first with open questions, then, after a satisfactory refinement, they become closed questions. Two known models that base themselves on the QFD are the Servqual and the WebQual-UK. A recent example of the use of Servqual appears in Kenova e Jonasson (2006). On the other hand, the evaluation of the quality in websites under the customer (users) perspective was also the focus of several researches done with WebQual-UK. WebQual evaluates the quality of websites under the “voice of the consumer” perspective, based on QFD (Barnes & Vidgen, 2000; 2001a). WebQual-UK is a method for evaluating the quality of services of an e-commerce organization and it supports itself on indexes that translate the customers’ perception of quality, including its evaluation of the importance of quality attributes (Barnes & Vidgen, 2002). The WebQual instrument has been developed since 1998 and has evolved into a process of interactive refinement for different types of e-commerce (University, Online Stores, and online auction websites), e-government and WAP services. This method has transformed qualitative evaluations made by users into useful qualitative metrics for the management of the decision-making process. The users may be companies, suppliers or end-consumers of information and services; therefore, it is necessary to go beyond the technical and functionality aspects, given the needs of the users (Barnes & Vidgen, 2000). After the first three versions, it was possible to identify three dimensions of quality in e-commerce: use, quality of the information and the quality of the interaction of the service. After these versions, WebQual was again refined using the literature of three central areas of research: information systems (as to the quality of the information), marketing (as to the quality of the interaction of the service) and the mancomputer interaction (as to its usability). Workshops were held during all phases of development of the instrument to ascertain the validity of the quality found (Barnes & Vidgen, 2002). After the workshops and the literature review they arrived at the WebQual-UK version 4.0, with 22 questions. Already applied to Online Bookstores on websites in England – Amazon, Bertelsmann Online (BOL) and Internet Bookshop (IBS) – this version will also be applied here. In the case of the online bookstores, the results suggested the existence of certain priorities for their customers, such as the ease of use and of browsing, or the ease to find precise information, and also the capacity to make trustworthy transactions and to receive purchased orders (Barnes & Vidgen, 2002). In summary, five factors R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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consolidated themselves in Webqual: (a) Usability, (b) Design, (c) Information, (d) Reliability and (e) Empathy, all grouped a priori in three main dimensions: . Usability – this dimension has to do with man-computer interaction and how customers perceive and interact with the website, qualities that are associated with design and usability. For example: appearance, ease of use and of browsing, appropriate design and the image put forth. . Quality of the information – this dimension relates to the quality of website content: adequate information for the user in question, precision, format and relevance. . Quality of the interaction with the service – this dimension concerns features associated to Reliability and Empathy. It has to do with the experience the user has with the website, including the depth of browsing, and this is expressed through Reliability and Empathy, allowing for the smooth functioning of the website, its accuracy and its capacity to offer services that satisfy users’ profile. Surpassing the simple condition of the “website’s characteristics”, Reliability (on the website) has been recognized as the key aspect for competition in e-commerce (Gefen, 2000; Jarvenpaa et al., 2000; Kenova & Jonasson, 2006; Mazo, 2006), in what it has to do with the security of the transaction and of the information, the delivery of the product, or the customization and communication of the website itself. Due to the focus on interface (cf. Zeithaml, Parasuraman & Malhotra, 2002, p. 366) this model does not analyze the relevant factors of an online purchase like methods of payment (Gallindo, 2003). In summary, this model is an attempt to interact with the market and its visitors, through the judgment of the quality of the website (Gounaris & Dimitriadis, 2003). 3. METHODOLOGY This work is composed of descriptive and quantitative research, where the data collection is based on a sample, in cross-section and non-probabilistic, due to the fact this evaluation is based only on registered customers that have already had a purchasing experience, from the choosing of the product to its receipt. Since the objective of this research is to apply the Barnes and Vidgen models in order to assess the quality of the website of a certain online bookstore, we may classify the research method as a unique case study of the descriptive type (Scapens, 1990). 3. 1. Sample and data collection The convenience sample was built by the users (whose choices are explained below) who were willing to answer the questionnaire available online on a page especially built for this purpose. In spite of being insistently asked, the bookstore was not interested in allowing the research to be held on its own website, even from an unidentified sample of registered customers. The explanation for this may lie on the negative sentiments that Brazilians in general have over the mention of the word Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 109-130

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“research”, as it is so common among us for sales pitches to be disguised as “research”. Another reason could be a fear of “hindering” sales by inserting research on their website, despite the voluntary characteristic of their participation. By contrast, the successful experience of a single company by doing research on its site can be seen in Gonzalez Maceira and Carvalho (2006). According to Black and Champion (1976, p. 91), “one of the advantages of the case study is its flexibility with regards to the procedures for the collection of the data, since here we use a questionnaire to be answered via Web and it is structured based on the WebQual-UK model, of Barnes and Vidgen. The filling out of the questionnaire may be classified as “non-supervised”, although a “Support” channel was made available to assist respondents. Primary and secondary data was collected. The primary data involved the application of the questionnaire with the customers and the secondary data resulted from research on books, the Internet and from academic literature. There are numerous ways to evaluate the quality of Websites, for example, competitive analyses, scenarios, direct visual inspection and online questionnaires (Cunliffe, 2000). In this research, a self-administered online questionnaire was made available on the website built over the Internet (www.webquali.com.br), following the procedures used for the WebQual-UK model, previously applied in England Barnes & Vidgen, 2000, 2001a, 2001b, 2002; Barnes, Liu & Vidgen, 2001). To attract respondents, individual emails were sent and discussion groups were set up. The WebQual 4.0 version questionnaire model was used, with proper translations and context. The structure was maintained since this instrument has already been applied and validated several times on Online Bookstore websites (for example, Barnes & Vidgen, 2001b, 2002). After the home page, which had the filling out instructions, the questionnaire began, containing the items to be evaluated on a scale of agreement of up to seven points. An “automatic control” would weed out incomplete questionnaires. Each evaluated item had a link in its number, which would take it to an explanation page that worked as a “dictionary”. A few translations were made and also the presetting of words. Demographic information was also requested in order to enrich the results. There was also an indicator available to “visit the website”, a link to the website’s page that made access easier and invited interaction. At the end there was also an open item available, called “comments”, so that respondents that wanted to leave an impression about the company or the service rendered could do so. 3. 2. Treatment and analysis of the data The data obtained was converted into Excel and SPSS 13.0 tables. Initially, descriptive statistical procedures were used and the internal consistence coefficient was calculated (Cronbach´s Alpha). Following that, in order to determine the perceived quality dimensions, exploratory factor analyses were performed, extracting factors from the main components and the varimax rotation, to facilitate their interpretation. The usefulness of evaluating scores should be emphasized, attributed by the participants for each item evaluated, since they weigh when considering the results R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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(Parasuraman et al, 2000; Barnes & Vidgen, 2002). Then the answers were transformed, multiplying each website evaluation statement (agreement) by its respective importance statement. This multiplication aimed at obtaining a more comprehensive interpretation, creating three relative indexes (weighted ones): (a) the total weighted score (Importance Max Score), multiplying the importance average obtained by 7, which is the maximum rating given in the evaluation in each of the questions, (b) the maximum weighted score of the evaluated bookstore (Website Max Score) and (c) the performance score actually reached by the bookstore in relation to the maximum that could have been reached for each question. These indexes are useful for comparing against researches already done with the same instrument about other online bookstores. 3. 3. Limitations In spite of being applied to online Auctions, Online Bookstores, News Websites for WAP applications and British University Websites, it was not possible to find an application on Brazilian websites. So, for the purpose of an international comparison, the year in which the questionnaires were done may constitute a certain limitation, mainly due to the large advancements made in Internet and e-commerce activities over the last few years. Non-sampling errors may also occur, since it is a self-administered questionnaire. The answers given may be influenced by problems in comprehension, distortions, lack of motivation, or by errors in the research instrument. Due to its non-sampling nature, these errors do not reduce even when the size of the samples grows (Hair et al., 1998). Some of these problems could be corrected if a face to face research were done (Cooper & Schindler, 2002). 4. RESULTS 4. 1. The Company researched Founded in 1914, the selected organization for this case study offers a complete catalogue of text books and extra-curricular text books, in the legal, managerial, economics and accounting areas. It is the leader in legal books, with a 40% market share. It is the fourth largest text book publisher in the country, with nearly 20% of market share. One of the pioneers in e-commerce in Brazil, the company began its online activities in 1998. In December 2006 it had approximately one million active customers; currently there are more than 1.5 million registered items available for sale. In 2006, the bookstore section closed the year with approximately R$350 million in gross revenues, with the sales from the online bookstore accounting for nearly R$100 million, an increase of up to 52.5% from 2005. The bookstore section represented more than half of the total sales. According to the company, there are over 370 thousand registered customers on Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 109-130

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the Internet alone – which is 32% of all customers. The development of partnerships with the main search engines resulted in an increase of 38% in the average ticket and contributed to an increase of 53% in gross revenues. The Company Researched 4. 2. The sample’s profile There were 213 questionnaires done, and answered, between June 18th and September 30th 2007, through the website www.webquali.com.br. The following tables summarize the information obtained in the answered questionnaires. Table 1 shows that nearly 39% of respondents were between 26 and 35 years of age and that 27% were up to 25 years of age. As for the gender, 56% were male. The majority of respondents (42%) purchase “once every semester”, while 22% purchase “three times a semester”, more than the those that purchase “twice every semester” (17%). Those who purchase “more than six times every semester” represent 15% of the sample. Respondents demonstrated experience with other online bookstores, as 82% said they have purchased from other online bookstores. Table 1 – Demographic Information (N = 213) Variable Age Less than 26 years or up to 25 years of age From 26 to 35 years From 36 to 45 years From 46 to 55 years Above 55 years Gender Male Female Frequency of purchases from Online Bookstores Once per semester Twice per semester Three times per semester Six times per semester More than six times per semester Purchased at other Online Stores? Yes No

Percentage 27.23 38.50 20.19 10.80 3.29 56.08 43.92 42.25 17.37 21.60 3.76 15.02 81.95 18.05

It is worthy of note that, in this research done by E-bit consulting, nearly 70% of users are between 25 and 49 years of age, and that women represent 45% of buyers over the Internet in Brazil (Webshoppers, 2007).

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4. 3. Reliability of the WebQual-UK scale In order to evaluate the reliability of the scale and of its a priori added dimensions Cronbach´s Alpha was used, a measurement of reliability well used to evaluate a set of variables associated with a construct (Cooper & Schindler, 2002). What we want to know is (a) if the items that belong to each dimension are simultaneously consistent, and also (b) if they can be used to measure that same dimension. By definition, the values calculated for “Alpha” are always smaller than or equal to 1 (and the values can even be negative), and larger values indicate more reliability in the set of variables. “Alpha” values that are less than 0.7 indicate the need to successively refine the scale until acceptable values are obtained (Hair et al., 1998). Thus, the “Alpha” coefficient verifies the reliability of the questionnaire used as an instrument of measurement. The reliability measures the degree in which the measurement is consistent, so that its use should produce similar results in similar situations (Cooper & Schindler, 2002; Kenova & Jonasson, 2006). Table 2 shows the resulting reliability of the “Alphas” calculated from the collected data. All scores were accepted, for they are all well above 0.7, indicating that the items from the scale have a high internal reliability (Barnes & Vidgen, 2002; Kenova & Jonasson, 2006). Table 2 – Reliability of the scale according to Cronbach’s Alpha Dimension / Variables Usability Usability Design Quality of the Information Information Quality of the Interaction Reliability Empathy Total

Questions 1 to 8 1 to 4 5 to 8 9 to 15 9 to 15 16 to 22 16 to 18; 22 19 to 21 1 to 22

Cronbach´s Alpha 0.93 0.94 0.89 0.92 0.92 0.86 0.84 0.89 0.96

4. 4. The Webqual scores Table 3 shows the weighted indexes that allow defining and differentiating more clearly the customers’ perceptions. The results are weighted to emphasize the differences and to direct the defined priorities by the respondents. For each answered questionnaire, question by question, a multiplication was made of the evaluation done by the respondents for each statement by the importance given to that same question, generating a new spreadsheet.

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Table 3 – Webqual Index #

Statements

Importance Max Score

Website % Max Score

The Bookstore’s website is easy to learn to operate

42.72

36.12

0.85

The interaction with the Bookstore is clear and comprehensible

43.12

35.30

0.82

The Bookstore’s website is easy to browse

43.35

36.50

0.84

It is easy to use the Bookstore’s website

42.07

35.52

0.84

The Bookstore’s website has an attractive appearance

39.04

28.17

0.72

The design is appropriate for the type of website for a Bookstore

39.83

29.63

0.74

The Bookstore’s website shows a sense of competence

40.52

31.78

0.78

The Bookstore’s website creates a positive experience

39.11

30.14

0.77

The Bookstore’s website provides precise information

43.54

34.31

0.79

10 The Bookstore’s website provides true information

43.71

36.93

0.84

11 The Bookstore’s website provides adequate information

41.77

33.28

0.80

12 The Bookstore’s website provides relevant information

40.23

32.27

0.80

13 The Bookstore’s website provides easy to understand information 42.66

35.41

0.83

The Bookstore’s website provides information in an adequate 41.57 level of detail

30.27

0.73

The Bookstore’s website provides information in an appropriate 40.52 format

31.26

0.77

16 The Bookstore’s website has a good reputation

42.49

36.58

0.86

17 It is safe to complete the transactions on the website

45.29

40.00

0.88

I feel that my personal information is secure on the Bookstore’s 44.60 website

36.61

0.82

19 The Bookstore’s website creates a sense of customization

36.35

25.10

0.69

20 The Bookstore’s website fosters a sense of community

31.94

20.57

0.64

The Bookstore’s website makes it easier to communicate with the 39.77 organization

28.30

0.71

It is trusted that good services will be delivered as promised 44.10 through the Bookstore’s website

36.77

0.83

720.80

0.79

Sum

908.29

The three columns from Table 3 show the results obtained using the WebQual Index: the average importance given to each statement, the average level of agreement from each statement and the percentage of the efficiency of agreement in relation to its R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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importance. The “Importance - Max Score” column was generated by multiplying the average importance by 7, which is the largest value that can be reached for each question in the evaluation. Then, the average of the number obtained by the importance multiplied by the agreement was calculated, generating the column called “Website Max Score”. Lastly, there is the usual percentage column. The values calculated for the “Website - Max Score” show the performance according to the evaluations received by the website and will be used further down to compare the results obtained here with the scores resulting from the evaluation of the British websites. 4. 5. Exploratory Factor Analyses To examine the answers to questionnaires that are made up of several items (i.e., multi-attribute scales), one of the paths pointed out by the multi-varied literature is the application of the technique known as Exploratory Factor Analysis (Hair et al., 1998). In nearly the entire empirical research there is at least one reason to follow that recommendation, namely, the parsimony principle, understood here as the reduction of the data, that translates into the acquisition of a set of new variables (the “factors”) capable of summarizing the original multi-varied information, with the additional virtue of facilitating its interpretation. Each dimension of quality shown in the theoretical model is analyzed with the help of the customers’ answered questionnaires. The use of the Exploratory Factor Analysis permits verifying whether: (a) the statements used adequately represent each dimension of the quality they are associated with and (b) the group of initial questions can be rearranged into a smaller number of factors (dimensions) so that this study may be conducted with a higher level of simplification (Luchesa, 2004; Kenova & Jonasson, 2006). In order to extract a smaller number of factors than that of variables, the Main Components method was employed. By using the eigenvalue rule to select factors with eigenvalues larger than one (Hair et al., 1998, p. 103), five factors were left to be interpreted. In order to facilitate the interpretation of factors, the Varimax rotation was applied, which converged into seven interactions. The numerical results appear in Table 4, where these five factors are highlighted, discarding the factorial values under 0.5 in the module. The variables previously classified in the Usability dimension (variables 1, 2, 3 and 4 – see Table 3) are concentrated in Factor 1, while the values in Empathy (variables 19, 20 and 21) are concentrated in Factor 3. It is interesting that these two dimensions have all their variables inside a single factor. The other groups, a priori Design, Information and Reliability – are distributed among more than a single factor. For example, Design appeared in factors 1, 2 and 5, while Information concentrated itself in factors 1 and 2, and Reliability, in factors 2 and 4.

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Table 4 – Factor Loadings with the Varimax Rotation Factors Variables (items)

The interaction with Saraiva´s website is clear and 0.7944 comprehensible

Saraiva´s website is easy to learn to operate

0.7920

Saraiva´s website is easy to browse

0.7834

It is easy to use Saraiva´s website

0.7682

Saraiva´s website information

Saraiva´s website shows a sense of competence

provides

easy

understand

11 Saraiva´s website provides adequate information 14

Saraiva´s website provides information in an adequate level of detail

0.5389 0.7453 0.7428 0.7044

Saraiva´s website provides precise information

0.6785

Saraiva´s website creates a positive experience

0.5672

Saraiva´s website provides information in an appropriate format

0.5450

16 Saraiva´s website has a good reputation

0.6191

10 Saraiva´s website provides true information

12 Saraiva´s website provides relevant information

0.5145 0.5356 0.5262

20 Saraiva´s website fosters a sense of community

0.8355

19 Saraiva´s website creates a sense of customization

0.7977

Saraiva´s website makes it easier to communicate with the organization

I feel that my personal information is secure Saraiva´s website

0.8358

It is safe to complete the transactions on Saraiva´s website

0.7953

It is trusted that good services will be delivered as promised through Saraiva´s website

0.7581

0.5022

0.5527

Saraiva´s website has an attractive appearance

0.7917

The design is appropriate for the type of website for Saraiva

0.7858

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It may be considered that the highlighted groups of variables in each column from Table 4 confirm this grouping a priori and demonstrate a nomological validity (Barnes & Vidgen, 2002). These groups are obtained through the gathering of the largest values from each column, and the order of the columns, from right to left, is established according to the variance contained in each one of them (Table 5). With the five factors generated, it is possible to reproduce 79% of the total variance that corresponds to the 22 original variables, which is well above the minimum of 60% recommended by Malhotra (2001). The objective of this reduction in the data may, thus, be considered reached. 4. 6. Discussion and comparison of results Several prior applications evaluated the importance of the attributes of the perceived quality for Websites of British online bookstores. For example, Barnes e Vidgen (2001b) used WebQual 2.0, while Barnes e Vidgen (2002) applied WebQual 4.0. In this section, the results of these researches will be compared to the current WebQual 4.0 application on a Brazilian online bookstore. Table 6 offers a comparison between the data extracted from the research done on the Amazon Online Bookstore and the data obtained here. According to the table, the dimension Reliability was the most important, for the British, as well as for the Brazilian consumers, such that, three out of the four variables relative to that dimension occupy the top four spots. Table 5 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Percentage of the variance explained by each factor Componentes Components 1 2 3 4 5

Eigenvalues 31.123 5.117 3.558 2.455 2.030

% Variancia Variance 55.200 9.076 6.311 4.354 3.601

% acumulada accumulated 55.200 64.277 70.588 74.942 78.544

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Table 6 – Comparison between online bookstores through the Max score Amazon

Bookstore X

Variable

Importance Max Score

Website Max % Score

Variable

Importance Max Score

Website Max Score

43.49

36.62

0.84

45.29

40.00

0.88

43.47

36.47

0.84

44.60

36.61

0.82

43.21

37.24

0.86

44.10

36.77

0.83

42.93

34.28

0.80

43.71

36.93

0.84

42.45

35.10

0.83

43.54

34.31

0.79

42.22

36.20

0.86

43.35

36.50

0.84

41.74

35.57

0.85

43.12

35.30

0.82

40.73

33.29

0.82

42.72

36.12

0.85

40.44

34.17

0.84

42.66

35.41

0.83

40.12

33.46

0.83

42.49

36.58

0.86

39.97

35.30

0.88

42.07

35.52

0.84

39.64

31.16

0.79

41.77

33.28

0.80

38.33

30.74

0.80

41.57

30.27

0.73

37.42

32.39

0.87

40.52

31.78

0.78

36.88

36.73

1.00

40.52

31.26

0.77

36.30

30.38

0.84

40.23

32.27

0.80

34.59

23.88

0.69

39.83

29.63

0.74

33.21

27.31

0.82

39.77

28.30

0.71

32.08

25.15

0.78

39.11

30.14

0.77

31.85

23.08

0.72

39.04

28.17

0.72

29.79

23.64

0.79

36.35

25.10

0.69

22.04

13.17

0.60

31.94

20.57

0.64

Total

832.91

685.32

0.82

Total

908.30

720.80

0.79

The variables “It is secure to complete the transactions on the website”, “I feel that my personal information is secure on the website” and “There is trust that good services will be delivered as promised through the website”, appear among the top four evaluations in the “Max Score” table. The variables on Information – “The website provides precise information” and “The website provides true information” – also showed to be important according to the customers from both locations. The variables on Usability – “The website is easy to learn to operate”, “The interaction with the website is clear and comprehensible” and “The website is easy to browse” – appear R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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among the top ten evaluations in both locations. There were two differences found among the top ten classifications: the variables “It is easy to use the website” and “The website provides relevant information” appear in Amazon but do not appear in this research. By contrast, the variables “The site has a good reputation” and “The site provides true information” do appear in this research, but not in Amazon. At the bottom of Table 6 the worst evaluations were all similar, showing that, as for the quality of the interaction, Reliability shows itself to be well evaluated, but Empathy not as much. The appearance also received low evaluations, by the British and by the Brazilians. The variables “The website has an attractive appearance”, “The website fosters a sense of community” and “The website creates a sense of customization” all appear among the worst evaluations. As for the total sums, the domestic bookstore reached higher numbers than Amazon in the “Importance Max Score” and in the “Website Max Score” columns. On average, however, it obtained a lower approval rate than the foreign bookstore.

5. CONCLUSIONS According to the statistical results obtained, the WebQual-UK instrument is a useful tool in the evaluation of the perception of quality of a website used in ecommerce operations. The instrument was applied to a Brazilian company. Even without trying to offer “advice” on how an organization should improve its e-commerce sales, it was possible to indicate important directions on what customers perceive of services delivered and possible improvements suggested by these perceptions. The improvement of e-commerce services, mainly in terms of the interaction, is dependent upon the integration of front office operations with back office operations, as well as the integration of e-marketing operations with traditional marketing operations. Another important point has to do with the relationship strategy with customers (Barnes & Vidgen, 2002). The quality of the interaction is a dilemma for online bookstores: on one hand, regarding reliability, the results indicated a good level of perception; on the other hand, regarding empathy, the calculated perceptions were not as good, showing the lowest evaluations (in the domestic and in the British context). This suggests that an improvement be made in the quality of the interaction with the website. The greatest distinction of the websites lies on Reliability. In fact, Reliability seems to be a key aspect of competition in e-commerce (Gefen 2000; Jarvenpaa et al. 2000; Mazo, 2006; Barnes & Vidgen, 2002). Besides Reliability, it was indicated that Reputation and Size of the Company, Technological Orientation and Innovation are also characteristics that help to explain the decision to purchase over the Internet, as well as the familiarity with sales personnel, logistical support, product characteristics, technological characteristics of the websites, characteristics of the information and appearance of the website, which produce a positive relationship with customer behavior (Ho & Wu, 1999; Gefen, 2000; Grunert & Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 109-130

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Ramus, 2005). Reliability showed itself to be the most important dimension in the customers’ evaluation with the highest scores of perceptions. The respondents also recognized the importance of a good reputation in order to make purchases over the Internet. The perceived dimensions of quality, considered as the most important, have to do with the quality of the interaction, more specifically, the variables gathered in the Reliability factor: in a possible 7, they reached 6 points. Another dimension perceived as important was the Quality of the Information, with emphasis on precision and the truthfulness of the information provided. In summary, in spite of the fact that reliability is the most important dimension, the other dimensions are relevant, forming a whole set that deserves managerial attention. As for the strong points, it is most evident that the bookstore shows itself to be trustworthy to the customers, aside from enjoying a good reputation. The customers say that the website is easy to browse and to use, that the information contained in it is true and that the interaction is good. They also understand that their purchases are delivered on time according to the contract. The weak points that appeared were related to Design and Empathy. The website does not offer customization and does not show a sense of community. Weak points are also the appearance and the reduced details of the information provided. In addition, the website is polluted; it contains too much information in some sections and too little in others, indicating perhaps, a lack of standardization. There are conflicts of information regarding delivery dates and the communication with the company leaves much to be desired. Companies must realize that, due to the lack of human interaction of online services, the website assumes the role of mediator of the “moments of truth”, thus requiring a high level of quality of the services rendered, this being taken as the strategic objective and determining factor of the competitive success of e-commerce business (Lederer, Mirchandani & Sims, 2001; Zeithaml, 2002; Sukasame, 2005). Finally, as Calitz and Scheepers (2002) emphasize, the implementation of a website for e-commerce requires the observation of multiple criteria, of which the quality of the interface is just part of it, for aspects such as the size of the budget, time for development, ease of implementation and maintenance costs should be considered.

REFERENCES Barnes, S. J.; Vidgen R. T. (2000). WebQual: An Exploration of Web Site Quality. Proceedings of the Eighth European Conference on Information System, Vienna, July 35. ______; ______.(2001). Assessing the Quality of Auction Web Sites. Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Maui, Hawaii, January 4-6. ______; ______. (2001). An Evaluation of Cyber-Bookshops: The WebQual Method. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 6,1,11-20. R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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JISTEM Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Vol. 8, No. 1, 2011, p. 131-154 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752011000100007

HOSPITAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS: A STUDY OF ELECTRONIC PATIENT RECORDS Pedro Luiz Côrtes University of São Paulo – USP & University Nove de Julho – UNINOVE, Brazil Eliana Golfette de Paula Côrtes Unimed Paulistana & Universidade Gama Filho, Brazil ______________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT The importance of patient records, also known as medical records, is related to different needs and objectives, as they constitute permanent documents on the health of patients. With the advancement of information technologies and systems, patient records can be stored in databases, resulting in a positive impact on patient care. Based on these considerations, a research question that arises is “what are the benefits and problems that can be seen with the use of electronic versions of medical records?” This question leads to the formulation of the following hypothesis: although problems can be identified during the process of using electronic record systems, the benefits outweigh the difficulties, thereby justifying their use. To respond to the question and test the presented hypothesis, a research study was developed with users of the same electronic record system, consisting of doctors, nurses, and administrative personnel in three hospitals located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The results show that, despite some problems in their usage, the benefits of electronic patient records outweigh possible disadvantages. Keywords: Hospital information systems, Patient records, Electronic record.

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Recebido em/Manuscript first received: 21/10/2009 Aprovado em/Manuscript accepted: 06/08/2010 Endereço para correspondência/ Address for correspondence Pedro Luiz Côrtes, Associate Professor of the School of Communications and Arts – University of São Paulo – USP; Professor of the University Nove de Julho – UNINOVE University of São Paulo - USP ECA – CBD Av. Prof. Lúcio Martins Rodrigues, 443 Cidade Universitária CEP 05508-020 – São Paulo – SP – Brasil Tel (11) 8236-8197 – fax (11) 3091-4325 E-mail: plcortes@usp.br Eliana Golfette de Paula Côrtes, Medical Auditor of Unimed Paulistana, Specialist in Auditing and Regulation Mechanisms of Universidade Gama Filho, E-mail: eliana@greensoft.com.br

ISSN online: 1807-1775 Publicado por/Published by: TECSI FEA USP – 2011

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1. INTRODUCTION The importance of patient records is related to different needs and objectives. They constitute the permanent documentation of patient health, permitting the medical professional to evaluate symptoms and signs within a broader temporal perspective, contributing to improvements in making diagnoses and providing treatment. The value of the patient record is also understood within the legal scope because it can be taken to trial, allowing doubts to be clarified and behaviors to be discerned, which, in turn, can protect patients, medical professionals, and other involved parties. In addition to the medical and legal considerations, the records provide research assistance because they contain information that helps to contextualize the evolution of patients, allowing procedures and consequences to be evaluated. The Federal Council of Medicine (FCM), by means of Resolution 1.638, defines patient records as “a unique document made up of a set of recorded information, signs, and images, generated based on facts, occurrences, and situations on the health of the patient and the care that he is given, which is of legal, confidential, and scientific character, and which makes it possible to have communication among members of the multi-professional team and the continuity of the care given to the individual” (FCM, 2002). To satisfy these functions, patient records need to be legible, organized, documented, without erasures, and appropriately archived for several years. In large hospitals, there is a significant demand for space used for the storage of conventional records (printed records), which may make it difficult to maintain them or even to access the information. Furthermore, it is not rare to find that these documents are incomplete or have problems with legibility (Rodrigues Filho, Xavier, and Adriano, 2001). As an example of this situation, Stumpf and Freitas (1997) reported the case of the Clinical Hospital of Porto Alegre, which, at the end of the 1990s, stored 680,000 records in a 665-m2 area. The authors identified recurrent problems such as the low quality of information, illegible descriptive notes, examinations glued to the records (causing difficulties in checking the records of patients with long periods of hospitalization), excessive use of paper, and inadequate storage. Such complications make it difficult to handle these documents, with negative repercussions for patient care. The consequences of the low quality of the available information and the problems of storage of and access to a large number of records extend to scientific research, impeding the development of retrospective and epidemiological analyses. As a result, Santos, Paula, and Lima (2003, p. 86) asserted that the manual information system is seen “as a limited vehicle of communication that has been surpassed by modern digital technology.” With the evolution of information technology systems (generically denoted as IT), it would be expected that solutions for the electronic and digital storing of these documents would be rapidly developed to facilitate their handling. Burt and Sisk (2005) considered that while policy analysts and policy makers have perceived the potential use R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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of IT in the healthcare field, this did not occur with the same speed observed in other areas. C么rtes (2008) noted that there are still only a few hospitals that use electronic records, which was also mentioned by Cerqueira and Mac-Allister (2005). Hing, Burt, and Woodwell (2007) have reported promising trends. The authors indicated that while the quantity of physicians who use electronic records is still low, the use of these records has increased each year. This growth is a reflection of the impact of hospital initiatives in broadening the use of IT as a way to improve the quality of services offered to the patients, to control the consumption of medical-hospital inputs, and to reduce costs (Shachak et al., 2009; Uslu and Stausberg, 2008; Santos, Paula and Lima, 2003; Rodrigues Filho, Xavier and Adriano, 2001; Stumpf and Freitas, 1997). Even though the literature presents various reports related to the use of electronic records within hospital information systems, benefits are not the only issues reported regarding the use of such systems. Kemper, Uren, and Clark (2006) stated that the cost of installing and maintaining these records is the main barrier preventing the adoption of electronic health records, a situation also indicated by Balfour III et al. (2009) as one of the major problems that hampers the dissemination of these systems. Another issue noted by these authors is the lack of standardization, which leads to difficulties in communication and interoperability of these systems (Balfour III et al., 2009). Arnhold, Schmidt, and Bohnenberger (2008), in studying an integrated system for the medical field, identified problems such as disbursement rates that were 159% greater than those originally predicted and long time periods needed for installation. Carvalho et al. (2008), upon analyzing the implementation of an integrated management system in a large hospital, found that it provided important benefits that outweighed potential difficulties, facilitating the execution and improving the quality of the services offered. The two cases demonstrated the influence of the chosen system supplier (especially with regard to care, training, and customization capacity) and of the way in which the implementation project was managed, resulting in the generation of different results for both projects (Arnhold, Schmidt, and Bohnenberger, 2008; Carvalho et al., 2008). Additionally, it is important to consider that the interaction of medical professionals with these systems is perhaps not very satisfactory, at least initially. This may compromise the implementation success of electronic records and of similar solutions, which is usually achieved with the use of integrated management systems (Biehl, 2007; Kansal, 2006; Shepherd, 2006). The focus of resistance may be even greater in hospitals because this requires certain changes in the ways in which doctors conduct their activities. Dawidowski et al. (2007) reported that difficulties were encountered by doctors, such as handling appointment times and interacting with the patients while concurrently handling the computer or the system (which generated a certain degree of distance in the doctor-patient relationship), in addition to failures in the system that caused delays and hindered the progress of the appointments. As such, it has been shown that electronic records may become an important work tool, allowing not only the monitoring of patients, but also the analysis and the Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 131-154

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control of the costs, in addition to facilitating access to information for the auditing of hospital accounts. Based on these considerations, a research question that arises is, “what are the benefits and the problems that can be seen in the use of electronic versions of patient records (electronic records)?” This question leads to the formulation of the following hypothesis: although problems may be identified during the process of using electronic record systems, the benefits outweigh the difficulties, thereby justifying their use. With the development of this work, an attempt was made to assess the perception of electronic record system users, evaluate the benefits and difficulties found, check how the use of these systems may contribute to better performance of the medical-administrative processes, improve management, and allow for higher quality decision making. To respond to the research question and to test the presented hypothesis, a study was developed with users of an electronic record system consisting of doctors, nurses, and administrative personnel who worked with the same system (identified as the Alpha System) across three private hospitals (identified as hospitals A, B, and C) located in the city of São Paulo. This group comprised the surveyed population. The sample used in the data collection phase consisted of 37 users. In light of the above discussion, it is believed that the obtained results are representative only of the surveyed population and within the context of using the Alpha System in hospitals A, B, and C. Possible analogies and correlations with other systems and other hospitals are up to the reader, as they are not contemplated as an objective of this research.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. CONSIDERATIONS SYSTEMS

REGARDING

HOSPITAL

INFORMATION

The use of computers in medicine dates back to the 1950s with studies that attempted to expand the mental capacity of physicians (Stumpf and Freitas, 1997) or dealt with research on electrophysiology (Collen, 1986). With the evolution of this equipment, especially with the capacity to simultaneously execute various tasks beginning in the 1960s, computers began to be used in the processing of information in large hospitals, in both administrative and financial functions for the collection of statistics and the development of research projects (Stead, 2007; Stumpf and Freitas, 1997). The use of microcomputers, beginning in the 1970s, introduced the concept of distributed processing, increasing the number of systems in use in large hospitals (Stumpf and Freitas, 1997). Because this diffusion did not always occur in an organized or homogeneous manner, the initial diffusion of computers in hospitals led to the emergence of islands of computerization, with isolated systems that lacked any form of interconnection and were developed by different teams. The redundancy and the lack of data integrity R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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deterred health professionals, who saw these systems as developed by systems professionals for systems professionals (Stumpf and Freitas, 1997). This situation was also investigated by McDonald (1997), who analyzed the lack of interconnection of the different systems used by the hospitals, laboratories, and service providers in the healthcare field. Collen (1986) described the development of approaches in the 1970s that sought to approximate the habitual processes of decision-making with the use of artificial intelligence in differential diagnoses. In the same decade, studies were undertaken in search of a better organization of the healthcare system (Kaihara, 1978). With the help of computer-processed simulations, the author established an ideal relationship between medical centers and population demands. The distributed processing was expanded during the 1980s with the development and greater availability of microcomputers, and the possibility of network communication of such equipment increased in the 1990s (Stumpf and Freitas, 1997). This allowed for the emergence of hospital information systems (HIS), covering medical, administrative, and hospitality areas, although hospitality may be considered as integrated into the administrative area (Cortes, 2008). These three areas are interlinked by horizontal data and information flows, providing support to the developed activities. Figure 1 shows a sample record for use in the medical, administrative, and hospitality areas, generating inter-related demands and actions. In the proposed scheme, the information on the electronic records, which contain the procedures, prescriptions, laboratory examinations, professionals involved, and hospitalizations (when applicable), is fundamental for an HIS (Wakamiya and Yamauchib, 2009; Pinochet and Albertin, 2008).

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Figure 1 – Medical records as a generator of medical, administrative, and hospitality actions. Source: based on Côrtes (2008), adapted by the authors

2.2.

ELECTRONIC RECORDS

A patient’s medical record contains fundamental information for incorporation into a hospital information system, yet it is necessary to consider that not all hospitals adopt medical records, even though they may use administrative systems or even hospitality systems. While specific information is not available, professional practice shows that, in general, the administrative area benefits the most from information systems in hospitals. This use includes inventory management systems, accounts payable and receivable, financial services, and accounting services. In these cases, the traditional record (hand-written) should have part of its information inserted into administrative systems so that hospital bills can be processed. Similarly, hospital pharmacies use information systems to control stocks of prescriptions that are recorded in the medical records of patients. R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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This generates excess work that, in addition to consuming time and human resources, leaves the process susceptible to errors, delays, and failures, with repercussions that include the scheduling of exams, errors in forwarding requirements, and mistakes in billing that may lead to item disallowances, billing delays, or even missing charges for procedures or exams that have been performed. Electronic records, when duly integrated with other systems, may reduce the occurrence of these problems, while also expediting the recovery of information for use by health professionals. This information can be used in statistical surveys, help with the analysis of procedures, be applied to preventative medicine, and be utilized for the control of hospital infections. However, greater agility in the administrative processes and hospital procedures causes controversy, as one of the problems related to the use of HIS is that in order to deal with medical information, many systems end up demanding a change in the work methods of physicians who have always recorded their observations in structured and codified ways. Although some studies have considered this standardization and structuring to be necessary for the organization of and increase in the quality of information (e.g., Setz and D'innocenzo, 2009; Hoff, 2009; Wakamiya and Yamauchib, 2009; Chaudhry et al., 2006; Shekelle, Morton, and Keeler, 2006), other studies concluded that this could harm the transmission of information among medical teams, imposing restrictions on the medical information that is input into the system (e.g., Warwick, 2009; Dawidowski et al., 2007; Stead, 2007; Walsh, 2004; Stumpf and Freitas, 1997). Adler-Milstein (2009) stated that the potential benefits of using IT in the healthcare field, including efficiency and quality gains, will only be possible if the hospitals and clinics promote organizational changes, including greater autonomy for the individuals in the decision-making process and an increase in training programs. This situation is similar to that recommended by Goldzweig (2008), who concluded that the impact of the implementation of HIS depends on the context of the implementation and applications, as well as on the clinical problems and the patient population. Another possibility presented by electronic records within HIS is the electronic prescription. Balfour III et al. (2009) concluded that this improves the level of care given to patients by eliminating the need to interpret handwritten prescriptions, reducing the possibility of errors regarding dosages and increasing communication speeds with hospital pharmacies. The presentation of the available drugs facilitates the indication of generic medications, potentially decreasing the costs for the patients (BALFOUR III et al., 2009), reducing the dosages prescribed when associating the support systems with clinical decisions (Shekelle, Morton and Keeler, 2006) and permitting a more rapid renewal of prescriptions and dosage changes (Weingart et al., 2009). Despite the abovementioned benefits, some problems were identified in studies focusing on electronic prescriptions. Physicians did not always check the prescription before its transmission (Hellstrรถm et al., 2009) and also did not pay attention to the warnings regarding interactions among medications because many warnings referred to drugs that were no longer used (Weingart et al., 2009). Another general benefit provided by HIS and especially by electronic records is Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 131-154

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the medical and nursing audits of the accounts presented to health insurance carriers. This analysis constitutes one of the main resources used by the carriers to better manage their costs with hospital care (Ribeiro et al., 2008; FARIAS and Melamed, 2003). As a result, the auditor ends up adopting a financial approach and a vision of controllership, seeking the economic viability of the business and analyzing unauthorized charges for hospital costs. In this process, medical records will be able to reduce the number of errors, as they can set rules for the performance of procedures in addition to facilitating the investigation of conduct, inputs, and medical-hospital costs for the patients (Scarparo and Ferraz, 2008). This action ends up impacting the price charged by the health insurance carrier, which is one of the items contemplated by consumers when choosing a health insurance plan. Along with medical care, structure of the operator, medical staff, communication, and convenience, price was one of the seven constructs identified in the research conducted by Milan and Trez (2005) that influenced the satisfaction levels of health insurance members. 3. METHODOLOGY

In search of a better understanding of the use of medical records, the research was divided into three phases: a) literature review, b) data collection and treatment, and c) interpretation of the results. To respond to the research question (What are the benefits and problems that can be verified in the use of electronic versions of patient records (electronic records)?) and to test the presented hypothesis (Although problems can be identified during the process of using electronic record systems, the benefits outweigh the difficulties, thereby justifying their use.), a study was developed with users of an electronic records system, specifically with a group consisting of doctors, nurses, and administrative staff who worked with the same system (in this case identified as the Alpha System) across three hospitals (identified as hospitals A, B, and C) located in the city of S茫o Paulo. This group constituted the surveyed population. The sample population used in the data collection phase consisted of 37 users of the Alpha System, including physicians (assistants and auditors), the nursing team (assistants and auditors), and the administrative staff of hospitals A, B, and C. This sample population can be considered as causal (Bisquerra, Sarriera and Martinez, 2004) or as a matter of convenience (Appolin谩rio, 2004), and it is characterized as non-probabilistic. The survey was funded by bibliographic research, allowing for better development of the research instrument (Appendix I) with which, for each question or assertion made, the interviewees could express their opinion by means of the application of Likert-type scales (Cooper and Schindler, 2003; Hill and Hill, 2002; Malhotra, 2005). The institutions involved authorized the performance of the research; the interviewees expressed, by means of a free and informed consent form, their willingness to participate in the study. The responses were tabulated and processed with the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), with the goal of obtaining descriptive statistical R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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parameters and interpreting the collected opinions. For this, we utilized a specialized bibliography to support the use of the chosen software and allow for the correct interpretation of the results (Dancey and Reidy, 2006; Bisqueira, Sarriera, and Martínez, 2004; Costa Neto, 1977; Carver and Nash, 2000; Pestana and Gageiro, 2000; Fonseca and Martins, 1996; Morettin and Bussab, 1981). Due to the investigative nature of this research, this study assumes an exploratory approach that seeks to increase the understanding of a phenomenon that warrants understanding and evaluation. It is noteworthy that the obtained results and their interpretations are limited to the surveyed sample population. Thus, possible generalizations should be made with due caution. 4. DISCUSSION

4.1.

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SAMPLE POPULATION

In the studied sample population, there was a predominance of physicians (51.4%) and nurses (43.2%) and a reduced number of administrative personnel (5.4%), with 75.7% of the respondents performing auditing functions. Regarding their age, the majority of the sample population (72.9%) was aged 40 years or older. This distribution is similar to that shown by Hing, Burt, and Woodwell (2007), enabling the conclusion that the age of the users is not considered a barrier for the adoption of information systems as an aid for medical procedures. To test the hypothesis that age is not an obstacle in the use of electronic records, a possible correlation was verified between the age range and the ease of use via a Pearson’s coefficient that equaled 0.050. This value indicates that the perception in terms of ease of use is not related to the age of the sample population. These results contrast with those found by Joia and Magalhães (2007), who indicated that age is an important factor for the acceptance and use of this type of system. In relation to the use of computers, 67.6% of the respondents reported using a computer for more than six years. When asked about how they would qualify their experience, the majority chose the option “average” (54.1%), followed by “good” (40.5%). A similar distribution was found in relation to the question regarding knowledge of the Internet. There was a predominance of the options “average” (48.6%) and “good” (35.1%). A possible relationship was shown between computer knowledge and the ease of use of the system, yet the Pearson’s coefficient obtained was very low (0.107). This shows that computer knowledge, even when qualified by the user as regular, does not constitute a hindrance in the effective usage of the Alpha System, showing that the operation of this system is simple. 4.2.

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE USE OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS

The majority of the respondents (67.6%) indicated that they had been using electronic records for more than 12 months. This was part of the daily routine for the majority of the sample population, as 56.8% used the system many times during the Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 131-154

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day, whereas 13.5% accessed electronic records a few times a day for research (48.6% of the respondents) or research and typing (51.4%). In relation to the average time spent when a person used the system, the distribution shows the existence of two distinct groups (Figure 2). To better understand this behavior, an analysis was performed to determine whether there was a possible correlation among the average time of each use and the auditing activity, professional occupation, type of system use, and frequency of use. The Pearson coefficients obtained were very low (less than 0.1), showing that there was no correlation among these variables and the average time spent on each system use.

Figure 2 – Distribution to the duration of each system use.

the

sample

population

according

The studied sample population reported good experiences in using electronic records (mostly over 12 months), many of whom used the system many times during the day. The duration spent on each use varied from less than 30 minutes to a few hours at a time.

4.3.

EVALUATION OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS

The majority of respondents (64.9%) considered the system to be easy to use and to function well (59.5%), as seen in Table 1. However, there was no consensus in terms of the speed and occurrence of the few interruptions. There was a possible correlation R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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between the people who considered the speed to be inadequate and those who expressed the existence of interruptions, although the Pearson’s coefficient obtained was very low (0.397). This shows that the perception of the speed of electronic records does not have a direct relationship with the occurrence of interruptions. It is possible that these evaluations (speed and interruptions) are the result of differences in the IT infrastructure available in the respective hospitals, a factor that was not studied in this research. The ease of inputting information into the electronic records was evaluated as “good” by the majority (57.7%) of the sample population, with the results similar to those obtained in the analysis of the ease of use and adequate functioning. The general perception that indicates the ease of use (statements related to the ease of use, the adequate functioning of a system, and the ease of inputting information) shows results consistent with those verified by Hellström et al. (2009). In their research, the authors claimed that the majority of physicians interviewed considered electronic records easy to manage. In the sample population studied in this research, the perception of the ease of use of the system did not present a relationship with age or with the degree of computer knowledge. This shows that age is not a factor in the use of electronic records (Alpha System) and that the records can be adequately utilized even by users with only an average level of computer knowledge. This result contrasts with those obtained by Santos, Paula, and Lima (2003), who identified the difficulty of nursing professionals regarding the use of technology or information systems. The authors concluded that this difficulty could be attributed to the fact that the respondents had graduated more than ten years earlier. In this study, however, a correlation was not found between the age of the respondents and any possible difficulties in the use of the system. It should be mentioned that the ease of implementing of internal protocols is facilitated by the adoption of electronic records, with 79.5% of the respondents expressing agreement, as observed in Table 1 (47.1% agree and 32.4% completely agree). Chaudhry et al. (2006) concluded that the greater adherence to the preestablished protocols and guidelines leads to an increase in quality. The results obtained in this research contrast with those obtained by Kemper, Uren, and Clark (2006) and Dawidowski et al. (2007), which verified the claims of physicians regarding the need to adopt new procedures.

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Table 1 – General evaluation of the operation of the system.

It is easy to The system use works well

Scale

1– Completely disagree 2- Disagree 3- Indifferent 4- Agree 5- Completely agree

The system’s speed is good

It is easy to input The system information has few into the interruptions electronic record

It facilitates the implementati on of internal protocols

2.7

0.0

8.1

5.7

3.8

0.0

13.5 8.1 64.9 10.8

21.6 16.2 59.5 2.7

37.8 5.4 43.2 5.4

45.7 2.9 42.9 2.9

19.2 15.4 57.7 3.8

5.9 14.7 47.1 32.4

General perception Legend:

there is a consensus

there is no consensus Source: research data

The information made available by the Alpha System is not always presented (or divided) in a consistent manner. In the sample population studied, 38.9% demonstrated discontent with the division of information, while 44.4% indicated that the information is divided in a consistent manner (Table 2). While the division of information may be the target of criticism, the system was positively evaluated in the statements regarding the presentation of clear, reliable, and useful information. Despite the positive evaluation, it is necessary to consider that for 40.0% of the sample population, the system did not provide complete information. However, no correlation was found among the responses for the statement “The information is divided in a consistent manner” and the statement “The system provides complete information,” because the Pearson’s coefficient was equal to 0.196. This indicates that there is a distinction among the sample population between the way in which the information is divided and whether or not it is complete. Table 2 – Evaluation of the information made available by the system. The information The system is divided in a provides clear consistent information manner

Scale

The system provides reliable information

The system provides useful information

The system provides complete information

1– Completely disagree

0.0

2- Disagree

38.9

13.9

6.1

0.0

40.0

3- Indifferent

11.1

8.3

6.1

16.7

8.6

4- Agree

44.4

75.0

81.8

69.4

51.4

5- Completely agree

5.6

2.8

6.1

13.9

0.0

General perception

Legend:

there is a consensus

there is no consensus Source: research data

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To better understand the quality of the information presented by the electronic records, it is necessary to consider the two basic forms in which this information is presented: the screens (for more simple and direct contact) and the reports (for analysis and conferences). The screens of the hospital information systems were studied by Wakamiya and Yamauchi (2009); Hyun et al. (2009); Shekelle, Morton and Keeler (2006); and Carroll, Saluja and Tarczy-Hornoch (2002), among others. While Shekelle, Morton, and Keeler (2006) suggested that not all information can be adequately presented on a computer screen, which resulted in the suppliers of the systems promoting simplifications that considerably limit the options offered, Wakamiya and Yamauchi (2009) stated that important advances have been promoted in the forms presented on the screens. Hyun et al. (2009) analyzed the screens used with electronic records from the perspective of the nursing routines, whereas Carroll, Saluja, and Tarczy-Hornoch (2002) studied the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) with electronic records. In the present study, the results of the evaluations on the screens of the Alpha System (Table 3) show that there is no consensus for a majority of the statements. In an initial analysis, the format of the screen, the quantity of information presented, the way in which the screens are organized, and the way in which they were ordered had the approval of the majority of the respondents. However, it is noteworthy that the statements that analyzed these questions also showed the existence of dissenting groups that varied between 19.4% and 32.4% of the respondents. The only consensus found was in the ease of the screens in terms of researching information. These results are consistent with those of Shekelle, Morton, and Keeler (2006), as there is always the need to synthesize information into a single screen (or on a reduced set of screens). Hyun et al. (2009) indicated that while necessary information may be available on a screen, there is a natural preference in relation to their organization that impacts the evaluation of the system. Table 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Evaluation of the screens of the system.

Scale

The format of the screens is agreeable

The system has enough screens for its activity

The screens of the system present good organization

The order of the information presented on the screen is in accordance with the need

The screens of the system facilitate research of the information

1â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Completely disagree

0.0

2- Disagree

19.4

27.8

32.4

25.0

11.1

3- Indifferent

13.9

5.6

8.8

5.6

16.7

4- Agree

63.9

52.9

63.9

61.1

5- Completely agree

2.8

5.9

5.6

11.1

General perception Legend:

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It may be correct to assume that the reports generated by an electronic record system would present, at least in principle, a tendency to receive better assessments compared to the screens of the same system. This assumption is based on the fact that printed documents need more space for the distribution of information, facilitating the formatting and the presentation of the information. The results obtained in this research corroborate this possibility for the Alpha System. While there was only a consensus for one question (of the five questions used) in the evaluation of the screens, there was a consensus for four out of the seven statements presented regarding the records (Table 4). Despite the better assessment of records (compared with the screens of the system), some possibilities for improvement were identified, which could facilitate the use of the system. While the respondents stated that the generation of records was fast, that the reports were useful, and that they presented updated information, a consensus was not obtained regarding the ease of the configuration (Table 4). While 51.9% believed that the records were easily configured, 29.6% disagreed. Because the Alpha System allows for the configuration of records by the users, this difference in perception could be a response to a possible flaw or deficiency in training, causing some users to be unable to explore all of the possibilities with regard to the generation of these documents. This is ultimately reflected in the organization of records (evaluated as good by 58.1% of the respondents, while 25.8% disagreed). To better assess the repercussions of not knowing the formatting resource for records in other questions, there was a correlation among the responses to the statements “the records are configurable” and “the system has sufficient records for its activity,” resulting in a Pearson’s coefficient of 0.431. This result, while not very significant, allows for the assumption that some of the respondents thought that there were not enough records because they were not familiar with the configuration resources that allow for the generation of outputs that better serve their needs. Additionally, there was a correlation between the statements “the records are easily configured” and “the records of the system present good organization (with adequate use of tables, figures, graphics, and text).” The Pearson’s coefficient obtained (0.293) shows that there is practically no correlation between the responses to these two questions. There is also a relationship between the statements “the records are easily configured” and “the records of the system have an appropriate format,” resulting in a Pearson’s coefficient of 0.411. This, although not very significant, indicates that some of the users evaluated the formatting of the records of the known configuration resources. The results obtained indicate that, at least for some of the respondents, difficulties with the configuration of the results end up being reflected in the assessment of the questions related to the formatting and quantity of these documents. This difficulty would be mitigated by timely training programs, recycling, or with additional support from the IT teams in the analyzed hospitals. A similar situation was reported by Joia and Magalhães (2007), who showed the lack of instrumental training as a barrier to the adoption of electronic records.

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Table 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; General evaluation of the records.

Scale

1â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Completely disagree 2- Disagree 3- Indifferent 4- Agree 5- Completely disagree General perception

Legend:

The generation of records is fast

The records are useful

The records present updated informati on

0.0

16.7 13.3 66.7

0.0 19.4 71.0

10.0 13.3 70.0

29.6 14.8 51.9

25.8 12.9 58.1

5.9 20.6 67.6

23.5 14.7 55.9

3.3

9.7

6.7

3.7

3.2

5.9

there is a consensus

The records are easily configure d

The records of the system present good organizat ion

The records of the system present an appropria te format

The system has enough records for its activity

there is no consensus Source: research data

The good evaluation obtained by the records in relation to their usefulness is better explored by the results presented in Table 5. These documents facilitate the decision- making process, improving their reliability. Similar results were obtained by Carvalho et al. (2008), who showed that the records help in the decision-making process and promote a significant improvement of internal controls. A similar situation was found in operations, with the records increasing the level of control of these activities and facilitating the coordination of tasks. In relation to the activities of control, the studied sample population agreed that the records offer reliability, although there was no agreement in relation to the reduction of the need for control and surveillance. This may be explained by the fact that the records showed day-to-day situations that need to be analyzed and interpreted, which implies the performance of control, surveillance, and conferencing.

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Table 5 – Utility of records. Decision Process

Operations

Control

The records facilitate the decision process

The records improve the reliability of the decision process

The records increase the level of control over operations

The records facilitate the coordinatio n of tasks

The records offer reliability

The records reduce the need for control, surveillanc e, and conferencin g

1– Completely disagree

0.0

3.1

12.5

2- Disagree

6.1

9.4

6.7

6.5

15.6

25.0

3- Indifferent

12.1

15.6

16.7

9.7

12.5

18.8

4- Agree

66.7

59.4

63.3

67.7

62.5

37.5

5- Completely agree

15.2

15.6

13.3

16.1

6.3

Scale

General perception Legend:

there is a consensus

there is no consensus Source: research data

To better assess the importance of electronic records, their utility was shown both for medical and nursing work (Table 6), as well as for the processes of billing and auditing (Table 7). In the sample population studied, there was a broad agreement that the Alpha System facilitated work in the fields of guidelines, authorizations, and patient care, promoting medical and nursing improvements. Medical prescriptions were also facilitated by the use of electronic records, allowing medications to be directly requested from the pharmacy and to be subsequently checked. Studies have demonstrated that electronic prescriptions may decrease the costs for the patients, as the list of available drugs facilitates the indication of generic medications (Balfour III et al., 2009) and can lead to a reduction in the prescribed doses (Shekelle, Morton, and Keeler, 2006). This also facilitates the renewal of prescriptions and subsequent alterations of the doses (Weingart et al., 2009). The use of hospital information systems, which allows for access to a more structured set of information and which implies the adoption of better-defined protocols, may improve the quality of prescriptions and reduce the consumption of certain medications (Shekelle, Morton, and Keeler, 2006). The evaluated system, according to the respondents, presents a good level of integration with the Auxiliary Services for Diagnosis and Therapy (ASDT). This integration is important, constituting a critical factor for the success in the installment and use of electronic records (Bahensky, Jaana and Ward, 2008).

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Table 6 - Utility of the system for medical and nursing work.

Scale

Facilitate Facilitate s work in s work in the sector Facilitates the of medical patient guideline care evolution s and of authorizat patients ions

Facilitate s nursing work in the evolution of patients

Facilitates the work of medical prescriptio ns for patients

Allows medications to be directly requested from pharmacies

Facilitates nursing work and checking prescripti ons

Presents a good level of integration with the units responsible for ASDT*

1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Completely disagree

0.0

2.9

0.0

3.4

2.9

2- Disagree

3.0

11.4

9.4

10.0

12.1

0.0

24.1

14.7

3- Indifferent

9.1

20.0

3.1

13.3

9.1

0.0

17.2

8.8

4- Agree

51.5

45.7

65.6

56.7

60.6

60.0

44.8

55.9

5- Completely agree 36.4

20.0

21.9

20.0

18.2

40.0

10.3

17.6

General perception Legend: there is a consensus there is no consensus

*Auxiliary Services for Diagnosis and Therapy (ASDT) Source: research data

The utility of electronic records for billing and auditing activities is shown by the results in Table 7. There is a general consensus that the system facilitates the charging of hospital bills (87.9% agree or completely agree), allows for a better analysis of hospital bills (82.8%), decreases the occurrence of frauds (60%), makes auditing simpler for the processes of authorization and releasing procedures (84.8%), allows for better verification of the materials and medications used in the surgical center (78.6%), and provides better control over the consumption of medications (73.6%). The results obtained are consistent with the considerations of Scarparo and Ferraz (2008), Ribeiro et al. (2008), and Notolini et al. (2006), as mentioned above.

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Table 7 – Utility of the system for the processes of billing and auditing. Facilitates verification of the materials and medication s used in the surgical center

Facilitates hospital billing

Facilitates analysis of hospital bills

Reduces the occurrence of frauds

Facilitates auditing in the authorizati on and release of procedures

0.0

5.7

0.0

3.6

2- Disagree

3.0

5.7

17.1

3.0

3.6

11.8

3- Indifferent

9.1

11.4

17.1

12.1

14.3

14.7

4- Agree

51.5

45.7

51.5

50.0

47.1

5- Completely agree

36.4

37.1

14.3

33.3

28.6

26.5

Scale

1– disagree

Completely

Provides better control over the consumption of medications

General perception Legend:

there is a consensus

there is no consensus Source: research data

5. CONCLUSION The research question presented at the beginning of this work addressed the benefits and problems that could be verified with the use of electronic records. As discussed throughout the literature review and in relation to the results of the present study, the main benefits verified include the standardization of processes; the ease and agility in the recovery of information; better control over prescriptions, materials, and procedures; and better adherence to protocols and standards established by the hospital. Despite these benefits, certain problems were found, such as the difficulty organizing the information on the screens of the system, interruption of the system, and the difficulty in the formatting and adequacy of the reports. Considering that a large number of the respondents were auditors in the medical field, some benefits were observed such as greater control over hospital inputs and procedures and a greater ease in the auditing of bills, which indicated plausibility for the formulated hypothesis (“although some problems may be identified during the process of using the electronic records system, the benefits outweigh the difficulties, thereby justifying the system’s use”). It is important to consider that this study is of an exploratory nature, with no intention of exhausting the subject. Nevertheless, the results enable an initial approach that can be extended by continued research and further analysis, thereby serving as a baseline for future studies. .

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the American Academy of Pediatrics]. Malhotra, N. K. et al. (2005). Introdução à pesquisa de Marketing. São Paulo: Pearson. Mcdonald, C.J. (1997, May-Jun). The Barriers to Electronic Medical Record Systems and How to Overcome Them. Journal of the American Medical Informatics association. Milan, G. S. & Trez, G. (2005). Pesquisa de satisfação: um modelo para planos de saúde. RAE eletrônica. Morettin, P.A. & Bussab, W.O. (1981). Métodos Quantitativos para Economistas e Administradores. São Paulo: Atual Editora. Notolini, S.M.; Silva, A. & Jansen, A.M.G. (2006). A Implantação de Prontuário Eletrônico em Unidade de Pronto-Socorro. Anais do Congresso da Sociedade Brasileira de Informática. Pestana, M. H. & Gageiro, J. N. (2000). Análise de Dados para Ciências Sociais: A Complementariedade do SPSS. 2ª Ed., Lisboa: Silabo. Pinochet, L.H.C. & Albertin, A.L. (2008) O Processo de Formulação de uma Política de Segurança de Informações Segundo a Percepção dos Gestores: Um Estudo em Instituições Hospitalares. In: XXIX Encontro da Associação Nacional de Programas de Pós-Graduação em Administração, ENANPAD, 2005, Brasília. XXIX ENANPAD 2005. Brasília: ANPAD. Ribeiro, J. M. et al. (2008). Procedimentos e percepções de profissionais e grupos atuantes em mercados de planos de saúde no Brasil. Ciênc. saúde coletiva. 1477-1487. Rodrigues Filho, J.; Xavier, J.C. B. & Adriano, A.L. (2001). A tecnologia da informação na área hospitalar: um caso de implementação de um sistema de registro de pacientes. Rev. adm. contemp. 105-120. Santos, S. R. dos; Paula, A.F.A. de & Lima, J.P. (2003). O enfermeiro e sua percepção sobre o sistema manual de registro no prontuário. Rev. Latino-Am. Enfermagem. 80-87. Scarparo, A.F. & Ferraz, C. A. Auditoria em Enfermagem: identificando sua concepção e métodos. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem. (pp. 302-305. 2008). Shachak, A.; Hadas-Dayagi, M.; Ziv, A. & Reis, S. (2009). Primary Care Physicians' Use of an Electronic Medical Record System: A Cognitive Task Analysis. Journal of General Internal Medicine . 341-348. Shekelle, P.G.; Morton, S.C. & Keeler, E.B. (2006). Costs and benefits of health information technology. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Publication. Shepherd, C. (2006). Constructing enterprise resource planning - A thoroughgoing interpretivist perspective on technological change. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. The British Psychological Society. 357–376. Stead, W.W. (2007, February). Rethinking Electronic Health Records to Better Achieve Quality and Safety Goals.Annual Review of Medicine. 35-47. Setz, V. G. & D'innocenzo, M. (2009). Avaliação da qualidade dos registros de enfermagem no prontuário por meio da auditoria. Acta Paulista de Enfermagem. 313317. Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 131-154

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Stumpf, M. K. & Freitas, H.M.R. (1997). de. A gestão da informação em um hospital universitário: o processo de definição do Patient Core Record. Rev. adm. Contemp. 7199. Uslu, A.M. & Stausberg, J. (2008). Value of the electronic patient record: An analysis of the literature. Journal of Biomedical Informatics. 675–682. Wakamiya, S. & Yamauchib, K. (2009, August). What are the standard functions of electronic clinical pathways (International Journal of Medical Informatics), 543-550. Walsh, S.H. (2004). The clinician's perspective on electronic health records and how they can affect patient care. British Medical Journal. 1184-1187. Warwick, C. et al. (2009). Documentation and the users of digital resources in the humanities. Journal of Documentation., 33-57. Weingart, S. N. et al. (2009, September). Assessing the value of electronic prescribing in ambulatory care: A focus group study. International Journal of Medical Informatics. 571-578.

Appendix I – Research Survey Medicine Doctor Nurse Administration

] ]

[ [

The respondent is an auditor [ ] Yes [ ] No

[

] Age range [ ] 20 years old or younger [ ] 21 to 30 [ ] 31 to 40 [ ] 41 to 50 [ ] 51 to 60 [ ] older than 60 Less than 1 year

Between 1 and 2 years

Between 3 and 4 years

Between 5 and 6 years

More than 6 years

How long have you used a computer? Terrible

Bad

Regular

Good

Excellent

How would you classify your knowledge of computers? How would you classify your knowledge of the internet?

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Longer than 12 months

Between 6 and 12 months

Between 1 and 5 months

Less than Once a once a month month

A few times a month

A few times a day

How long have you used electronic records? A few times a week

Many times during the day

How often do you use the system? Less Between Between Between Between More than 30 30 1 and 2 2 and 3 3 and 4 than 4 minutes minutes hours hours hours hours and 1 hour What is the average amount of time you spend each time you use the system? How do you use electronic records? [ ] only research

[ ] research and entry

[ ] only entry

Do not What is your level of agreement with the following Completely Completely know or Disagree Indifferent Agree statements on electronic records disagree gree does not apply Are they easy to use? Does the order of information presented on the screen agree with your needs? Is the information divided in a consistent manner? The speed of the system is good The system facilitates patient care It facilitates hospital billing It facilitates the analysis of hospital bills It reduces the occurrence of frauds It facilitates the nursing work of checking medications It facilitates the prescribing of patient medications It facilitates the medical evaluation of patients It facilitates the nursing work in the evaluation of patients It facilitates the verification of the materials and medications used in the surgical center It allows medications to be requested directly from the pharmacy It provides greater control over the consumption of medications It facilitates the work in the sector of guidelines and authorizations It facilitates auditing in the processes of authorization and release of procedures It facilitates the implementation of internal protocols Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 131-154

154

C么rtes, P.L., C么rtes, E. G. de P.

Do not What is your level of agreement with the following Completely Completely know or Disagree Indifferent Agree statements on electronic records disagree gree does not apply The system presents a good level of integration with the units responsible for the Auxiliary Services for Diagnosis and Therapy (ASDT) The system works well The system provides clear information The system provides reliable information The system provides useful information The system provides complete information They system has few interruptions The system has enough screens for its activity The screens of the system present good organization (with the adequate use of tables, figures, graphics, and text) The format of the screens is pleasant (Zen,? It is easy to insert information into the electronic records (Zen, 2008) The screens of the system facilitate research of the information The system has enough records for its activity The records of the system present an appropriate format The records of the system are well organized (with the adequate use of tables, figures, graphics, and text) The generation of records is fast The records are reliable The records are useful The records have updated information The records improve the reliability of the decision-making process The records facilitate the decision-making The records facilitate the coordination of tasks The records facilitate the need for control, surveillance, and conferencing The records increase the level of control over the operations The records are easily configured

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JISTEM Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Vol. 8, No. 1, 2011, p. 155-178 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752011000100008

USE AND DEVELOPMENT OF HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEMS: THE EXPERIENCE OF AN ORGANIZATIONAL UNIT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TECHNOLOGICAL SERVICES AT A PUBLIC HOSPITAL Sonia Valle W. Borges de Oliveira Cristiane Sonia Arroyo Marcio Mattos Borges de Oliveira Alessandra Henriques Ferreira School of Economics, Business and Accounting of Ribeirao Preto – USP, São Paulo, Brazil __________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT The goal of this work is to present an overview of the use and development of health information systems (HIS) reporting the experience of the information management department of a public hospital. Recently, the implementation of HIS has received great prominence. The patient’s improvement process can be enriched with the introduction of the patient’s history by electronic means, among other technologies. A descriptive study with interviews conducted between the years 2004 and 2007 provided the experience obtained by the Center for Information and Analysis of HC-FMRP-USP. It can be concluded that the success of the HIS implementation can lead to cost reduction and improve the work quality of health care professionals as well as patient care services. Keywords: Medical e-health; health information systems; information technology; computerbased patient record. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Recebido em/Manuscript first received: 07/01/2009 Aprovado em/Manuscript accepted: 06/08/2010 Endereço para correspondência/ Address for correspondence Sonia Valle W. Borges de Oliveira, Professor at School of Economics, Business and Accounting of Ribeirão Preto – USP, São Paulo, Brazil Av. Bandeirantes 3900, Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto/SP, CEP: 14040-900 55 (16) 3602-4751, E-mail: soniavw@terra.com.br Cristiane Sonia Arroyo, Doctorate in Administration at FEA/USP, São Paulo, Brazil Rua Felipe Achê, 566, Jardim São Luiz, Ribeirão Preto/SP, CEP: 14020-420 55 (16) 3637-7487, e-mail: csarroyo@terra.com.br Marcio Mattos Borges de Oliveira, Associate Professor at School of Economics, Business and Accounting of Ribeirao Preto – USP, São Paulo, Brazil Av. Bandeirantes 3900, Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto/SP, CEP: 14040-900 55 (16) 3602-3939, E-mail: mmattos@usp.br. Alessandra Henriques Ferreira, Doctoral graduate student in Administration of Organizations at Faculty of Economics, Administration and Accounting of Ribeirao Preto – USP, São Paulo, Brazil Post-Doctorate Program in Administration at FEA-RP/USP, São Paulo, Brazil E-mail: alessandrahf@usp.br.

ISSN online: 1807-1775 Publicado por/Published by: TECSI FEA USP – 2011

156 Oliveira, S. V. W. B. de, Arroyo, C. S., Oliveira, M. M. B. de, Ferreira, A. H.

1. INTRODUCTION The application of information systems in the health care field has received much attention over the last few years. The advances made in medicine in the process of patient treatment may be enriched by the introduction of detailed history of the patient by electronic means, of support systems for decision making in diagnostics and the prescription of drugs, of a data base of related cases, among others, coming from the introduction of information systems (IS) and of information technology (IT). The ISs and the ITs are information-generating instruments. According to RubiesFeijooa, Salas-Fernándeza, Moya-Olverab and Guanyabens-Calveta (2010), the use of such instruments could improve the quality of the treatment given to the patient and facilitate the standardizing of medical procedures, aside from co-relating several areas of a health care organization, like scheduling of appointments, purchase of drugs and material, the financial sector, among others. Consequently, the control and cost reduction would also be significant (Goodman, 2005; Himmelstein, Wright, & Woolhandler, 2010). In Brazil, the seeking of information is being introduced gradually in different instances in the health care sector, be it in the public or private health care system. The Department of Information and eHealth (DATASUS) of the Ministry of Health [MH] (2007a) concentrates great effort to integrate and make available this health information in Brazil. Currently, health information systems (HIS) prioritize patient assistance needs as can be seen by the computer-based patient record (CBPR) initiative that is being implemented in less than one percent of hospitals in Brazil (Sabattini, 2007). The CBPR is a special and complex health IS that integrates all the data of a health care organization. Making an analogy with other areas of business we can say that the CBPR is equivalent to the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) which deals with the management of business relations. The root of problem that gave the incentive to the development of this article is: how do public organizations that give assistance in the health care field are developing their ISs? In order to answer the question of the proposed problem, the objective was to present a panorama of the use and development of health information systems reporting the experience of the Center for Information and Analysis (CIA), the organizational unit responsible for the technological services offered to the Hospital das Clínicas of the University of São Paulo’s Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto (HC-FMRP-USP). The justification of the proposal of this article is given by the fundamental need of the HC-FMRP-USP to generate the information and the knowledge originated by a great quantity and diversity of data resulted from treatment of nearly 2,500 patients a day. This quantity refers to the number of physician consultations done and the diversity refers to different types of data like text and imaging, for example, medical prescriptions, x-ray exams, and ultrasounds, among other types of data. Next, a panorama of the use and development of health information systems (HIS) is presented by means of Topics one and two, named respectively health information R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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technology and health information in Brazil. Topic three deals with the methodology used in this work, the fourth presents the results and discussions, the fifth shows the final considerations and lastly, the sixth is about the conclusion. 2. HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Information Technologies (IT) are made of equipment, communication technologies and manipulation of data bases that serve as technological tools for SIs to be developed and to function. The information is the result of existing data treated in a significant and useful format (Cruz, 2007; Laudon & Laudon, 2007). Information Technologies are available through computers that are more and more powerful; by the availability of Intranet, Extranet and Internet; better network security; wireless technologies; portable equipment, for example, cell phones, palmtops and handhelds; reusable software, open source software, among others (Turban, Rainer, & Porter, 2005).In general, it may be said that technology is not the problem in order to integrate health systems, but a great tool for its solution. Computer processing power has doubled each year and its cost has been reduced, making it accessible to institutions and the population. The internet has allowed for the integration among institutions that are geographically distant, as well as the sharing of clinical data and even the consultation and monitoring of patients in their own residences (Machado et al., 2010; Massad, Marin, & Azevedo, 2003; Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neill & Klepack, 2007). The Computer-based Patient Record (CBPR) is a special and complex information system that assists in human health which integrates all the data of a health organization. CBPR makes it available, in just one screen, data and information about a patient like exams, diagnostics, health history, personal data, drugs, invoicing and other information and is implemented in less than one percent of hospitals in Brazil (Sabattini, 2007). Making an analogy with other areas of business, we can say that the CBPR is equivalent to the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) which deals with the management of business relations. Perez and Zwicker (2010) consider the patient record as an IS for working groups as well as an organizational IS. The CBPR is a process (Massad et al., 2003). As such, to develop the CBPR it is imperative to follow an adequate information system development model (Pressman, 2006). Therefore, since it is a process, for the development and implementation of the CBPR in a health organization, there is a need for a plan for the execution and control of activities (Slack, Chambers, & Johnston, 2009). The changes derived from the introduction of an information system into a health organization should be treated in an oriented and organized manner when executing the management of this change (Laudon & Laudon, 2007). The introduction or the modification of an information system generates a technical, behavioral and organizational impact affecting the entire organization (Perez & Zwicker, 2010). The manner in which people work and interact are transformed when conducting the new distribution of authority and power, for the way information is defined is altered, accessed and used (Furie et al., 2007; Laudon & Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 155-178

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Laudon, 2007). Many IT resources have assisted in providing the data from the CBPR as graphic interfaces. The storing and distributing of images denominated PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems) are one example of the application of this technology (Kahn, Channin, & Rubin, 2006; Massad et al., 2003). All this patient information could be discussed via web among other specialists for the exchange of opinions and to assist with decision making (Machado et al., 2010). Telemedicine may be assisted by world standards of digital communications for medical imaging like the DICOM standard (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) which also works as text information (Noumeir, 2006). DICOMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purpose is to standardize the formatting of diagnostic images like tomography, magnetic resonances, x-rays, ultrasounds, etc. The creation of low cost equipment for the use in telemedicine can be of great value to developing countries. According to data written in 1998 in Szot et al. (2004), there were 279 physicians for every 100,000 inhabitants, while in South Africa this number fell to 56.3, 93.2 in Peru and 13 in Haiti for the same number of inhabitants. It was also observed that in most health establishments there were no radiology specialists, hindering patient diagnosis. To assist with this situation, a low cost digital camera was created, in which the image would be generated directly into JPEG2000 format, through a TIFF image, using Java JJ200 software. Besides technology, to achieve success when implementing the CBPR, according to Ammenwerth, Graber, Herrmann, Burkle and Konig (2003) you need cooperation, the availability of treatment programs (protocols, conduct guidelines, warnings and notices), team instructions and the implementation of technological norms and standards and of the data itself. It is important to emphasize that success will depend on the people themselves (Lewicka, 2010). According to Lederman and Parkes (2005) hospitals and patients struggled with the high costs resulting from errors made in prescribing drugs. These errors could have been minimized with the help of software that is of great assistance in the prescription of these drugs. According to Bates (2005), many barriers impeding the implementation of the CBPR were not technical. The absence of technological knowledge serves as a limitation to the success when implementing HIS. Establishing training strategies, technical follow-ups, and raising the awareness of the medical corps would avoid problems such as resistance to using HIS (Joia & MagalhĂŁes, 2009; Nunes, Cotta, & Lima, 2006). Virtual reality and distance learning could be implemented into programs that would qualify health care professionals (Camacho, 2009). The dissemination of information, mainly prophylactics, among the general population, should receive special attention, and be provided by a public health care system (Paulon & Carneiro, 2009). As for the uses of IT and IS in the area of administration of health care institutions, we can emphasize savings with the use of the CBPR, since it speeds up the treatment of the patient, the request of insurance via electronic means, which reduces costs with bureaucracy, fraud in medical treatments, and lastly, the reduction in costs in several areas of support like stocking of supplies, exams, and pertinent drugs, among other uses (Menachemi & Brooks, 2006). This optimization allows patients to be R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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released one day earlier than if IS was not used. But the challenge of maintaining HIS updated still remains (Perez & Zwicker, 2010). The medical treatment processes modify themselves due to internal causes (new diagnostics and therapeutic procedures or changes in departmental structure) or external causes (like economic pressure at hospitals and integrated networks of medical services making it necessary to make quick adaptations to HIS to meet new conditions. In order to speed up these adaptations, a methodology for the continuous evolution of data and procedures with the use of a holistic IS in Lenz and Kuhn (2004) was presented. In the area of medical images, a few research and paper themes were developed, like the study that compared three different methods, using the characteristics of usability, stability, and the quality of the results, to measure the time it took to display images. In this case method three showed to be superior to the other two (Pietsch, Schlaefke, Vogl, & Bergh, 2006). Kahn et al. (2006) described an ontology to integrate PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems) with ISs in clinics to support the process of radiological interpretations. Noumeir (2006) reports the benefits of the use of the diagnostic imaging report obtained through DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine). The main component of the system proposed in the works of Hur, Lee and Kim (2006) was the construction of a module for the management of reports in the web using XML technology (eXtensible Markup Language) that allows for more flexibility and convenience to imaging technicians and radiologists. ITs and HIS allow the patient to electronically access their own health information wherever they may be. In several countries, the concerns with protecting the privacy of information are a reality ascertained by the adoption of legislation and policies in each country. Win, Susilo and Mu (2006) did a study on privacy of information. In the USA, the forecast was that the use of the computer-based patient record (CBPR) in doctorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; offices will become a reality by 2024, if the current market situation remains the same (Ford, Menachemi, & Phillips, 2006). In Australia, the challenges are in the different spheres of government, the management of underestimated changes and the maintenance of continuous political support. England forecast an investment of $32 billion to computerize medical and administrative registries of 52 million patients over the next 10 years (Chantler, Clarke, & Granger, 2006). In 2009, Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s forecast was to reach nearly 50% of the population with the interoperable CBPR, that is, the exchange of information among several health care institutions (Health Management Technology, 2006). n this Topic, the studies presented showed that the advances in medicine as it relates to the cure of the patient is enriched by the introduction of IT and IS. 3. HEALTH INFORMATION IN BRAZIL In the previous Topic, the examples mentioned showed the importance of the use of IT and IS which serve to aid the selection of data, dealing with them in an agile Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 155-178

160 Oliveira, S. V. W. B. de, Arroyo, C. S., Oliveira, M. M. B. de, Ferreira, A. H.

and organized manner, and transform them into information. ISs supply information for decision makers and also for people in the organization. Although there is enormous fragmentation of the health market in Brazil, the Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS (Unique Health System) still is the largest payer of services, with nearly 75% of the public consultations that result in nearly 125 million Brazilians as opposed to 42 million seen by the private market (Ammenwerth et al., 2003) which represent 25% of the population who is covered by private health insurance (Ministry of Health, 2007b). The data presented by Ammenwerth et al. (2003) about the Brazilian situation is summarized as: nearly 7,800 hospitals, of which 80% have less than 100 beds; nearly 2,700 private health insurance carriers, of which 70% cover less than 50,000 lives and 6 to 8 million lives seen by private health insurers that tend to be the largest of the private health insurance companies in Brazil. The Agência Nacional de Saúde Suplementar - ANS, (National Agency of Supplemental Health) (2010) regulates the health care-sector operators which are the companies and entities that work in the supplemental health sector offering consumers health assistance plans. In 2005, with the advent of the requirements manual, phase I for the certification of the ANS and its standardization of the Supplemental Health Information Exchange (SHIE) began. According to the manager of the National Health Agency (HealthCare Brazil, 2007), the SHIE standard is like the EDI project (Electronic Data Interchange) called ebusiness which is a win-win project for it was found that the entire productive sector where the project was implemented, the entire productive chain was also benefitted. Several countries are on their way to integrate health information via the internet and to the adoption of the universal Electronic Health Registry (EHR), classified as one computerized level above the CBPR. In the USA, the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) of 1996 deals with this issue, in Canada the INFOWAY agency (Health Infoway) deals with developing the health sector by adopting standards, in Australia there is the Connecting for Health, and lastly, in Europe, there is an international project called E-health Europe. The Ministry of Health (MH) has created several mechanisms to integrate and make available health information by means of health programs and projects that use IT and IS as the Basic Attention Information System (BAIS), the National Health Card (NHC), REFORSUS – Strengthening of the Reorganization of the Unique Health System, the National Health Information Network (NHIN) and the National Policy for Health Information and Computerization (NPHIC). For follow-ups, implementation and systemization of these projects, the MH relies on DATASUS which is Unique Health System’s Computer Department which is of a national scope (Ministry of Health, 2007c). Efforts to create the HIS on a state and municipal scope are exemplified. In the state of Pará, 18 Health Care Institutions were computerized, a DATASUS initiative. The project began in 1993 with the computerization of the national pilot, at the mixed unit in the municipality of Santarém. In 2006, the implementation in Tucuruí and R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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Conceição do Araguaia was concluded (Ledo, 2006). The introduction of the CBPR in patient care would provide an improved result with the integration of decision-support systems (DSS). Joia and Magalhães (2009) and Tange et al. (2003) commented on the importance of this partnership, since it would give physicians the decisive push so that they may believe in the use of IT in the treatment of patients. The way in which these new technologies were introduced was evaluated in view of the pre-established routines and its difficulties in substituting them without the physician’s thorough awareness. Another manner for the use of the CBPR was presented by Ueckert, Goerz, Ataian, Tessmann and Prokosch (2003) to increase patient power in the process, since it allows for their direct communication with health professionals. This instrument has the capacity to integrate the hospital’s clinical IS with the patient, and even allowing for the forwarding of reminders to patients about health programs. Critical points in this system are security and access management. Menachemi and Brooks (2006) did a revision of the associated technologies to the security of patient information in relation to costs and benefits. Shen et al. (2006) discussed the barriers faced with the regulations from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) for the implementation of this research in health services. Yang, Lin, Chang and Jian (2006) presented a study to serve as a reference on how to manage health information in a confidential and secure manner especially in electronic transactions. Xiao, Hu, Croitoru, Lewis and Dasmahapatra (2010) proposed a security model for the health information systems. Nevertheless, the implementation of the CBPR would bring some obstacles like cultural diversity of people involved in the process, political and economic aspects and the lack of incentives on the part of the organization and the diversity of information systems (Evangelisti, 2006). In summary, some important dates in the health policies are in Figure 1.

Year Country Event 1988

Brazil

Creation of the Unique Health System (SUS)

1996

USA

American Law that established an electronic standard for the exchange of health information: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

1998

England

National strategy aligned with the objectives of the Government to “offer English citizens the best health service in the world”

Canada

Canada Health Infoway: paths to a better Health

Brazil

National Health Card System (NHCS)

1999

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162 Oliveira, S. V. W. B. de, Arroyo, C. S., Oliveira, M. M. B. de, Ferreira, A. H.

Year

2000

2001

Country

Event

Australia

Health Information Network for Australia

Canada

Strategy for the area of Health Information called Canada Health Infoway which aims to improve the quality, access and the continuity of services for all Canadians

Brazil

Creation of the National Health Agency (ANS)

Australia

Strategy for the area of Information and Computerization of Health. The project is called Health Online: A Health Information Action Plan for Australia (Online Health: an action plan for Health Information in Australia)

Australia

HealthConnect begins its operations

Brazil

Resolution 1639/2002 of the Federal Counsel of Medicine

USA

HIPAA Privacy Rules 04/14/2003

2002

2003 Brazil

National Policy on Computerized Health (NPCH) the National Policy for Health Information and Computerization

Brazil

National Health Card (NHC) in 44 municipalities (pilot) promises free software

USA

HIPAA Security Rules 04/20/2005

Brazil

Requirements Manual. Phase I Public Consultation Certification # 21 of the ANS (National Health Agency) Supplemental Health Information Exchange (SHIE)

2006

Brazil

All products must come with bar codes by April 2006

2009

Canada

50% of the population are in the interoperable CBPR

2010

Australia

CBPR availability for entire population

2014

USA

Electronic Registry of all American citizens

2004

2005

Figure 1. Chronology of the health policies Source: Authors

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4. METHODOLOGY This current study was defined as qualitative research done by means of a descriptive study with an empirical investigation. The collection of data used the survey method and the techniques chosen were personal interviews, bibliographical data research and secondary data (Cooper & Schindler, 2003). Personal interviews were held with the director of computer services of the HCFMRP-USP. These interviews were held on the 29th of June 2004 lasting around two hours and on the 1st, 12th and 21st of March 2007, each lasting around 90 minutes. Secondary data were also collected as an internal report about the strategic planning for the year 2007 (GĂłes & Dallora, 2007). The analysis of this data showed a comparison to CIA in the years 2004 and 2007. Figure 2 shows the sequence of questions used at the interviews. Questions

Organizational Context at CIA-FMRP-USP

Organization

History of the sector, mission, vision and hierarchical structure

People

Job title and number of employees

Hardware, software, network technologies and data base resources

Number of health information systems (HIS)

Figure 2. Sequence used during interviews about the CIA experience Source: Authors 5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results of the interviews given by the director of computer services and the experience of the Center for Information and Analysis (CIA) from HC-FMRP-USP will be presented in this topic. In 2006, HC-FMRP-USP turned 50 since its foundation. At that time it had 851 beds in the infirmary and 119 in the observation area, 333 doctorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; offices and 34 surgical rooms. Currently, it has 4,795 employees that correspond to 4.9 employees per bed. HC-FMRP-USP is a public hospital, and it has 211 professors from FMRP-USP in the clinical areas, 507 resident physicians and 82 physicians upgrading themselves. It is a third level teaching hospital geared towards health where teaching and research are both done. The CIA is an organizational unit of HC-FMRP-USP responsible for the technological services that are offered to the hospital itself and is under the Technical Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 155-178

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Counsel. In Brazil, it was one of the pioneers in the implementation of the electronic prescription. 1. The CIA’s history. In 1995, a computer services commission was created, with the aim to diagnose and formulate a computerized policy for the hospital. It was concluded that the information system was implemented by a directorship from the computer field that did not identify itself with HC-FMRP-USP and it was detected that there was an urgent need to re-evaluate this question, by creating an institutional space for this purpose. Once this policy was adopted and understanding that computerized services was a viable alternative for management, for productivity and transparency of activities, it was decided then to invest in a Computer Services Unit, using the CIA’s structure, something already part of the hospital’s regulations. The CIA would assume the attributions of managing the computer services at HC, create and maintain an updated technology base and develop custom made systems following an integrated hospital IS system. Professionals were employed by the Foundation for the Support in Learning, Research and Assistance (FSLRA) according to the needs, since HC-FMRP-USP being a public hospital it did not have any computer professionals in their personnel roster. A preliminary work was done aiming to define the guidelines and to standardize the technological tools, and the hardware and software to be used. In this stage, outsourced specialized consulting was used. The data base chosen was a related Oracle; the programming language was Delphi as well as the CASE ErWin tool, these being technologies standardized by the CIA to this date. In 1995, the hospital had around 500 PCs used for the administrative automation and for departmental applications that worked independently. In partnership with the Faculty of Medicine and with support from FAPESP, HC invested in the implementation and expansion of a network of PCs which back then was one of the CIA’s priorities. 2. The CIA’s mission. In 2004, the CIA’s mission was to act in a proactive manner in all the organizational units of HC-FMRP-USP pushing for adequate and sufficient technological means and resources seeking excellence in services, teaching and research as it pertained to the capture, treatment, storage, security, and agility in the transmission and availability of information at the strategic, tactical and operational levels all in alignment with the hospital’s mission. Researching and publishing solutions of applications in the field of health care and giving support to the administrative management seeking the state of the art in IT as well. In 2007, the CIA had the same mission. 3. The CIA’s vision. In 2004, the CIA’s vision was to maintain an engaged team, capable and up-to-date by using a technological park of the latest (hardware and software) capable of maintaining HC-FMRP-USP as a Center of reference and an opinion maker in the use and development of IS. Its vision remains the same according to the Strategic Planning for the year 2007. 4. The CIA’s previous situation, in 2004. In 2004, the policy adopted was to strengthen its own computer team which brought on important conquests, although there R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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was still a great need to advance in the direction of systems integration as well as in the use of computerized system to improve productivity and quality in the work processes of the HC. The unification of the data bases between HC-FMRP-USP and the Data Processing Company of the State of Sao Paulo (DPCSP) became a fundamental question in face of the problems like a fragmented system, and double passwords, among others, presented in Figure 3. At that time, there was a need for a policy to deal with the security of the information due to the evolution of computerization at the hospital sector with the installation of an extensive computer network that raised important questions about: secrecy, privacy, security and the quality of the information. Another important question to be mentioned was the incorporation of the CENTAURO system from the State Secretariat of Transplants, since on one hand, local computerization emphasized and encouraged this service provided by the CIA, on the other hand, the hospital assumed new responsibilities according to the magnitude that the management of transplants demanded. Therefore, planning was crucial. As such, Strategic Planning was made beginning in 2004 that defined the objectives and strategies to achieve this plan. This plan proposed the means to make available ISs and the necessary information, aiming to improve work processes, guaranteeing gains in efficiency and quality that were measurable and favorable to the humanization of this hospitalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s services. 5. The CIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current situation. In August 2004, DPCSP stopped all development of new systems alleging a financial lag in their maintenance contract keeping only the necessary minimum staff in Ribeirao Preto to maintain the systems that were already implemented. The CIA, through its Strategic Planning, assumed the responsibility for the development of the systems, up to that point maintained by DPCSP, and gradually assumed the computerization of the hospital. In May 2006, HC-FMRP-USP finalized the contract with DPCSP as an outsource to provide computerized services for the Hospital Information System (HIS) when at that time the CIA implemented systems like Scheduling of Appointments, Medical Filing Service, Hospital Infection Control, Patient Waiting Room, Registry, Bed Control, High Cost Procedures Authorization, Hospital Releases, Emergency Care, Lab Information System and Admittance Requests. Therefore, beginning in May 2006, HC-FMRP-USP finalized its planning to implement a hospital integrated system, that aside from the integration itself, a crucial factor for the improvement in the quality of the data and processes, it also brought some immediate benefits by fixing old problems as described in Figure 3. In 2007, the CIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategic plan is also followed. This plan contemplates changes in the physical structure, hiring of personnel, prioritizing and the allocation of personnel for the development of new HIS, changes in its organizational structure, and personnel training, among other things, that directs the path to be followed by CIA.

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Old Problems from 2004

Current Benefits in 2007

Labs waited for automation for All labs that are viable for automation, already more than ten years have interfaces There were two systems of There is now a single system of information information Users had two passwords that Users now have only one password to access the used to be created and renewed at systems different locations Users did not know in which All systems are now on a single interface, that is, system their needs were on the same access menu Users did not know whom to ask There is now a single place for users to ask for for help help There was rivalry between teams, Rivalry has ended, since today there is only the for there was competition and not CIA’s team of analysts, data base administrators, cooperation between the CIA and and networks etc. DPCSP The lack of cooperation from DPCSP no longer hinders the speed in which the DPCSP hindered on-going CIA’s projects are conducted projects There is now a single DBMS resulting in savings There was duplication of the Data in public funds, since there is now only one Base Management System contract which is paid to Oracle do Brasil (DBMS) Sistemas Ltda. A Storage Area Network, a high performance There was a need for duplicate equipment which is tolerant of system flaws, was data base servers bought by FSLRA The CIA was not able to migrate its DBMS to a newer version, In August 2006, DBMS was migrated to version Oracle 10g, as it had to be 10g in cluster, this allowed the possibility to add compatible with DPCSP’s new servers to increase processing capabilities technology . There were duplicate tables: The duplication of tables were no longer needed, patients, specializations, rooms since now there is a single DBMS being used and beds etc Figure 3. A Parallel between problems that occurred in 2004 and the benefits from the CIA in 2007 Legend: DPCSP: Data Processing Company of the State of Sao Paulo DPCSSP and FSLRA: Foundation for Support, Learning, Research and Assistance FSLRA. Source: Authors R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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6. One of the CIA’s projects in 2004. The re-engineering of the printing used the principle that favored the sharing of computers and peripheral equipment in order to reduce costs with supplies (toners, tapes, cartridges, ribbons etc) which in 2003 totaled R$ 230.018,79. Another factor that was worked on was the great number sectors equipped with ink jet printers which have a 14% higher cost as opposed to laser technology. 7. One of the CIA’s projects in 2007. There were investments and efforts made to acquire a medical digital imaging communication and storage system. Priority was given to the implementation and use of this medical digital imaging system. 8. ISs’ implementation situation in 2004. In 2004 the CIA had available 45 subsystems developed internally that formed its Integrated Hospital Information System (Figure 4). Among the SIs, 28 were the CIA’s, eight were DPCSP’s and six were outsourced with plans for 12 to be developed by the CIA. In 2004, DPCSP was responsible for the clinical labs system, the employee payroll, the specialized elective scheduling of appointments system, the High Complexity Procedures Authorization (HCPA) and the Hospital Management Information System (HMIS). Clinical Management

Care Support

Patient Management Financial Management

Supplies Management

Hospital Management System

Management Information

Support Services Revenues Management Teaching and Research

Figure 4. HC-FMRP-USP’s health information systems (HIS) in 2004 Source: Authors. Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 155-178

168 Oliveira, S. V. W. B. de, Arroyo, C. S., Oliveira, M. M. B. de, Ferreira, A. H.

In 2005, CIA implemented the lab exams system, the reports issuing and blood pressure monitoring system, and the supplies programming system. The systems developed in 2005 and implemented in 2006 were the identification system, patient registering and bed controls, patient records control and distribution system and the hospital’s patient release system. 9. ISs’ implementation situation in 2007. There are 45 HIS under the CIA’s responsibility (Figure 5) plus a medical digital imaging system due to be implemented also in 2007. Furthermore, 20 new systems and maintenance are also due to be developed that are currently in use. Area

Health Information Systems

1. Patient registry; 2. Scheduling of Appointments 3. Electronic Reference Patient Guide; 4. Admittance and bed control; 5. Emergency care; 6. Medical files Management service; 7. In-Patient/Out-Patient System 8. Hospital releases; 9. High complexity procedures authorization (HCPA); Clinic 10. Medical reports; 11. Electronic Prescriptions; 12. Electronic Management Prescription II; 13. Surgery appointments. Diagnostics and Therapy

14. Lab exams; 15. Radio-diagnostics; 16. Pathology; 17. Digestive endoscopy; 18. Gynecology and obstetrics; 19. Radiotherapy

20. Stockroom; 21. Purchasing; 22. Ordering of Supplies; 23. Pharmacy; Supplies 24. Surgical Block’s Pharmacy; 25. Current Assets; 26. Supplies on Management Consignment Financial 27. Accounts payable and receivable; 28. Banking controls Management Revenues

29. Health plans & Private Payees; 30. Physician Fees; 31. Sterilization of materials

Support Services

32. Hospital Infection Controls; 33. Assets Maintenance; 34. Milk Bank; 35. Eyes Bank; 36. Vaccine Controls; 37. Distribution; 38. Respiratory Unit.

Other Systems

39. Protocols; 40. Library; 41. Convention Center Scheduling 42. Accreditation Management; 43. Operational Procedures; 44. Recruiting and Personnel; 45. Systems’ Access Control

Figure 5. Health information systems implemented in 2007 Source: adapted from Góes, W. M., & Dallora, M. E. L. V. (2007). Strategic Computer Planning 2007: proposal (Internal Document), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Hospital das Clínicas Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto - USP. R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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10. The CIA’s Organization. In 2004, having one director, a software development area with 10 employees, one employee in the Data Base Administration area, one employee in the Network Administration area, three employees for the area of Support and Training of the End-User, and seven in the area of Maintenance of Equipment. A total of 23 employees. In 2007, the CIA had the same number of areas as in 2004, with changes only in the number of people. In the Software Development area there was an increase from 10 to 14 systems analysts, from one to three people in the Network Administration area, from three to six people in the Support and Training of the End-User area, and a reduction from seven to five in the Equipment Maintenance area. Also, the CIA has a secretary and a technical projects assistant, for a total of 34 employees. There is a high turnover in personnel as well as difficulties in replacing the ones who left the CIA’s personnel roster. The competitiveness of the IT market, wage policies and the hospital’s absence of a career plan, all contribute to the difficulty in replacing personnel (Table 1). Table 1: The CIA’s organization of its areas Number of Employees The CIA’s Areas 2004

2007

The CIA’s Directorship

Software Development

Data Base Administration

Network Administration

Support and Training of the End- 03 User

Maintenance of Equipment

Secretary

Technical Assistant

Note. Source: Authors.

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It should be stressed that in spite of the increase from 23 to 34 employees and a high turnover, there was an increase in the number of HIS implemented, the incorporation of DPCSP’s systems and the development of systems and the maintenance of existing ones that are in use. In 2007, the CIA became responsible for all HIS that were implemented. According to the strategic planning, there is the intention to create two new areas in the CIA, one being Intelligence in Business and the other being the Medical Imaging Storage and Communication. It also intends to make changes to the areas of Support and Training for the end-user in order to create a Help Desk and to outsource the area of Maintenance of Equipment. 11. Hardware resources? Hardware resources for the years 2004 and 2007 are shown in Table 2. The total of personal computers is given, except the ones from FMRP. Table 2: Existing hardware resources Description

Application

Quantity in 2004

Quantity in 2007

Servers

Switch

Personal PC’s

(-) FMRP

1.400

1.624

Terminals

Thin Client

158

Printers

628

811

Bar code Readers

Note. Source: adapted from Góes, W. M., & Dallora, M. E. L. V. (2007). Strategic Computer Planning 2007: proposal (Internal Document), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Hospital das Clínicas Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto - USP. 12. Hardware Resources? Software data for the years 2004 and 2007 are presented in Table 3. In 2007, the CIA performed a study to adopt a methodology for the development of an object-oriented software. The CIA has the System Architect tool that assists in the formatting of the object-oriented software, but the program still follows the structured format for systems developments.

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Table 3: Existing software resources Tools

Data Base

In 2004

In 2007

Description

Quantity Description

Quantity

Oracle 8i production

Oracle 8i Production

Oracle 8i development 20 Oracle 10g Production 4 Programming Language

Delphi 5.0

Delphi 2006

Data Formatting

System Architect

Web Programming Dream Weaver Language

Dream Weaver

Project Mgmt

Microsoft Project 98

Graphic Design

Corel Draw

Graphic Design

Photoshop

GxPortal

Web Development

Note. Source: adapted from Góes, W. M., & Dallora, M. E. L. V. (2007). Strategic Computer Planning 2007: proposal (Internal Document), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Hospital das Clínicas Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto - USP. 3. How does the CIA achieve its objectives? The CIA achieved its objectives by following the strategic planning and according to the investment forecast for it, counting on the support from the higher administration and the Foundation for the Support in Learning, Research and Assistance (FSLRA) of HC-FMRP-USP, the CIA builds a unique environment for the technical-professional development by using the latest technology, that is, hardware and software, network and data base technologies, providing for an academic development environment capable of professional qualifications of personnel assisted by fully engaged and qualified computer personnel, and offering research fields for post-secondary studies, especially the ones installed at USP in Ribeirao Preto.

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6. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS In its history, the CIA has faced problems. During the development of its activities conflicts occurred with the activities from DPCSP generating uncertainties, doubts and attrition between its clients who are the users of HIS from HC-FMRP-USP. Competition became fierce between the internal and the outsourced teams of systems analysts which affected the developmental activities and the use of HIS itself. This contributed to an unhealthy organizational atmosphere. This atmosphere was neutralized by the efforts made in development and the success achieved with the implementation of the electronic prescription system that assisted in improving the CIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s image in view of other organizational units. It is worthy of note that the CIA meets a large demand for the developments of HIS through the production of its software from 2004 to this day. Still, the CIA needs time and investments before it may reach maturity to obtain its own computer-based patient record (CBPR), as some steps have not yet been taken to achieve these objectives like the adoption of methodology of object-oriented software and the modification of its internal organizational structure to be able to provide a personalized service to its clients. The change in the Support and Training for the End-User focusing on the client aims for the creation of a help desk to clarify questions users may have in a quick manner in order to relieve the flow of user requests and work interruptions that delay the schedule of the systems analysts who work on the maintenance and development of HIS. It suggests the adoption of training models that encourage users and employees in sharing information and knowledge acquired by creating an innovative organization that emphasizes learning. The making of the strategic planning has been a positive factor that guides the CIA activities and allows for the path in which the CIA may attain its objectives in line with the objectives of the Hospital das Clinicas. It is worth noting that the CIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IT and HIS aspects have evolved from 2004 to 2007, according to the data and information obtained from the interviews held that showed the acquisition of new implementations and adaptations to meet the needs in the hospital area that brought cultural as well as technological changes that will improve health care processes and of health services quality offered to patients. Currently, new changes will occur in order to implement the CBPR. It is suggested to the decisionmaker that the management of changes be adopted.

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7. CONCLUSION This work intended to present the experiences of the Center for Information and Analysis (CIA) of the Hospital das Clinicas of the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirao Preto of the University of São Paulo (HC-FMRP-USP). It may be seen as an organizational unit in the evolution of technological, organizational and human aspects. According to the findings in this article, it was discovered that there are studies that aim to define the development and implementation of HIS models, nevertheless there is no consensus as to the ideal model for the Brazilian case. HC-FMRP-USP develops its own HIS internally through the CIA oriented by the Strategic Planning. One advantage is that the system becomes better adapted and adherent to the hospital’s context itself. It is important to emphasize that the Brazilian public model of health management (SUS), representing 75% of the population’s care, must have a considerable role in the management of health information. The private sector needs to be involved in a greater integration and possible exchange of patient data. Ideally, the patient should administer and own their own health data and they themselves allow for the access to their information by health care institutions, be it the public or private system, but in Brazil, there is still a long way to go as far as the integration of HIS, a hindering factor to this is the digital exclusion, the Brazilian territory’s immense length, the need to create integration and exchange of data programs, and investments, among other things. This article showed that there are still problems occurring in the electronic exchange of data between health care organizations. For example, if in the internal organizational environment, HC-FMRP-USP does not have all its data integrated because the exams that result in images like patient tomography, the ultrasounds of the patients are not in electronic format, only on paper records. So then, among the health organizations, it is noted that the integration of patient data becomes more complex. Currently, with the expectation of obtaining the medical digital imaging management system by the CIA the hospital will implement its own (CBPR), and will have conquered yet another phase in the computerization of health. The introduction of IT and of decision-making support systems, both clinical and administrative, has fueled the improvement in the quality of the care of health services and the work routines of health care professionals considering the ethical and environmental aspects. The reduction in costs may come to be one of the main results of these improvements as could be seen by the implementation of the re-engineering of the CIA of the printing project in 2004. In the implementation of HIS, the CIA encountered difficulties like competitiveness between the CIA’s and DPCSP’s systems analysts’ teams and resistance to the use of HIS by some users. This work showed that the difficulties in implementing IS do not always depend on the availability of IT, but on the resistance in new ways of working and the need for synergy from the areas involved. There is a strong interrelationship between the organizational climate, the group interaction and Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 155-178

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the desire to contribute. If the organizational climate is favorable, the integration of the different areas becomes easier; otherwise, there will be a need to manage the conflict, in order to reach the objectives. As a suggestion to the CIA, a set of techniques could be applied from the area of HR aiming at training and motivating the development of a better working environment with an organizational climate that is suitable to an integrated work and the sharing of information and knowledge in order to create an innovative organization that emphasizes learning. One limiting factor of this work is that the collection of the data was based mainly on the CIA’s decision-maker and on secondary data. One recommendation for future studies is that the perception from other employees also be collected, such as, for example, from the systems analysts, users and HIS’s decision-makers. Currently in Brazil, many hospitals vie for the development of the computerbased patient record (CBPR) like the one at HC-FMRP-USP and the HC from Porto Alegre in order to implement the medical digital imaging system, others are in the initial phase in experimenting with the implementation of the imaging system like InCor (Heart Institute) at the HC in Sao Paulo and the Sao Camilo Santana Maternity Hospital, located in Sao Paulo, which invested US$3.5 million on the first phase of the new Center of Support for Diagnostic Imaging. This article presented information that may contribute to the process for the development of computer-based patient record at HC-FMRP-USP and the development of HIS at other hospitals. Data have shown that in 2005 almost 50% of American hospitals have computerized their clinical systems and incorporated the clinical data into the clinical files allowing for access by physicians, and for the revision and the retrieval of the data. Few hospitals have implemented more complex digital systems, only 8% of them, and in 2007, in Brazil, less than 1%, which is an indication of the relevance of this theme dealt with by this article. As for future papers, new research is suggested for the theme of HIS and of the CBPR development through the reports of other health organizations’ experiences which provide health care, or through the analysis of efforts to integrate systems inside health organizations, as well as, the study on initiatives to exchange data and information on the condition of the patient among health organizations.

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paciente no hospital Márcio Cunha – 6 anos de sucesso. Anais do Congresso Brasileiro de Informática em Saúde, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil, 10. O’Neill, L., & Klepack, W. (2007). Electronic medical records for a rural family practise: a case study in systems development. Journal of Medical Systems, (31), 25-33, 2007. Paulon, S. M., & Carneiro, M. L. F. (2009). A educação a distância como dispositivo de fomento às redes de cuidado em saúde, Interface (Botucatu). 13(supl.), 749-757. Perez, G., & Zwicker, R. (2010). Fatores determinantes da adoção de sistemas de informação na área de saúde: um estudo sobre o prontuário médico eletrônico. Revista de Administração Mackenzie. 11(1), 174-200. Recuperado em 20 agosto, 2010, de http://www3.mackenzie.br/editora/index.php/RAM/article/view/535 Pietsch, M., Schlaefke, A., Vogl, T. J., & Bergh, B. (2006). Development and evaluation of different methods to assess download and display time of image web systems. Journal of Digital Imaging, 19(4), 336-345. Pressman, R. S. (2006). Engenharia de software (6a ed.). Rio de Janeiro: McGraw-Hill. Rubies-Feijooa, C., Salas-Fernándeza, T., Moya-Olverab, F., & Guanyabens-Calveta, J. (2010). Sistemas y tecnologías de la información en salud. Medicina Clínica. 134 (1), 56-62. Sabattini, R. (2007). e-saúde. In: P. T. Knight, C. C. C., Fernandes, & M. A. Cunha (Org.). E-desenvolvimento no Brasil e no mundo: subsídios e programa e-Brasil (Cap. 34, pp. 742-761). São Caetano do Sul: Yendis Editora. Shen, J. J., Samson, L. F., Washington, E.L., Johnson, P., Edwards, C.; & Malone, A. (2006). Barriers of HIPAA regulation to implementation of health services research. Journal of Medical Systems, 30(1), 65-69. Slack, N., Chambers, S., & Johnston, R. (2009). Administração da produção (3a ed.). São Paulo: Atlas. Szot, A., Jacobson, F. L., Munn, S., Jazayeri, D., Nardell, E., Harrison, D., Drosten, R., Ohno-Machado, L., Smeaton, L. M., & Fraser, H. S. F. (2004). Diagnostic accuracy of chest X-rays acquired using a digital camera for low-cost teleradiology. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 73, 65-73. Tange, H., Linden, H. V. D., Sas, P., Beusmans, G., Talmon, J., Oosterhout, E. V., & Hasman, A. (2003). Towards a PropeR combination of patient records and protocols. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 70(2-3), 141-148. Turban, E., Rainer, R. K., Jr., & Porter, R. E. (2005). Administração de tecnologia de informação: teoria e prática (3a ed.). Rio de Janeiro: Elsevier. Ueckert, F., Goerz, M., Ataian, M., Tessmann, S., & Prokosch, H.-U. (2003). Empowerment of patients and communication with health care professionals through an electronic health Record. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 70 (2-3), 99-108. Win, K. T., Susilo, W., & Mu, Y. (2006). Personal Health Record Systems and Their Security Protection. Journal of Medical Systems, 30(4), 309–315. Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 155-178

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JISTEM Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Vol. 8, No. 1, 2011, p. 179-212 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752011000100009

TEACH-ME: IMPLEMENTATION OF MOBILE ENVIRONMENTS TO THE TEACH - LEARNING PROCESS Luis Eduardo Pérez Peregrino Adriana Maritza Matallana Frey Rodríguez Pérez Alejandro Moreno Pinilla Jhon Herrera Cubides Proyecto de Investigación Teach-Me, Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios, Colombia. __________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT The research project TEACH-ME (Technology, Engineering Calculus and Hewlett-Packard Mobile Environment) presents an educational proposal that seeks to innovate the teaching and learning processes of mathematics, Logic Basic Programming and Management of Information, through the introduction of collaborative working environments, in order to provide the integrated development of learning methodologies, enhancing cognitive abilities in their students. As a case study, it presents the results obtained when applying this project to students in their first semester at the Faculty of Engineering at “Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios” University, which introduces the use of tablet PCs from Hewlett Packard to support the teaching process. This article presents the process of implementing of the TEACH-ME Project, developed as an academic environment that has allowed the implementation processes of research on the impact of the application of information technologies and communication technologies to the higher education teaching. We will present the project background, what the _____________________________________________________________________________________ Recebido em/Manuscript first received: 28/08/2009 Aprovado em/Manuscript accepted: 10/08/2010 Endereço para correspondência/ Address for correspondence Luis Eduardo Pérez Peregrino, Proyecto de Investigación Teach-Me, Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios, Colombia. Teach-Me Home Page: http://teachme.uniminuto.edu/principal E-mail: lperez@uniminuto.edu Adriana Maritza Matallana, Magister en docencia de las matemáticas, docente y coordinadora de investigación del Departamento de Ciencias Básicas de la Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios.Calle 83A No. 72-38, Bogotá (Colombia). Teléfono: 57 1 2916520 ext. 6615. E-mail: amatallana@uniminuto.edu Frey Rodríguez Pérez, Docente e investigador del Departamento de Ciencias Básicas de la Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios. Calle 83A No. 72-38, Bogotá (Colombia). Teléfono: 57 1 2916520 ext. 6615. E-mail: frodriguez@uniminuto.edu Alejandro Moreno Pinilla, Investigador de Gestión Básica de la Información - Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios, Colombia, E-mail: amoreno@uniminuto.edu Jhon Herrera Cubides Profesor Tiempo Completo, Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios, Colombia, E-mail: jhonf.herrera@gmail.com

ISSN online: 1807-1775 Publicado por/Published by: TECSI FEA USP – 2011

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implementation process has so far done, the impact obtained from the learning and teaching processes, the integration of technologies at an academic meeting who has helped carry out the project and, finally, the contributions of the Tablet PC to the teaching-learning process at the University. Keywords: Teaching Tools, Pedagogy, Collaborative Working, Virtual Classroom, Blended Learning, Tablet PC, Hewlett Packard, Wireless Technologies, Mobile Environments, Teaching Technologies.

RESUMEN El proyecto de investigación TEACH-ME (Technology, Engineering And Calculus HewlettPackard Mobile Environment), presenta una propuesta didáctica que busca innovar los procesos de enseñanza aprendizaje de las Matemáticas, Lógica de Programación y Gestión Básica de la Información, a través de la introducción de ambientes móviles de trabajo colaborativo, con el objetivo de aportar procesos de desarrollo integral a las metodologías de aprendizaje, potenciando capacidades cognitivas en los estudiantes. Como caso de estudio se presentan los resultados obtenidos al aplicar este proyecto a los estudiantes del primer semestre de la Facultad de Ingeniería de la Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios - UNIMINUTO, donde se introduce el uso de los Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard, como apoyo a la presencialidad. En este artículo se presenta el proceso de implementación del Proyecto TEACH-ME desarrollado por UNIMINUTO, como espacio académico que ha permitido implementar procesos de investigación sobre el impacto de la aplicación de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC´s) en la enseñanza de la educación superior. Para ello se presentarán los antecedentes del proyecto, el proceso de implementación llevado a cabo hasta la fecha, el impacto que se ha evidenciado en el aprendizaje del estudiante y en la enseñanza, la integración de tecnologías al encuentro académico que ha permitido llevar a cabo el proyecto y por último, los aportes de las Tablet PC al proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje en UNIMINUTO. Palabras claves: Herramientas Didácticas, Pedagogía, Trabajo Colaborativo, Aula Virtual, Blended Learning, Tablet PC, Hewlett Packard, Tecnologías Inalámbricas, Ambientes Móviles, Tecnologías para la enseñanza.

1. INTRODUCCIÓN Las TIC´s han incursionado en gran manera en la cotidianidad de las personas, al punto que se ha evolucionado a una sociedad donde el conocimiento no es privilegio de pocos, al contrario, la información está al alcance de todos. Los medios de comunicación permiten a las personas, en espacios cortos de tiempo, estar al tanto de lo que sucede en lugares remotos. Al observar este fenómeno en el sector educativo, esta nueva concepción de la información y de su uso, debe impactar los procesos de enseñanza - aprendizaje, no sólo para ser consecuentes con la realidad sino también, como una estrategia para atraer la atención de los educandos. Como menciona Granados (2005) “los sistemas educativos del mundo entero han tenido que replantear su quehacer: la presencialidad permanente de docentes y estudiantes en el aula, las clases magistrales, las herramientas didácticas, los textos enciclopédicos que portaban el conocimiento como saberes cerrados, las aulas con infraestructuras físicas espectaculares, el tablero, la tiza, en fin, todo lo que para algunos fue la escuela, la educación y la formación, hoy ha sido revaluado por cientos de instituciones, para R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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ponerse a caminar en paralelo con lo que son las nuevas tecnologías de la información y la comunicación, TIC´s”. Enmarcados en este contexto, a fines de 2006 la multinacional de Informática Hewlett-Packard invitó a varias instituciones de nivel internacional a participar en su proyecto “Technology for Teaching” (Tecnología para la Enseñanza), entre ellas UNIMINUTO. Este proyecto consiste en la donación a determinadas entidades educativas, seleccionadas vía concurso por Hewlett-Packard, previa invitación; de una serie de recursos tecnológicos orientados a la enseñanza, dentro de los cuales se cuentan equipos portátiles Tablet PC con capacidades de interconexión inalámbrica; dinero en efectivo, impresoras y otros elementos, cuyo valor total suma US$ 60.000. Concurso en el que UNIMINUTO fue seleccionada como una de las instituciones beneficiarias de estas donaciones y de la ejecución del citado proyecto, a través de la formulación del proyecto de investigación TEACH-ME. El número de instituciones favorecidas no es fijo, debido a que no se tiene en cuenta la cantidad de instituciones premiadas sino la calidad de los proyectos que presentan. En la actualidad hay más de 250 universidades en 36 países, que utilizan la tecnología para transformar la enseñanza y el aprendizaje con el apoyo de HewlettPackard. Este artículo busca mostrar, además del proceso desarrollado en UNIMINUTO, los resultados obtenidos con la aplicación de las tecnologías en la enseñanza, como herramienta estratégica de didáctica y su respectivo aporte a las metodologías de aprendizaje. 2. ANTECEDENTES El Proyecto TEACH-ME es un espacio de investigación que busca incursionar en la implementación de las Tecnologías de la información y las Comunicaciones (TIC’s) en los procesos de enseñanza en la educación superior, para así proponer estrategias pedagógicas 1 y didácticas que permitan fortalecer procesos como la comunicación y el trabajo colaborativo 2 , bajo la metodología de Marco Lógico 3 . Siguiendo esta estructura, UNIMINUTO ha rediseñado los cursos de: Gestión Básica de la Información (G.B.I): Es un curso transversal que se

“Acciones que realiza el maestro con el propósito de facilitar la formación y el aprendizaje de las disciplinas en los estudiantes, apoyadas en una rica formación teórica de los maestros” (Andrade, 2010). Tomado de http://www.buenastareas.com/ensayos/Estrategias-Pedagogicas/556163.html el 9 de Septiembre de 2010. 2

Para Martí (1996, 54), el hecho de pertenecer a un grupo con un objetivo en común permite estrechar lazos en los participantes y les genera sentido de pertenencia.

El enfoque de marco lógico (EML) considera que la ejecución de un proyecto es consecuencia de un conjunto de acontecimientos con una relación casual interna. Estos se describen en: insumos, actividades, resultados, objetivo específico y objetivo global. De modo general, se hace un resumen del proceso de desarrollo en una matriz que consiste en los elementos básicos arriba mencionados, dicha matriz es conocida como la Matriz del Proyecto (MP) también conocida como Matriz de Planificación. Tomado de http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_l%C3%B3gico el 9 de Septiembre de 2010.

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imparte a todos los estudiantes del primer semestre de la Facultad de Ingeniería. Es el eje tecnológico que articula el proyecto con las demás transversales. Se fundamenta en el manejo de herramientas tipo Web 2.0 y otras, como buscadores, traductores y redes sociales. Fundamentos de Lógica de Programación: Es un curso teórico – práctico para estudiantes del primer semestre del programa de Tecnología en Informática, tiene como objetivo general brindar las herramientas conceptuales a la comunidad educativa a partir de criterios teórico - prácticos básicos para formar en el estudiante el pensamiento lógico, la capacidad de abstracción y el razonamiento, que le permitan en el transcurso de su carrera y de su vida profesional un desenvolvimiento claro y pertinente en la resolución de problemas sistemáticos, orientados al análisis, diseño, y desarrollo de programas por computador. Pre cálculo: Es un curso transversal, teórico – práctico que se imparte a todos los estudiantes del primer semestre. Se fundamenta en el conocimiento de los siguientes temas, entre otros: sistemas numéricos, potenciación y radicación, operaciones entre expresiones algebraicas, factorización y productos notables. Cursos pertenecientes a la Facultad de Ingeniería, materias que son cursadas por todos los estudiantes del primer semestre; buscando como finalidad la implementación de un ambiente educativo de apoyo a la presencialidad utilizando la herramienta computacional Tablet PC 4 de Hewlett Packard para contribuir en el proceso de enseñanza – aprendizaje. Para el desarrollo de este proyecto se han adoptado componentes pedagógicos basados en un modelo constructivista5, donde los estudiantes se acercan al conocimiento por medio de sus experiencias en el aula, apoyados en diferentes materiales educativos digitales, los cuales permiten abordar situaciones dinámicas e interactivas. Dentro de este contexto pedagógico, los docentes investigadores estudian los procesos de aprendizaje colaborativo6 a partir de la incorporación de las TIC’s en un entorno donde los estudiantes trabajan de forma colaborativa resolviendo problemas y desarrollando tareas que les permiten aumentar su responsabilidad y autonomía. La investigación desarrollada es de tipo cualitativo, la cual se ha encaminado como un estudio de caso. Por tal razón, los investigadores se han enfocado en brindar un

Según Blesa (Curbelo, 2005), los Tablet PC se diferencian de un ordenador en el hecho de que permite la escritura manuscrita, brindan a los profesores fluidez en la recepción, corrección y presentación de actividades, además de la posibilidad de indicar dónde sus alumnos encontrarán información en Internet que complemente la información dada en el aula, y mantener una comunicación más personalizada con ellos. 5

La idea central del constructivismo se orienta a que el aprendizaje humano se construye, que la mente de las personas elabora nuevos conocimientos a partir de la base de enseñanzas anteriores. El aprendizaje de los estudiantes debe ser activo, deben participar en actividades en lugar de permanecer de manera pasiva observando lo que se les explica. Tomado de

http://pensardenuevo.org/accion-en-la-red/especiales/el-modelo-constructivista-con-las-nuevas-tecnologias-aplicadoen-el-proceso-de-aprendizaje/2-el-modelo-constructivista/ el 18 de Septiembre de 2010. 6

Según Díaz Barriga (2002), el aprendizaje colaborativo se caracteriza por la igualdad que debe tener cada individuo en el proceso de aprendizaje y la mutualidad, entendida como la conexión, profundidad y bidireccionalidad que alcance la experiencia, siendo ésta una variable en función del nivel de competitividad existente, la distribución de responsabilidades, la planificación conjunta y el intercambio de roles. Son elementos básicos la interdependencia positiva, la interacción, la contribución individual y las habilidades personales y de grupo.

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sustento didáctico, pedagógico, matemático y tecnológico a la intervención en el aula, con miras a innovar y aportar los elementos necesarios a los procesos que se desarrollan en el uso de las TIC’s como apoyo a la presencialidad. El objetivo general del proyecto es aportar procesos de desarrollo integral a las metodologías de aprendizaje a partir de las Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard, potenciando capacidades cognitivas en los estudiantes del primer semestre de la Facultad de Ingeniería en UNIMINUTO. Para tal fin, durante el segundo semestre de 2007 se llevó a cabo una revisión al estado del arte a partir de dos ejes fundamentales: EL EJE TECNOLÓGICO, específicamente frente al uso de las tecnologías inalámbricas7. Ésta revisión se llevó a cabo bajo premisas que permitieron justificar la intervención en el aula usando la herramienta tecnológica Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard, apoyando la presencialidad. Entre las premisas examinadas se tuvieron en cuenta las siguientes: El rol de las TIC’s en la educación superior: Para que la integración de la TIC´s a la educación superior sea un proceso coherente y replicable, es necesario que ésta responda a las políticas, metas y al currículo de la institución educativa que la incorpora, y principalmente al perfil y las características de los estudiantes a quienes se dirigen las distintas ofertas de formación, tal como considera Sigalés (2004). Un ejemplo de dicha correspondencia en el uso de la TIC´s, es el resultado de la investigación desarrollada durante cuatro años en la Universidad de los Andes, que actualmente tiene como resultado la virtualización de 150 cursos; encontrando como conclusiones importantes que “lo que determina el éxito de una experiencia de incorporación de TIC a nivel institucional es su articulación con la misión y los objetivos educativos institucionales”. (Osorio et al., 2005). La incorporación de las TIC´s en la educación superior va más allá de poder agilizar o facilitar la transmisión de la información por medios electrónicos. Es necesario reevaluar la relación docente-estudiante-conocimiento y herramienta computacional, como lo argumenta Granados (2005): “la introducción de las TIC´s plantea un paradigma educativo totalmente nuevo que puede traer muchas ventajas, pero es necesario tener claro que las claves para el cambio de metodología de la enseñanza radicarán en cómo se utilicen estos nuevos medios: gestionar el conocimiento es uno de los más óptimos usos que se le puede dar a la implementación de las TIC´s”. Como resultado de un diagnóstico realizado en algunas instituciones de educación superior, Granados (2005) identificó que entre los diferentes aspectos que dificultan una verdadera incorporación de las TIC´s en las aulas se encuentran:

Esta tecnología está basada en la transmisión de ondas electromagnéticas, las cuales son emitidas por antenas en todas las direcciones, en donde se sacrifican la calidad de señal o la fuerza con la que se emiten las ondas, de acuerdo a la necesidad de alcance. Tomado de http://www.monografias.com/trabajos37/tecnologia-inalambrica/tecnologia-inalambrica2.shtml el 18 de Septiembre de 2010.

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La poca reflexión y análisis sobre el modelo pedagógico de las instituciones, el cual está más orientado a la enseñanza que al aprendizaje, en un contexto donde se requiere formar un profesional con pensamiento tecnológico y científico, más que un consumidor/operario de técnicas. La carencia de un diagnóstico de la formación pedagógica de los docentes y de su capacidad para integrar tecnologías de información y comunicación TIC´s a su quehacer. El elevado número de docentes vinculados tiempo completo con tareas administrativas y altas cargas académicas, y el alto porcentaje de docentes de cátedra, configuran un escenario muy limitado para el desarrollo de acciones de actualización, formación e investigación permanente en el área pedagógica. La flexibilidad que han dado las instituciones a sus docentes en la tarea de transformar la práctica pedagógica, haciendo falta un marco conceptual, un referente institucional y unas líneas de investigación que definan propósitos y acciones para la incorporación de la TIC´s en los procesos de enseñanza aprendizaje. No se cuenta con ambientes que favorezcan el uso de tecnologías como mediadoras pedagógicas o didácticas: la infraestructura en muchas instituciones es limitada para el número de alumnos y docentes que posee, y la circulación de información y conocimiento sobre las TIC es muy poca, situación que adicionalmente reduce las posibilidades de investigación y desarrollo (I+D). Existe una tendencia a gestionar la adquisición de recursos tecnológicos como respuesta a ofertas de mercado, más que a las necesidades institucionales, esto resultado del desconocimiento que se tiene frente al papel que la TIC´s debería jugar en el modelo pedagógico y los recursos didácticos. Este tipo de aspectos no solamente han dificultado la incorporación de la TIC´s en la educación superior sino también trabajos serios de investigación, lo que ha demorado el proceso y de alguna manera mal direccionado. Sigalés (2004) afirma que “no todas las experiencias de la incorporación de la TIC a la actividad docente han surtido el éxito esperado. Más aún, podría decirse que una buena parte de experiencias no han pasado de un estado incipiente, con un impacto escaso o marginal en sus instituciones, y en algunos casos, además con unos costos elevados.” Muchas veces se han introducido el uso de las TIC's en el aula sin haber esclarecido previamente los problemas reales que podrían resolver o el tipo de ayudas que podría brindar a la relación docente estudiante, e inclusive llegar a situaciones más desfavorables: “del mal uso de la tecnología se desprenden varios aspectos que repercuten negativamente en los objetivos y finalidades de la educación, como es el caso de tomar la tecnología como un fin y no como un medio, pretender la sustitución de la labor formativa del docente, la mala selección de la vasta información que ha desencadenado la red Internet y el alud excesivo de bibliografía, entre otros aspectos, que contribuyen a enajenar al estudiante, desvirtuándolo así del proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje.” (Cañellas, 2005). Tal es el caso de UNIMINUTO, quien buscando responder a un modelo educativo alternativo y basado en lo praxeológico (Juliao, 2002) considera que “es R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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evidente la necesidad de diseñar espacios académicos que utilicen las tecnologías educativas y que logren vincular al discurso pedagógico el uso de las TIC´s, permitiendo así que con el apoyo de estrategias como son los ambientes virtuales de aprendizaje (AVA) que el estudiante tenga un puente de comunicación con el docente y esté inmerso en actividades que fortalezcan su aprendizaje y enriquezcan el trabajo en el aula. Adicionalmente permite que el estudiante esté involucrado en procesos de aprendizaje de tipo reflexivo, crítico y colaborativo” (Bohórquez, 2006). Los procesos de enseñanza - aprendizaje apoyados en las TIC's. El aprendizaje basado en la aplicación de las tecnologías educativas exige, como afirma Salinas (Bohórquez, 2004), “cambios para viabilizar su aplicación y los cuales van desde cambios en las concepciones, es decir, funciona el aula, la identidad del docente, la definición de los procesos didácticos, hasta cambios en la práctica de los profesores y los alumnos. Para poder lograr cambios en el aprendizaje con base en las TIC´s deben existir estrategias puntuales que busquen desarrollar en el estudiante competencias en trabajo en equipo y promoción de habilidades analíticas y de generación de procesos reflexivos de adquisición de nuevos conocimientos”, para lo cual Salinas recomienda que se ha de generar un aprendizaje colaborativo, procesos autónomos de aprendizaje y promoción del pensamiento crítico, aspectos que serán ampliados más adelante. Pero no solamente han de ocurrir cambios en la acción de los estudiantes sino también en el docente. Al respecto, una de las primeras tareas es realizar un análisis pedagógico, como lo llama Marqués (2002), que “permita enriquecer la acción docente de acuerdo a las posibilidades que ofrecen las TIC´s”, quien amplia su posición afirmando que “aunque aún hay docentes que no son conscientes de ello, el desarrollo tecnológico actual nos está situando en un nuevo paradigma de enseñanza que da lugar a nuevas metodologías y nuevos roles docentes, configurando un nuevo enfoque de la profesionalidad docente más centrada ahora en el diseño y la gestión de actividades y entornos de aprendizaje, en la investigación sobre la práctica, en la creación y prescripción de recursos, en la orientación y el asesoramiento, en la dinamización de los grupos, en la evaluación formativa y en la motivación de los estudiantes, que en la transmisión de información y la evaluación sumativa como se entendía antes”. Entre las investigaciones más recientes donde se da cuenta de este nuevo papel al que están llamados a jugar, tanto el docente como el estudiante, al enfrentarse en un ambiente educativo apoyando la presencialidad en las TIC´s, se encuentran los resultados reportados por la Universidad de los Andes (Osorio et al., 2005), dentro de los cuales se resalta el logro de: Reinventar el papel del docente y su práctica pedagógica, acercándolo más a un tutor que a un catedrático. Posibilitar la comunicación de manera directa entre el docente y el estudiante, inclusivo en horarios diferentes. Agilizar la transmisión de información garantizando que todos los estudiantes que tengan acceso a la misma información y al mismo tiempo. Desarrollar los procesos de aprendizaje autónomo y colaborativo en los Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 178-212

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estudiantes. Hacer un uso más eficiente del tiempo de estudio, ya que los estudiantes son más conscientes de la secuencia de aprendizaje dentro de los cursos. Generar un interés investigativo, fortalecer habilidades como pensamiento crítico y analítico y facilitar la apropiación y aplicación de conceptos. Redimensionar la relación docente-estudiante, pues si bien podría pensarse que el rol del docente se desvanecería al implementar TIC´s en el aula, los resultados obtenidos indican lo contrario: los estudiantes consideran que la presencia del docente es clave, pues aunque ellos tengan acceso a toda la información del curso en un ambiente virtual de aprendizaje(AVA) y sus herramientas les permitan avanzar de manera autónoma en su proceso de aprendizaje, es clave la guía permanente del docente y la retroalimentación que reciben de él, bien sea virtual o presencial, ya que les garantiza a los estudiantes que su proceso de aprendizaje va por el camino que se espera. En UNIMINUTO se han generado cambios curriculares en todos sus programas, donde la incorporación de las nuevas tecnologías de la información y la comunicación en los procesos de enseñanza aprendizaje tienen como objeto fomentar aspectos en los estudiantes como el aprendizaje autónomo8. Todo este proceso es apalancado con la creación del Instituto de Educación Virtual y a Distancia UNIMINUTO. La incorporación de las TIC's en la educación superior. Para la incorporación de las TIC's en la educación superior, es importante tener en cuenta los siguientes aspectos: Los modelos: Para la incorporación de las TIC's en la educación están definidos varios modelos, según el nivel de uso de las mismas y la forma como se apropian para ampliar, complementar, o sustituir todo o parte de la presencialidad en los programas educativos. En este marco, Osorio et al. (2005) han identificado los siguientes modelos: Campus virtuales: algunas universidades se han constituido como campus virtuales y ofrecen sus programas completamente virtuales con profesores y estudiantes distribuidos geográficamente. Campus presenciales con programas virtuales: otras universidades ofrecen programas virtuales al lado de otros programas presenciales, inclusive pueden ofrecer a sus estudiantes la opción de elegir la modalidad en la cual desean tomar el programa. En este caso la virtualidad sustituye la totalidad de algunos programas, sin embargo el campus presencial sigue existiendo. Campus presenciales con cursos virtuales: en esta modalidad la virtualidad se da como parte de algunos programas al ofrecer cursos en modalidad virtual o en ambas

Brockett y Hiemtra (1993) Desarrollan el concepto de aprendizaje auto dirigido en lugar de aprendizaje autónomo. Al respecto afirman que “la autodirección en el aprendizaje es una combinación de fuerzas tanto interiores como exteriores de la persona que subrayan la aceptación por parte del estudiante de una responsabilidad cada vez mayor respecto a las decisiones asociadas al proceso de aprendizaje”

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modalidades. En estos casos la virtualidad sustituye a la presencialidad a un nivel menor. Campus presenciales con elementos virtuales de apoyo: en estos casos el modelo combina la presencialidad con virtualidad en un mismo ambiente de aprendizaje (blended learning). La virtualidad puede entrar a integrarse o complementarse con los encuentros presenciales. El reto en estos casos es elegir la mejor “mezcla” de elementos presenciales y virtuales de tal manera que se constituyan en verdaderos ambientes de aprendizaje para profesores y estudiantes. Este último modelo, blended learning, es el que viene implementando la Universidad de los Andes desde el 2003. UNIMINUTO “reconoce la educación como una acción social orientada hacia unas finalidades en las que se ejerce una influencia, deliberada e intencional, sobre los sujetos para ayudarles a realizar unos proyectos individuales y sociales y cumplir las metas propuestas” (Juliao, 2007, p.13). Para poder llevar a cabo esta idea, se han utilizado diferentes estrategias, una de las cuales es incorporar la educación a distancia en programas técnicos y tecnológicos en el sector rural. Las Tecnologías: En cuanto a esta temática es necesario tener en cuenta dos áreas que intervienen en el proceso de incorporación de las TIC's en la educación superior, las cuales corresponden a las tecnologías en redes y en dispositivos. Debido a los costos en los que se incurre en la adquisición de tecnologías que soporten el proceso de enseñanza – aprendizaje, la tecnología en redes inalámbrica en las instituciones educativas se vienen incorporando a manera de LAN inalámbrica9. Este tipo de tecnologías proporcionan mayor comodidad y movilidad con total funcionalidad en cualquier lugar. La Empresa IBM (2006) reporta entre algunas ventajas de la incorporación de la tecnología inalámbrica en las instituciones educativas las siguientes: “la posibilidad de aumentar los ingresos de ofertas de cursos online, mientras se reduce las necesidades de espacio físico; permitir organización flexible de salas, sin necesidad de reconfigurar e instalar conexiones de red, lo que puede reducir los costos y la manutención de los cables; rebajar los costos de infraestructura reduciendo la necesidad de hacer cableado en edificios más antiguos y evitar los gastos e interrupciones ocasionadas por la construcción de zanjas para colocar los cables”. En cuanto a los dispositivos, entre los muchos dispositivos computacionales móviles que la tecnología ha desarrollado en los últimos años, los PDA (Asistentes Portátiles Digitales) o Tablet PC fueron introducidos hace cerca de 4 años con fines básicamente educativos, buscando principalmente facilitar el acceso constante e integral a las aplicaciones software que apoyen el aprendizaje “en cualquier momento” y “en cualquier lugar”. Entre las ventajas que brindan las Tablet PC, Montesinos (Curbelo, 2005) menciona: el aumento en la productividad, a través de una máxima facilidad de uso, que proporciona una forma de trabajar más inteligente, facilitando capacidades de movimiento, además de poseer potencia, velocidad y capacidad de expansión,

Red de área local cuya capa física – el equivalente al cableado – se ha sustituido por ondas de radio.

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combinando la comodidad de un portátil con la flexibilidad del lápiz y el papel, pesan menos de 3 libras, es la combinación perfecta entre el potencial de la última tecnología y los avances en el diseño y brindan seguridad y conectividad. Gracias a estas ventajas, Curbelo (2006) argumenta que son muchas las universidades de los Estados Unidos y otras partes del mundo que están utilizando esta tecnología en sus currículos de enseñanza, en sus laboratorios y en sus salones de clase. Para dar un ejemplo, las Tablet PC se utilizan en el Departamento de Educación Agrícola de la Universidad de Puerto Rico del Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez para la corrección de las tesis de forma digital y el desarrollo de prácticas de laboratorio en contextos reales. Son varios los proyectos educativos que se han desarrollado alrededor de la incorporación de la tecnología móvil, principalmente en los Estados Unidos, como: Mobile Computing Proyect, Gridlock, Geney, Match-My-Graph, Slot Machina, Sketch y Data Dores, en los cuales se ha centrado la atención para la promoción del aprendizaje en cuatro aspectos principales: sacar provecho a la capacidad representacional del sistema, planear actividades que introduzcan conversaciones acerca de esas representaciones, propiciar que las conversaciones puedan llevar al descubrimiento por accidente de las representaciones y tener encuentros más significativos con el profesor en relación con el material. En cuanto al aspecto tecnológico, la incursión de las herramientas computacionales en un ambiente como el educativo, tiene sus ventajas y desventajas. Martínez (2007) menciona como principales ventajas de su incorporación en los ambientes educativos las siguientes: La posibilidad de que los estudiantes pueden formarse en las habilidades y teorías que contextos reales exigen. Sumergir al estudiante en los problemas de la vida real y promover la investigación a través del uso de una herramienta permanente en tiempo y espacio. Aprovechar los “tiempos muertos”, como los desplazamientos o momentos de espera. Permitir en el aula compartir datos e información mediante rayos infrarrojos sin necesidad de utilizar los laboratorios o centros de cómputo. De igual forma, entre las desventajas identificadas se encuentra el hecho de que la industria tiene muchas soluciones propietarias que funcionan sólo en una plataforma, la usabilidad en algunos momentos se ve limitada por tener pantallas pequeñas, existen pocas aplicaciones educativas para estos equipos y en muchos casos se vienen subutilizando principalmente como agendas.

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EL EJE DE SOPORTE DIDÁCTICO Y PEDAGÓGICO DE LA PROPUESTA DE AULA. El soporte didáctico y pedagógico se construyó con el fin de justificar la utilización de un modelo teórico validado por la comunidad académica, coherente con los objetivos del proyecto y vinculado con los diversos aspectos que influyen en un proceso educativo. En su elaboración se tuvieron en cuenta las teorías de aprendizaje de Piaget, Vigotsky y Skinner (1874-1949), Janvier (1987) quienes aportan elementos válidos para el diseño de las experiencias de aula y los espacios virtuales de apoyo. Además, se tuvo especial interés en el aprendizaje colaborativo basado en el constructivismo y el uso de las herramientas tecnológicas. Para el desarrollo de esta propuesta de aula se definió la didáctica de la inclusión de los Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard en el aula de clase, para lo cual se tomaron elementos de la teoría de las Situaciones Didácticas de Brousseau (1986), quien propone cuatro fases fundamentales en las experiencias de aula: La acción, donde el alumno actúa sobre el medio, de modo que formula, prevé‚ y explica la situación. La formulación, donde se intercambia información con una o varias personas. La institucionalización, que permite que el estudiante haga declaraciones que se someterán a juicio de su interlocutor. La validación, en donde finalmente las respuestas encontradas al problema planteado deben ser transformadas para que los conocimientos puedan ser convertidos en saberes. De la misma forma se elaboró una propuesta didáctica para el diseño de algunas experiencias de aula (Rodríguez y Matallana, 2007), entendidas como la organización dada a todo el desarrollo de una clase, en donde cada paso, cada pregunta y cada momento ha sido planeado y pensado con los siguientes fines: Utilización adecuada del tiempo de la clase. Acercamiento a los procesos lógicos y matemáticos. Planeación de los momentos de actuación del estudiante y del docente. Identificación de las producciones del estudiante. Establecimiento de conclusiones. Fortalecimiento en el uso de las cualidades de la herramienta computacional móvil. Registro audiovisual de las experiencias. Estas experiencias han pretendido orquestarse en el aula a través de la integración entre:

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Blended Learning: Descrito como combinación de formación a través de las TIC’s con formación presencial (Lima, 2005), surge como una propuesta para mejorar el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje, superar las dificultades pedagógicas que comporte un curso puramente en línea o virtual y una posibilidad de reducción de costos en comparación con un sistema E-learning. Este término fue acuñado en el Reino Unido para hacer referencia a un espacio de formación basado en la utilización de diferentes canales, el cual se traduce en la práctica formativa, en una enseñanza con videoconferencias, tutorías personalizadas, chats, audio, video, CD, weblogs, foros y clases presenciales habitualmente en grupo. Para Piscitelli (Lima, 2004), un esquema de blended learning integral suministra un modelo para el aprendizaje que incluye la posibilidad de enseñanza en todos los contextos (síncronas, asíncronas, clases tutoriales, estudio a distancia y entornos digitales), que facilitan a los usuarios la realización de determinados trabajos, brindándoles información y/o conocimiento cuando se detecta esta necesidad y procesos en la gestión del conocimiento: generación, codificación y organización, almacenamiento, acceso y transferencia. La incursión del blended learning, ha demostrado que la utilización de diversos canales enriquece a los alumnos que tienen distintas expectativas de aprendizaje, ya que posibilita un alto grado de creatividad a la hora de un diseño, un acercamiento diferente a nivel de grupo, facilita diferentes vías de y para comunicarse y constatar resultados, atiende a diversos sistemas de percepción y estilos cognitivos y en general enriquece la manera de relacionarse (a través de la implicación personal, el aprendizaje colaborativo y otros). Este tipo de ambiente también recupera la importancia de la tutoría, del acompañamiento, de la interacción personalizada entre profesor y la transmisión de información, documentación y contenidos, en línea. Adicionalmente, Lima (2005) afirma que como el proceso de aprendizaje demanda el compartir con personas con los mismos intereses intelectuales y/o profesionales, es necesario fortalecer, desde una perspectiva pedagógica, los espacios facilitados por chats, foros y otras herramientas de comunicación y creación de comunidad, para así evitar el aislamiento del estudiante en línea. El aprendizaje colaborativo: Según Cabrera (2005), desde la mirada constructivista, el Aprendizaje Colaborativo soportado por Computador (CSCL) ve al estudiante como un agente activo, constructor de su proceso de aprendizaje, quien posee y genera conocimiento. Aunque esta perspectiva puede integrarse en las aulas con o sin soporte computacional, Roschelle et al. (2001, p. 6) afirma que las características del soporte tecnológico la hace ver como “una herramienta particularmente útil para este tipo de aprendizaje”.

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Autores como Pfister et al. (Ángel, 2005) y Barberá (2001), Lipponen (2003), Roschelle y Teasley (1995, p. 70), Scardamalia y Bereiter (1994), Brown y Campione (James et al., 1998), Palloff y Pratt (1999), acentúan la importancia de generar espacios de aprendizaje donde los pares, los iguales, colaboren entre sí para el logro de los objetivos, específicamente, la solución de una situación que se plantea a través de una herramienta computacional. Esto puede ser visto como una respuesta al llamado de la sociedad de compartir la información y el conocimiento como una forma de hacer comunidad para lograr objetivos comunes. El aprendizaje colaborativo mediado por computador expresa dos ideas importantes: Aprender de forma colaborativa con otros, en grupo, de tal forma que no se contempla al aprendiz como persona aislada sino en interacción con los demás. Se parte de la importancia por compartir objetivos y distribuir responsabilidades como formas deseables de aprendizaje. El papel del computador es un elemento mediador que apoya este proceso. Se trata pues de aprender a colaborar y colaborar para aprender. Así mismo, el software utilizado tiene que favorecer los procesos de interacción y de solución conjunta de los problemas. La teoría de las situaciones didácticas 10 (Brousseau, 1986) cuya base está precisamente en la construcción del conocimiento a partir de la exploración de una serie de situaciones que le permiten al estudiante resolver un problema a partir de lo que sabe. De manera que los estudiantes de Pre cálculo, Programación Básica y Gestión Básica de la Información tengan diversas estrategias y alternativas para resolver situaciones problema, utilizando y aprovechando aplicaciones que sólo las herramientas computacionales y virtuales les pueden dar (Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard, espacio virtual en el servidor de UNIMINUTO), generando un ambiente colaborativo en donde los estudiantes aportan ideas y se construye conocimiento como resultado de la interacción de los saberes, mediado por el docente, quien tiene la función de institucionalizar el saber en el aula a partir de un conocimiento aceptado por la comunidad. 3. METODOLOGÍA DE INVESTIGACIÓN El desarrollo del proyecto se fundamenta en la metodología del marco lógico, donde los alcances del proyecto se trabajan en un universo modelar o subproyectos; donde cada uno plantea sus requerimientos y objetivos a alcanzar. En este esquema los proyectos a tratar se estructuran en matrices de planificación con una misma finalidad, como se observa en la tabla 1. Los módulos o subproyectos establecidos son: Gestión Básica de la Información, Pre cálculo y Programación Básica.

Para Guy Brousseau (1999) “La descripción sistemática de las situaciones didácticas es un medio más directo para discutir con los maestros acerca de lo que hacen o podrían hacer, y para considerar cómo éstos podrían tomar en cuenta los resultados de las investigaciones en otros campos. La teoría de las situaciones aparece entonces como un medio privilegiado, no solamente para comprender lo que hacen los profesores y los alumnos, sino también para producir problemas o ejercicios adaptados a los saberes y a los alumnos y para producir finalmente un medio de comunicación entre los investigadores y con los profesores.”

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INDICADORES DESCRIPCIÓN NARRATIVA OBJETIVAMENTE VERIFICABLES

FUENTES DE VERIFICACIÓN

PLAN

FINALIDAD : Implementar un ambiente educativo de apoyo a la presencialidad utilizando la herramienta computacional Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard (tecnologías inalámbricas) para contribuir en el proceso de enseñanza – aprendizaje en los cursos de Pre Cálculo, programación básica y Gestión Básica de la Información.

PROYECTO

OBJETIVO GENERAL: Aportar a las metodologías de aprendizaje a partir de las Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard, procesos de desarrollo integral, potenciando capacidades cognitivas en los estudiantes del primer semestre de la facultad de ingeniería en UNIMINUTO. Se han implementado actividades formativas y de instrucción en Gestión Básica de la Información con el uso de las Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard para optimizar el uso y 1. GESTIÓN BÁSICA DE LA aprendizaje de las INFORMACIÓN tecnologías inalámbricas y de los recursos virtuales en la Institución.

A finales de Agosto de 2009, se han diseñado, implementado y evaluado actividades formativas apoyadas en los recursos virtuales y el uso de las Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard en tres cursos de Gestión Básica de la Información de la Facultad de Ingeniería de UNIMINUTO y por lo menos en dos sedes regionales.

Documento descriptivo del proyecto en donde se registren los planes de mejoramiento en la adquisición de un aprendizaje significativo, mediante las tecnologías inalámbricas (Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard).

Se ha diseñado e implementado una propuesta didáctica apoyada en el uso de la herramienta computacional Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard que permita un acercamiento a la función lineal y cuadrática para estudiantes de Pre Cálculo de la Facultad de Ingeniería.

A finales de agosto de 2009, se han diseñado, implementado y evaluado al menos cuatro experiencias de aula para el curso de Pre Cálculo tanto en la sede principal como en dos sedes regionales.

Documento referente al diseño de las experiencias de aula.

Se ha diseñado e implementado una propuesta didáctica apoyada en el uso de la herramienta computacional Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard que permita un acercamiento al desarrollo de la lógica y el aprendizaje de la programación básica del programa de Tecnología en Informática.

A finales de agosto de 2009, se han diseñado, implementado y evaluado al menos cuatro experiencias de aula para el curso de Programación Básica tanto en la sede principal como en dos sedes regionales.

Documento referente al diseño de las experiencias de aula.

2. PRE PROYECTOS CÁLCULO

3.PROGRAMACIÓN BÁSICA

Tabla No. 1 Matriz de planificación

Registro audiovisual acerca de la implementación de las experiencias de aula.

Fuente: Los Autores

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Para llevar a cabo la introducción de ambientes móviles de trabajo colaborativo, con el objetivo de aportar procesos de desarrollo integral a las metodologías de aprendizaje, enmarcados en el proyecto de investigación TEACH-ME (Technology, Engineering And Calculus Hewlett-Packard Mobile Environment), se planteó la siguiente metodología de trabajo: 3.1 REDISEÑO DE LOS CURSOS En primera instancia se trabajó en la construcción de la propuesta didáctica para el rediseño de los cursos utilizando las TIC’s, específicamente las herramientas computacionales Tablet PC, como apoyo a los procesos presenciales de enseñanza aprendizaje de las áreas participantes del proyecto, para tal fin se tuvo en cuenta los siguientes cuatro aspectos: 3.1.1. FASES DEL DISEÑO: Dentro del Proyecto Teach Me, el diseño de la propuesta didáctica se realizó en un tiempo aproximado de dos años, teniendo como eje principal la construcción de al menos cuatro experiencias de aula. Durante este tiempo se desarrollarán las siguientes fases: Fase de Exploración: durante esta primera fase se hacen las indagaciones y las búsquedas pertinentes en relación a constructos teóricos, teorías del aprendizaje, didáctica de las matemáticas y diseño de software educativo, que darán el soporte teórico al desarrollo del proyecto. Fase de Reconocimiento de software: paralelamente a la fase anterior, se hace una búsqueda exhaustiva de software libre, aprendiendo a utilizarlo, e identificando las ventajas y desventajas que ofrece para el diseño del ambiente de aprendizaje. Fase de Diseño: en esta fase, se centra el trabajo en el diseño en papel de las actividades, indagando todos los elementos didácticos del objeto estudiado, con el fin de tener un panorama apoyado por investigaciones que tengan en cuenta aspectos como representación de conceptos, sesgos, errores y dificultades de los estudiantes, preconceptos y competencias, entre otros. Fase de Implementación: durante esta fase se llevó a la plataforma Moodle y los demás programas a utilizar, lo elaborado en papel, teniendo en cuenta aspectos propios del diseño: colores, manejo de espacios, efectividad de las simulaciones y demás elementos de multimedia, ingreso de los usuarios, manejo de programas adicionales. Fase de Aplicación Piloto: en esta fase, después de implementar el entorno virtual de apoyo a la presencialidad, se realizó la aplicación con un grupo de estudiantes pertenecientes al periodo ínter semestral. Se buscó identificar las posibles dificultades de los estudiantes al hacer uso del software en cuanto a diseño y en cuanto a elementos propios de la redacción, de las actividades propuestas, ejercicios de aplicación, etc. Fase de Complementación: después de hacer una primera retroalimentación de las experiencias ya diseñadas, se continúo con el diseño del resto de la propuesta Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 178-212

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didáctica para el rediseño de los cursos. Fase de Aplicación Sede Principal UNIMINUTO: en esta fase se aplicó la primera versión de los cursos rediseñados, haciendo la toma de registros pertinentes, teniendo siempre en claro que se trata de una investigación cualitativa. Fase de Evaluación: durante esta fase se hizo la evaluación del curso rediseñado, con el fin de hacer los ajustes pertinentes e identificar los elementos que permitirán que esta propuesta sea replicable en las otras dos regionales de UNIMINUTO. Fase de Reproducción: en esta fase se está aplicando la propuesta didáctica construida y revisada, en dos regionales, Villavicencio (Meta) y Girardot (Cundinamarca), haciendo el respectivo seguimiento a los resultados de esta incorporación. Fase de Análisis Total: de acuerdo a los resultados de los tres espacios de aplicación, se dará cuenta de las ventajas y desventajas del uso de la propuesta de rediseño de los respectivos cursos, teniendo siempre presente su papel innovador en el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje y su viabilidad para ser replicada en otros espacios académicos. 3.1.2. CARACTERÍSTICAS DE LAS ACTIVIDADES: El proyecto busca innovar en los procesos de enseñanza aprendizaje a través del uso de las Tablet PC. Para tal fin aprovechando los espacios de la plataforma virtual de UNIMINUTO, el proyecto se soporta en el uso de Moodle, herramienta para producir cursos basados en Internet y páginas web, haciendo uso exclusivo de software libre (Open Source), para lo cual se trabajó en el diseño de un entorno virtual (o también llamado entorno informático), Por ejemplo, en el desarrollo del curso de Pre cálculo, el tema central de trabajo es la función lineal y la función cuadrática, ya que se considera que son los temas en los cuales los estudiantes deben tener grandes fortalezas al terminar dicho curso. Estas temáticas se enfocaron a través del uso de las representaciones y teniendo en cuenta además la modelización como estrategia para la resolución de problemas. Para permitir su desarrollo dentro del entorno virtual, se hace preponderante que haya total posibilidad de comunicación entre estudiantes, entre docente y estudiantes. Por esta razón, el uso de elementos como blogs y foros hace parte indispensable del diseño ya que a partir del compartir, exponer y discutir críticamente los resultados del análisis grupal o individual, el docente puede hacer un proceso de construcción del conocimiento junto con sus estudiantes. Se busca que sea un medio de comunicación efectivo, tanto en el aula de clase como fuera de ella. Para el diseño del entorno virtual, el grupo de trabajo ha contado con el apoyo de monitores, los cuales hacen su trabajo en la parte de diagramación, diseño de la página en Moodle y otros aportes, desde su visión de estudiantes y próximos profesionales para el logro de los objetivos.

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3.1.2.1 Experiencias de aula: Para el desarrollo de la propuesta didáctica se planteó como eje principal las llamadas experiencias de aula, término utilizado para nombrar la organización dada a todo el desarrollo de una clase, en donde cada paso, cada pregunta, cada momento ha sido planeado, pensado en los siguientes fines: Planear y utilizar adecuadamente los tiempos de la clase. Hacer el estudio pertinente del objeto matemático a enseñar y aprender. Planear los momentos de actuación del estudiante y del docente. Identificar los productos del estudiante. Establecer las conclusiones (conocimiento) matemáticas. Fortalecer el uso de las cualidades de la máquina. Específicamente, para el diseño de las experiencias de aula, se hará uso de algunos elementos teóricos de la Teoría de las Situaciones de Brousseau, teoría expuesta por su autor con el fin de “modelizar” 11 las relaciones que se dan al interior de un sistema de enseñanza. Se trata en forma general, de hacer una exploración de los resultados de la integración del blended learning, el aprendizaje colaborativo y la teoría de las situaciones didácticas, buscando tomar de cada aspecto, los elementos más relevantes para los objetivos de este trabajo de investigación. Para esta investigación, una experiencia de aula es considerada como un diseño del desarrollo de una clase en el aula, haciendo uso de diversos recursos, en este caso tecnológico, bajo los parámetros propios del aprendizaje colaborativo y en donde los estudiantes elaboran constructos a partir de sus propios conocimientos. De acuerdo a las características del proyecto y a los tiempos establecidos para su etapa de diseño, se planearon dos tipos diferentes de experiencias de aula. EXPERIENCIA TIPO A: El objetivo de este tipo de experiencia es buscar que el estudiante construya el conocimiento en forma cooperativa, teniendo en cuenta las situaciones de la teoría brousseniana. A continuación se describe cada uno de los aspectos que caracterizan este tipo de experiencia. Actividad inicial: nombre dado a la situación de acción, diseñada por el profesor para que sea solucionada por los estudiantes sin su ayuda. En este caso, el docente dará diversas fuentes de información que pueden servir al estudiante para llegar a generar una propuesta de solución. La actividad se publica en el aula virtual del proyecto. Los computadores serán llevados al aula de clase (o los estudiantes al aula donde están los computadores). En la primera sesión de la clase, los estudiantes deben leer la situación, interactuar con sus compañeros sobre el significado de los términos y en general, de la información que la actividad está dando como de la que está pidiendo concluir.

Palabra utilizada por Brousseau, 1986.

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Publicación: nombre dado a la situación de formulación. Por medio del foro, un blog y/o el chat, el estudiante da a conocer las alternativas que tuvo para solucionar la situación, las conclusiones y resultados a los que llegó. Debe hacer uso de un lenguaje adecuado, siguiendo las normas sociales que se den al interior del grupo. Esta actividad se realiza dentro de la siguiente sesión de clase, aprovechando que todos sus compañeros están conectados para que conozcan sus conclusiones. Tanto esta actividad como la de socialización, se harán en la misma segunda sesión. Socialización: nombre dado a la situación de institucionalización. También por medio del foro, un blog y/o el chat, los estudiantes aprueban o refutan las ideas de otros grupos, sustentando cada una de sus participaciones y objeciones a las conclusiones dadas por los demás. Esta actividad y la de validación, se dará en la tercera sesión. Validación: el docente, después de socializar con los estudiantes sus resultados, sus refutaciones, conclusiones y demás elaboraciones, extrae y genera la validación de la conclusión con los aportes de todo el grupo, sirviendo como mediador del conocimiento, aclarando posibles dudas y errores que se estén generando. Es importante que el docente revise las discusiones dadas en el foro, blog y el chat, pues de allí obtiene una información valiosa sobre lo que sus estudiantes han elaborado. Actividad de profundización y evaluación: es una actividad que no hace parte de la teoría de las situaciones. Sin embargo, se considera importante para los fines del Departamento de Ciencias Básicas. Tiene por objeto permitir que el estudiante se enfrente a una situación que le exija hacer uso del conocimiento construido anteriormente, con el fin de que auto evalúe su progreso. Estará articulada en el aula virtual, con el fin de que el estudiante haga uso de las propiedades de la herramienta para resolverla. Además, servirá como evaluación por parte del docente, para reconocer los avances de sus estudiantes en torno a la temática ya tratada y desarrollada en el curso. Actividad de contextualización: durante el desarrollo del curso rediseñado los estudiantes deben elaborar un proyecto relacionado con una rama específica de su carrera, buscando con esto la permanente contextualización del saber matemático, la acción praxiológica y el desarrollo de competencias laborales. Esta actividad se desarrollará en espacios fuera de la clase, con apoyo de su docente y lógicamente con la ayuda de las herramientas tecnológicas que necesite. Los informes de avance de este tipo de actividades harán parte del informe final del proyecto que debe ser sustentado. EXPERIENCIA TIPO B: En estas experiencias, no se utilizan las situaciones expuestas por Brousseau, sin embargo, es importante aclarar las diversas etapas que la conforman. Es una actividad que no parte de una situación adidáctica, pero sí de una actividad propuesta para desarrollarla usando las Tablet PC y diversos recursos de la red. Las etapas de este tipo de experiencia son las siguientes: Reseña histórica: a través de la presentación de una serie de documentos en el ambiente Moodle, se pretende que el estudiante se relacione con el aspecto histórico del saber matemático a tratar y de esta manera se valorice la importancia y necesidad de estudio. R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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Actividad inicial: Actividad propuesta por el docente para iniciar el desarrollo de la temática y que no es una situación adidáctica. Por ejemplo, se puede plantear la elaboración de cuadros analíticos, mapas conceptuales, responder preguntas problematizadoras sobre un tema, entre otros. Para el desarrollo de esta actividad se brindarán vínculos para que los estudiantes hagan las exploraciones vía Internet que consideren necesarias. Socialización: los grupos de estudiantes exponen las elaboraciones alrededor de la actividad inicial a sus demás compañeros, por medio del foro, blog y a su vez en el aula de clase, delante del profesor. Esto con el fin de que el docente escuche la exposición y reconozca las elaboraciones de los estudiantes. La primera sesión se propone llegar esta actividad. Institucionalización: apoyado en las producciones de los estudiantes, el docente elabora el marco conceptual del objeto de conocimiento y aclara a los estudiantes aquellos aspectos que no siendo relevantes para ellos sí lo son a la hora de formalizar para la clase el nuevo conocimiento. Actividad de aplicación: en esta actividad se propone a los estudiantes bajo la plataforma virtual de apoyo (Moodle) una serie de ejercicios dentro del contexto matemático básicamente. Durante esta actividad el trabajo es de índole cooperativo y el tratamiento dado al concepto matemático buscará direccionar al estudiante siempre al uso de las representaciones. La segunda sesión involucraría hasta este tipo de actividad. Actividad de profundización: con una presentación similar a la actividad anterior se plantea a los estudiantes una serie de preguntas frente a un contexto propio de su formación y donde las competencias matemáticas logradas se deberán hacer presentes. Evaluación: de tipo diagnóstico sumativa se llevará a cabo permanentemente a través de herramientas como el hotpotatoes o el mismo sistema Moodle. La tercera sesión cerrará con la evaluación principal del tema. Actividad de contextualización: tal como se había mencionado en la Actividad Tipo A, durante el desarrollo del curso los estudiantes deben elaborar un proyecto relacionado con una rama específica de su carrera, en algunas de las temáticas que responderán a la actividad Tipo B también se tendrá este espacio de manera extra clase con su respectivo apoyo tutorial. El tratamiento de cada una de las temáticas Tipo A se diseñó para ser desarrollada en tres sesiones, como muestra en la Tabla No. 2. Sesión

1ª

2ª

Actividades

Actividad Inicial

Publicación Socialización

3ª y Validación, Profundización y evaluación

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En la Tabla 3 se presenta propuesta de sesiones para la Actividad Tipo B.

Sesión

1ª

2ª

3ª

Actividades

Reseña histórica, Institucionalización Actividad Actividad Inicial y y Actividad de profundización socialización Aplicación evaluación

de y

La contextualización se desarrolla extraclase Tabla No. 3. Sesiones de trabajo con las etapas de la experiencia de aula tipo B. La cantidad de sesiones propuesta para experiencia puede cambiar a la hora de ser aplicadas en el aula; sin embargo, se debe tener en cuenta que los tiempos destinados para desarrollar las temáticas del curso son bastante justos y usualmente el límite de tiempo es una barrera infranqueable. Por ejemplo, se pueden dar las situaciones de socialización y validación en la segunda y tercera sesión, si el docente lo considera pertinente. Adicional a esto se establece una quinta actividad, denominada de profundización. 3.1.2.2 Elementos a Considerar: A cada experiencia diseñada, se le dio el siguiente tratamiento como esquema de presentación. Descripción general: se narra brevemente el contenido de la experiencia y sus fases de acuerdo al tipo Justificación: tratamiento del porqué dicho contenido. Aspectos pedagógicos: breve revisión sobre el tratamiento que han de recibir los contenidos en relación a algunas investigaciones ya desarrolladas o en desarrollo. Aspectos didácticos: breve reseña acerca de la forma en que algunos investigadores recomiendan se ha de abordar el estudio de los objetos en cuestión. Aspectos generales relativos a los obstáculos y errores: se dará cuenta de manera general respecto a las dificultades, obstáculos y errores que reportan algunas investigaciones frente a la temática en consideración. Sensibilización: necesaria para cualquier experiencia en la medida de llamar la atención del estudiante e incluye diferentes posibilidades introductorias para cada actividad. Planificación: es la propuesta de acción que se llevará a cabo dentro de las tres sesiones consideradas en cada experiencia, incluirá materiales, métodos y tiempos Papel del docente: para cada actividad se debe escribir el libreto del profesor donde sea clara su permanente acción en el proceso de enseñanza. R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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Papel del estudiante: es el eje principal de la propuesta didáctica en la medida a que su papel debe ser activo en todo momento, por ello proponer su libreto es fundamental. Papel de la herramienta: se determina cual es la acción de los ambientes virtuales construidos y las herramientas comunicacionales a utilizar en apoyo a la presencialidad. Se tendrá como eje fundamental el papel innovador de las Tablet PC en los espacios en que se utiliza y su ventaja frente a un portátil o un PC. 3.2. PAPEL DEL DOCENTE El docente tiene dos labores muy importantes. Por un lado, está la preparación y el conocimiento de las experiencias de aulas, del manejo de los diversos software utilizados en el diseño del ambiente, el conocimiento de los objetivos y logros que se pretenden; en segundo lugar, debe tener claro su papel de mediador del conocimiento, buscando caracterizar los conceptos desde un punto de vista cultural, a partir de las construcciones de sus estudiantes, en las diversas etapas que expone la teoría de las situaciones. Para Gómez García (2002), el docente: Es dinamizador del proceso: hará preguntas cuando haya que reflexionar, cuestionará cuando haya que profundizar sobre algún tema, distribuirá los materiales y los espacios de tiempo. Ofrecerá la secuencia necesaria que dé unidad y globalidad al proceso educativo. Debe hacer el papel de observador para asegurarse de que los procesos se llevan adelante, debe estar preparado y atento a subsanar posibles bloqueos y tener una visión crítica que le permita evaluar tanto los resultados como los procedimientos para llegar a ellos. 3.3 PAPEL DEL ESTUDIANTE El estudiante es la razón de ser de la labor de los investigadores. Se busca que tengan la posibilidad de acceder a procesos educativos innovados constantemente por docentes capacitados y comprometidos con la formación de profesionales hábiles en las competencias que su campo profesional les exige. Por esta razón, es importante que los estudiantes estén comprometidos con su formación. En el momento de hacer uso de entornos computacionales y siguiendo los aportes de Gómez García (2002), el papel del estudiante tiene varios aspectos a tener en cuenta: Analizar las situaciones para tratar de resolver con sus preconceptos. Cuando se le planteen actividades, debe poder usar la web para conseguir información relevante y si es necesario, compartir recursos con sus compañeros. Es importante que busque una conexión entre los conocimientos de que dispone y las propuestas que se le plantean. Asumir su propio proceso de aprendizaje, siguiendo (críticamente) los pasos que se le ofrecen para encontrar una estrategia adecuada o mejorar la estrategia de que dispone inicialmente. Utilizar diversas representaciones para mostrar tanto los procesos como las Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 178-212

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soluciones de la situación que se le entregó. Implicarse en el proceso colaborativo y trabajar con la tecnología junto con sus compañeros. Reflexionar sobre sus productos, así como sobre los de sus compañeros, desarrollando una capacidad crítica para interpretar lo mejor posible las elaboraciones de sus pares y poder devolver al grupo sus argumentos y estrategias, de forma que su aporte sea favorable para el aprendizaje del grupo. Por tanto, la formación del estudiante es integral. Por un lado, está el desarrollo de competencias, y por otro, se da la posibilidad de involucrar la formación en valores éticos, de compartir, de apoyo mutuo para llegar a un fin. 4. REGISTROS Y RESULTADOS Para dar cuenta de los resultados parciales y generales de las experiencias durante todo su proceso de construcción, prueba piloto, ajuste, prueba en la Sede Principal (Bogotá) y aplicación en dos sedes regionales, se tuvo en cuenta: Parámetros a evaluar: definidos para cada experiencia a partir de categorías generales de análisis. Resultados de encuestas: las cuales se aplican al finalizar cada experiencia a los estudiantes y al maestro a cargo, indagando sobre los parámetros considerados. Resultados de las hojas del profesor: donde se da cuenta de las anotaciones hechas por el docente de apoyo y el principal durante cada experiencia. Resultados de evaluación de la actividad de los estudiantes: básicamente se evalúa de manera comparativa el trabajo individual, el trabajo cooperativo y el trabajo cooperativo con apoyo de las TIC’s; los desempeños frente a la resolución de ejercicios, actividades de aplicación y profundización; y desarrollo general de cada experiencia. Incluye de manera importante el análisis de las producciones de los estudiantes tanto en papel como en magnético. Resultados apoyos virtuales: dando cuenta de las ventajas y desventajas del ambiente virtual de apoyo construido, las simulaciones, las herramientas de comunicación consideradas y los espacios de evaluación involucrados. El papel de Moodle en las experiencias Resultados frente al uso de las Tablet PC: revisión de las ventajas y desventajas del uso de las Tablet PC en cada una de las experiencias Resultados de las herramientas de registro: donde se da cuenta de los aspectos relevantes ocurridos en las experiencias y captados a través de grabaciones en audio y video. Resultados frente a las actividades de contextualización: se da cuenta de la pertinencia de este tipo de actividad frente al campo específico de tecnología o R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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ingeniería y su relevancia frente al desarrollo de competencias laborales. 4.1. SELECCIÓN DE LA POBLACIÓN Para trabajar la fase de implementación siguiendo las metodologías aplicadas por el proyecto, se tomó como referente: Dos cursos de pre cálculo (NRC 1694 y NRC 2558) de ciencias básica con una población estudiantil de 23 y 14 jóvenes respectivamente. Dos cursos de programación básica (NRC 3843 y NRC 4329), del programa de tecnología en informática con una población estudiantil de 16 y 20 jóvenes respectivamente. Tres cursos de gestión básica de la información (NRC 3718, NRC 5031 y NRC 1746), con una población estudiantil de 18, 15 y 20 jóvenes respectivamente. Un curso de estructura de datos (NRC 1822), del programa de tecnología en informática con una población estudiantil de 19 jóvenes. Para la fase de implementación se trabajó aleatoriamente con varios cursos, los cuales seguían las metodologías tradicionales y cuyo desempeño académico sería comparado con el de los cursos trabajados con las metodologías implementadas en el proyecto. Estos cursos fueron: Dos cursos de pre cálculo (NRC 1697 y NRC 1700), de ciencias básica con una población estudiantil de 31 y 20 jóvenes respectivamente. Dos cursos de programación básica (NRC 1814 y NRC 5673), del programa de tecnología en informática con una población estudiantil de 12 y 17 jóvenes respectivamente. Dos cursos de gestión básica de la información (NRC 1008 y NRC 3306), del programa de tecnología en electrónica con una población estudiantil de 17 y 19 jóvenes respectivamente. Un curso de estructura de datos (NRC 2354), del programa de tecnología en informática con una población estudiantil de 27 jóvenes. 5. IMPACTOS, ESTADÍSTICAS Y RESULTADOS OBTENIDOS Con la realización de este proyecto se evidenciaron cambios y comportamientos positivos en los docentes y estudiantes, principalmente en su aprendizaje y en los procesos de enseñanza (Pérez et al., 2009). A continuación se desatacan los principales aspectos identificados en el proceso de investigación.

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5.1. Impacto en el Aprendizaje del Estudiante El principal impacto originado por la introducción de los Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard en los espacios académicos, se refleja en las bondades que ofrece la tecnología. En los tres cursos implementados, que corresponden a Gestión Básica de Información, Pre cálculo y Programación Básica, las conclusiones tomadas de los procesos de observación son similares y se enfocan en: El uso de esta tecnología permite mayor atención y concentración por parte del estudiante, eliminando la toma de apuntes en cuadernos, para hacerlo en forma digital, facilitando la presentación o sustentación de trabajos, mejorando la participación en clase y motivando al estudiante a tener una mejor y mayor disposición hacia el aprendizaje. La posibilidad de desarrollar los diferentes talleres gráficos y presentaciones en cada uno de los temas tratados, contando con la facilidad de compartirlo “en línea” con cada uno de los compañeros de la clase, motivando y fomentando al desarrollo del trabajo colaborativo y cooperativo en el estudiante. La movilidad ofrecida por los Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard, ha permitido que el estudiante asuma un papel mucho más activo dentro y fuera del aula, dado que posibilita el desplazamiento facilitando la constante interacción con los demás integrantes del grupo, permitiendo transformar el aula de clase en un espacio real de aprendizaje y construcción social del conocimiento. Fuera del aula, resulta interesante que los estudiantes puedan explorar en contextos reales, usando la tecnología para modelar su entorno y discutir en el sitio donde él desee, pruebas de campo, la cafetería, la biblioteca y todo el campus de UNIMINUTO. 5.2. Impacto en el Encuentro Pedagógico El desarrollo de un curso teórico-práctico tradicional en UNIMINUTO se apoya en los laboratorios de informática, previamente acondicionados con el software y los PC de escritorios. Al momento de abandonar este formalismo tradicional de los cursos y aplicar las nuevas herramientas tecnológicas que nos facilitan los Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard, de entrada se registran una serie de reacciones de asombro en los estudiantes, cuando en su primer contacto con esta tecnología, observan y analizan su movilidad en el salón de clase y aun más cuando experimentan fuera del aula. Dentro de las respuestas más comunes se resalta de que “resulta más cómodo y agradable trabajar fuera del salón de clase” (Rodríguez et al., 2009). Durante el desarrollo de las diferentes experiencias académicas realizadas, se ha podido observar las grandes bondades de escritura, de representación de los objetos, ya sean estos matemáticos, algorítmicos o de cualquier otros tipo; y la facilidad de interacción entre el docente y el estudiante que ofrece esta tecnología. (Salamanca et al., 2008; Pérez et al., 2009). En general, el apoyo de la tecnología inalámbrica, la eliminación del trabajo intramural, el desarrollo de espacios colaborativos de aprendizaje, la interacción y la dinámica de comunicación activa entre docente-estudiantes y estudiante-estudiante, han permitido que el encuentro pedagógico sea más agradable para el estudiante, R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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permitiendo que la temática desarrollada se torne más atractiva para el estudiante, apoyando de esta forma los procesos de asimilación y comprensión. (Pérez et al., 2008). 5.3. RESULTADOS OBTENIDOS EN LA ETAPA DE IMPLEMENTACIÓN Después de realizado el proceso de implementación, y teniendo en cuenta la siguiente distribución: Área Pre Cálculo: Grupos control (NRC 1697, NRC 1700) PROFESOR : Frey Rodríguez CURSO : Pre cálculo: No Teach-Me PROGRAMA NRC

BÁSICAS

NUMESTUD

1697 31

APROBARON

NO APROBARON

CANCELARON

Cantidad Porcentaje

51,60%

42,0%

PROFESOR : Adriana Matallana CURSO: Pre cálculo: No Teach-Me PROGRAMA NRC

BÁSICAS

NUMESTUD

1700 20

APROBARON

NO APROBARON

CANCELARON

Cantidad Porcentaje

55,0%

45,0%

Área Pre Calculo: Grupos objetivos (NRC 2558, NRC 1694) PROFESOR: Frey Rodríguez Pérez. CURSO : Pre cálculo PROGRAMA NRC

BÁSICAS

NUMESTUD

APROBARON

NO APROBARON

CANCELARON

Cantidad Porcentaje

1694 23 52,17%

34,7%

13%

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CURSO : Pre cálculo PROGRAMA NRC

BÁSICAS

NUMESTUD

APROBARON

NO APROBARON

CANCELARON

Cantidad Porcentaje

2558 14 71,4%

28,5%

Se obtienen las siguientes conclusiones al respecto del proceso: La tasa de reprobados disminuye en un 11,7% por curso con la aplicación del proyecto, es decir, la cantidad de estudiantes que perdieron el curso disminuyó con referencia al grupo control. De esta tasa de reprobados también se puede observar que la nota promedio con la que se pierde el curso ha aumentado, pasando en algunos escenarios de 1,5 a 2,5. De igual forma se observa un comportamiento creciente en el promedio de estudiantes que participaron en el proyecto, que se ubican en la nota media de curso (3,0 a 4,0), lo que permite concluir que la aplicación del proyecto refuerza las competencias en los estudiantes que coadyuvan en su desempeño académico. Área Fundamentos de Programación Básica: Grupos control (NRC 1814, NRC 5673) PROFESOR : José Ovidio Salamanca López CURSO : Programación Básica : No Teach-Me PROGRAMA

NRC

NUMESTUD

INFORMÁTICA 1814 12

APROBARON

NO APROBARON

CANCELARON

Cantidad Porcentaje

33,3%

66,7%

0,0%

PROFESOR : Carlos Armando López Solano CURSO : Programación Básica : No Teach-Me PROGRAMA

NRC

NUMESTUD

INFORMÁTICA 5673 17

APROBARON

NO APROBARON

CANCELARON

Cantidad Porcentaje

47,0%

53,0%

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Área Fundamentos de Programación Básica: Grupos objetivos (NRC 3843, NRC 4329) PROFESOR: José Ovidio Salamanca López. CURSO : Programación Básica PROGRAMA

NRC

NUMESTUD

APROBARON

NO APROBARON

CANCELARON

Cantidad Porcentaje

INFORMÁTICA 3843 16 62,5%

31,2%

6,2%

PROFESOR: Carlos Armando López. CURSO : Programación Básica PROGRAMA

NRC

NUMESTUD

APROBARON

NO APROBARON

CANCELARON

Cantidad Porcentaje

INFORMÁTICA 4329 20 45%

40%

Se obtuvieron las siguientes conclusiones: La tasa de reprobados disminuye en un 24,25% en promedio por curso con la aplicación del proyecto, es decir, la cantidad de estudiantes que perdieron el curso disminuyó con referencia al grupo control. De esta tasa de reprobados también se puede observar que la nota promedio con la que se pierde el curso se mantiene con relación a los cursos control. De igual forma se observa un comportamiento similar con relación al grupo control, en el promedio de estudiantes que participaron en el proyecto, que se ubican en la nota media de curso (3,0 a 4,0). Área Gestión Básica de la Información: Grupos control (NRC 3306, NRC 1008)

Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 178-212

Pérez Peregrino, L. E., Matallana, A., Rodríguez Pérez, F., Moreno Pinilla, A., Herrera, Jhon.

206

PROFESOR : Ana Tulia Torres Manrrique CURSO : Gestión Básica de la Información G.B.I. : No Teach-Me PROGRAMA NRC

GRÁFICA

NUMESTUD

1008 17

APROBARON

NO APROBARON

CANCELARON

Cantidad Porcentaje

76,5%

23,50%

PROFESOR : Ana Tulia Torres Manrrique CURSO : Gestión Básica de la Información G.B.I. : No Teach-Me PROGRAMA

NRC

NUMESTUD

ELECTRÓNICA 3306 19

APROBARON

NO APROBARON

CANCELARON

Cantidad Porcentaje

89,50%

10,50%

Área Gestión Básica de la Información: Grupos objetivos (NRC 1746, NRC 5031 Y NRC 3718) PROFESOR : Ana Tulia Torres CURSO : Gestión Básica de la Información G.B.I. PROGRAMA NRC

BÁSICAS

NUMESTUD

APROBARON

NO APROBARON

CANCELARON

Cantidad Porcentaje

3718 18 94,4%

5,56%

PROFESOR : Ana Tulia Torres CURSO : Gestión Básica de la Información G.B.I. PROGRAMA NRC

NUMESTUD

APROBARON

NO APROBARON

CANCELARON

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BÁSICAS

207

Cantidad Porcentaje

5031 15 66,6%

33,3%

PROFESOR : Ana Tulia Torres CURSO : Gestión Básica de la Información G.B.I. PROGRAMA NRC

BÁSICAS

NUMESTUD

APROBARON

NO APROBARON

CANCELARON

Cantidad Porcentaje

1746 20 80,00%

19,00%

1,00%

Se obtuvieron las siguientes conclusiones: La tasa de reprobados disminuye en un 1.04% por curso con la aplicación del proyecto, es decir, la cantidad de estudiantes que perdieron el curso disminuyó con referencia al grupo control. De esta tasa de reprobados también se puede observar que la nota promedio con la que se pierde el curso ha aumentado, pasando en algunos escenarios de 2,0 a 2,8. De igual forma se observa un comportamiento creciente en el promedio de estudiantes que participaron en el proyecto, que se ubican en la nota media de curso (3,0 a 4,0), lo que permite concluir que la aplicación del proyecto refuerza las competencias en los estudiantes que coadyuvan en su desempeño académico. CONCLUSIONES De esta forma se evidencia que el proyecto Teach-Me genera elementos didácticos y pedagógicos que favorecen el desempeño de los estudiantes, afirmación que se puede evidenciar observando el aumento de estudiantes que aprueban en cada uno de los cursos trabajados con el proyecto, y por lo tanto, una disminución en el mismo porcentaje de reprobados. Observando el comportamiento y a los resultados obtenidos en cada uno de los cursos pilotos trabajados con las metodologías implementadas por Teach-Me, unido a los procesos de comparación y recolección de experiencias cualitativas (tanto de estudiantes como de profesores) de soporte para el proyecto, se concluye que las herramientas didácticas y las experiencias pedagógicas construidas para los encuentros académicos, junto a la implementación de los ambientes móviles, contribuyeron al mejoramiento de la actividad académica, y por ende, se identifica un impacto positivo Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 178-212

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en el desempeño que logran los estudiantes participantes de los cursos pilotos, en comparación con los cursos de prueba que no implementaron el proyecto. Como conclusión especifica al observar los procesos desarrollados por cada uno de los cursos de las respectivas aéreas de Ciencias Básicas, Gestión Básica de la Información y Pre Cálculo, se pudo observar en el comportamiento de las tasas de reprobados y de y aprobados de los mismos, que los cursos de Pre cálculo presentan un porcentaje de mejora más alto con respecto a los demás cursos, lo que permite inferir que la herramienta computacional Tablet PC de Hewlett Packard, obtiene un mayor impacto académico y un mejor apoyo en el encuentro pedagógico, en cursos cuya orientación se enfoque hacia las Ciencias Básicas, tales como Matemáticas, Física y Química, entre otras. BIBLIOGRAFÍA Adell, Jordi. Tendencias en educación en la sociedad de las tecnologías de la información. Revista Electrónica de Tecnología. No. 7. Noviembre de 1997. ISSN: 1135-9250. Recuperado en abril de 2008 de http://www.pangea.org/peremarques/si.htm Adell, Jordi. (2002). El futuro de la Educación y las Nuevas Tecnologías. Paper presentado en las Jornadas sobre Formación Empresarial, Economía i FOL: Nuevas Tecnologías y Educación, Castelló. Ángel J. Miguel. Didáctica de la Aritmética. Universidad Nacional Abierta. Área de Educación-Mención Matemática. Caracas, 2005. Recuperado en abril de 2008 de http://www.unazulia.com/archivos/542/lecturas.pdf#page=112 Azcárate Giménez, Carmen, Deulofeu Piquet, Jordi. (2000-2001). Funciones y Gráficas. Editorial Síntesis, Barcelona. ISBN 8477380821. Barberá, Elena. Badia, Antoni, Mominó, Josep. I.C.E. Universidad de Barcelona. Editorial Horsori. I.S.B.N. 84-85840-88-7. Primera Edición Abril de 2001. Recuperado en abril de 2008 de http://books.google.com.co/books?id=Np1Gceq_zhgC&pg=PP1&dq=La+inc%C3%B3 gnita+de+la+Educaci%C3%B3n+a+distancia#v=onepage&q=&f=false Bereiter, C. (1997). Situated cognition and how to overcome it. In D. Kirshner & J. A. Whitson (Eds.), Situated cognition: Social, semiotic, and psychological perspectives (pp. 281-300). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Bohórquez, Pastor Martín (2006). Diseño de Ambientes de Aprendizaje. Una Propuesta de la Praxeología. Bogotá. Brocket R., Hiemtra R. El aprendizaje auto dirigido en la educación de adultos. Barcelona: Paidós. 1993. P. 24 Brousseau, Guy. (1986) Fundamentos y Métodos de la Didáctica de las matemáticas. Traducción hecha por Centeno, Melendo y Murillo, Recherches en Didactique des Mathématiques, Volumen 7 Número 2.

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JISTEM Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Vol. 8, No. 1, 2011, p. 213-236 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-177520110001000010

GESTÃO DO CONHECIMENTO EM TRANSNACIONAIS: O AMBIENTE ORGANIZACIONAL COMO INSTRUMENTO DISSEMINADOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: THE ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AS A SCATTER INSTRUMENT Julio Araujo Carneiro da Cunha Cesar Akira Yokomizo Gustavo de Almeida Capellini School of Economics, Business and Accountancy, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil __________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT National economies are gradually opening wide for international trade; this trend compels organizations, mainly the internationalized ones, to be more prepared to effectively and efficiently compete worldwide. In this context, the goal of this study was to identify and describe strategies and practices which promote knowledge flows within an international organization that holds its headquarter in a developed country and subsidiaries in developing countries. Methodological procedures include the explicit examination of codified information between subsidiaries units, through interviews and document analysis, in order to capture the tacit dimension in the causal maps that were made. Main results show an organizational strategy focused on the continuous stimuli to the construction of an organizational environment, embedded with solicitude between knowledge senders and receivers, and with a formal information management that supports knowledge exchanges and flows in a worldwide context. Keywords: Knowledge Management; Knowledge Flow; Tacit and Explicit Knowledge; Enterprises Internationalization; Transnational and Multinational Organizations. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Recebido em/Manuscript first received: 09/12/2009 Aprovado em/Manuscript accepted: 22/07/2010 Endereço para correspondência/ Address for correspondence Julio Araujo Carneiro da Cunha, Economista e contador pela FEA-RP / USP, bacharel em Administração e Comércio Exterior pela UNAERP e graduando em Marketing pela EACH / USP. Mestre em Administração de Organizações pela FEA-RP / USP. Avenida dos Bandeirantes, 3900. Monte Alegre. 14040-900. Ribeirão Preto – SP. Telefone: (16) 3602.3910 / Fax: (16) 3633.4488; e-mail: juliocunha@hotmail.com Cesar Akira Yokomizo, Engenheiro da Computação pela Escola Politécnica / USP, economista pela FEA / USP. Mestre e Doutorando em Administração de Empresas (Sistemas de Informação) pela EAESP / FGV. Mestre e Doutorando em Administração (Gestão de Negócios) pela FEA / USP. Avenida 9 de Julho, 2029. Bela Vista. 01313-902. São Paulo – SP. Telefone: (11) 3799.7777; e-mail: cesar.yokomizo@gmail.com Gustavo de Almeida Capellini, Contador pela FEA-RP / USP. Avenida dos Bandeirantes, 3900. Monte Alegre. 14040-900. Ribeirão Preto – SP. Telefone: (16) 3602.3910 / Fax: (16) 3633.4488; e-mail: gu_capellini@hotmail.com

ISSN online: 1807-1775 Publicado por/Published by: TECSI FEA USP – 2011

214 Carneiro da Cunha, J. A., Yokomizo, C. A., Capellini, G. de A.

1. INTRODUÇÃO As economias nacionais têm-se tornado gradativamente mais abertas em decorrência dos rápidos aumentos das trocas internacionais, resultado do acentuado desenvolvimento econômico, em especial, a partir da década de 1950 (Milner & Keohane, 1996). Desde então, diversas organizações foram influenciadas a expandir sua atuação para além das fronteiras nacionais. De maneira geral, esse processo de internacionalização foi, inicialmente, mais intensivo nos países norte-americanos, enquanto movimentos intra-regionais também ocorriam entre os países escandinavos. Em uma segunda onda de internacionalização, empresas japonesas partiram para o mercado internacional com altos de níveis de qualidade, resultado de um novo padrão produtivo. Atualmente, identifica-se uma terceira onda de internacionalização, ainda em fase inicial, sobretudo nos chamados países emergentes, mesmo que a participação das multinacionais de nações desenvolvidas continue representando grande parte do mercado internacional. Sobre isso, dados da UNCTAD – United Nations Conference on Trade and Development - (2008) comprovam que em 2007 as nações desenvolvidas transacionaram 58% do total das transações mundiais. Portanto, por mais que a internacionalização dos países emergentes venha chamando atenção pelo seu crescimento e relevância, não se pode ignorar que as transnacionais dos países desenvolvidos ainda predominam nesse processo. Isso se comprova por meio dos estudos de Hitt, Franklin & Zhu (2006) que apontam inclusive que os mercados emergentes vêm se apresentando como grande oportunidade de investimento para os players internacionais, em um movimento conhecido como NorthSouth. Essas empresas normalmente têm mais experiência e isso as levam a buscar alternativas inovadoras para lidar com a gestão internacional: a competitividade internacional, força-as a buscar, constantemente, novas formas competitivas de gestão, que sejam capazes de abranger aspectos relacionados tanto ao international business (e. g. operações, logística, custos etc.) quanto ao international management (e. g. cultura, conhecimento etc.). Assim, novas formas de se lidar com a organização sob o escopo internacional e, em especial, as relações entre matrizes e filiais, bem como entre as filiais, são absolutamente necessárias. É por isso que os casos das organizações internacionalizadas de países desenvolvidos que atuam no Brasil podem oferecer experiências ricas em tecnologias de gestão que auxiliam nas práticas e políticas nacionais dentro do intenso processo de internacionalização ao qual elas estão submetidas. Nesse contexto, a gestão do conhecimento é um assunto de especial interesse para a prática administrativa. Diversos conhecimentos oriundos da matriz devem ser transmitidos para subsidiárias (e vale a recíproca), para se estabelecer um ambiente de gestão alinhado aos valores e à missão global da empresa. Portanto, compreender estratégias que facilitem e viabilizem o fluxo de conhecimentos é fundamental para que as transnacionais possam apresentar vantagens competitivas sob o aspecto de gestão do conhecimento. Diante disso, o objetivo desta pesquisa foi identificar e descrever estratégias e práticas que incentivem os fluxos de conhecimento em uma organização internacionalizada, com matriz em país desenvolvido e subsidiária em país R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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emergente. Para se alcançar esse fim, buscou-se analisar em profundidade a experiência de uma organização internacionalizada de origem européia com subsidiárias no Brasil, identificando as estratégias e articulações constituídas pelas relações com e entre as subsidiárias. Assim sendo, a partir daqui, o presente artigo está dividido em quatro seções. A primeira apresenta o referencial teórico, que aborda conceitos fundamentais sobre a gestão e o fluxo de conhecimentos em uma perspectiva internacional, abrangendo os quatro elementos da transmissão de conhecimentos propostos por Minbaeva (2005): emissor, receptor, conhecimento e contexto organizacional. Posteriormente, são apresentados os procedimentos metodológicos utilizados: entrevistas e análises de documentos para conhecimentos explícitos e elaboração de mapas conceituais para os tácitos. A terceira seção apresenta a análise dos resultados obtidos pela pesquisa de campo, conforme as teorias apresentadas; e a última seção expõe as conclusões depreendidas deste estudo, seguidas pela apresentação das limitações do estudo e recomendações para pesquisas futuras.

2. GESTÃO DO CONHECIMENTO No meio acadêmico, muitos estudiosos consideram o conhecimento como principal recurso das organizações contemporâneas, o que fomenta o surgimento de grupos acadêmicos especializados no estudo sobre gestão do conhecimento e disciplinas correlatas, o que reforça a importância do tema no currículo acadêmico (Croasdell, Jennex, Yu & Christianson, 2003). Além disso, a quantidade de artigos acadêmicos publicados sobre o tema teve significativo aumentos desde 1998 (Serenko & Bontis, 2004). Na prática empresarial, muitos gestores estão convencidos de que a extensão, profundidade e escopo do conhecimento impulsionam crescentemente suas oportunidades competitivas (Spender, 2001), gerando aumento de produtividade e de inovações da organização (Zack, 1999). Assim, o conhecimento é variável fundamental para a obtenção de vantagens competitivas, fato que se constata empiricamente quando as organizações que o administram eficientemente conseguem aumentar suas capacidades dinâmicas (Sher & Lee, 2004). Dado, informação e conhecimento: A construção cognitiva: Sabendo que essa recente emergência da gestão do conhecimento é resultado direto da administração focada na informação, não se devem confundir epistemologias e conceitos sobre informação e conhecimento. Por isso, é importante distinguir dados, informações e conhecimentos, como aponta Setzer (2001). Para o autor, o dado é uma sequência de símbolos que podem ser quantificados e que podem ser representados por meio de formalizações. Quando os dados são trabalhados e organizados, tornam-se informações, adquirindo utilidade. A informação, por sua vez, contribui diretamente com a propagação de conhecimentos, sendo a forma descrita e formalizada dele. Alter (1999) defende que o conhecimento é gerado a partir da interpretação e Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 213-236

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ação do receptor sobre a informação adquirida, gerando, assim, resultados cognitivos que irão alocar-se no estoque de conhecimento do indivíduo receptor. Portanto, no processo de transferência e fluxo de conhecimento, o receptor, e não o conjunto de informações processadas, é detentor do conhecimento. Ele armazena o conhecimento em sua mente, sendo as informações meios pelos quais o receptor, com seu mindset e estrutura mental interpreta e armazena o conhecimento. Com isso, não se segue a linha de pensamento proveniente de autores como Jackson (1982), que acreditam que a informação pode ter também natureza tácita. Para esse autor, por exemplo, podem existir as "informações físicas", pelas quais a compreensão da realidade é limitante pela falta de sensações e sentimentos envolvidos no teor dessas informações. Espiral do conhecimento: conhecimentos tácitos e explícitos: A literatura aponta haver dois tipos de conhecimentos: o conhecimento explícito (ou codificado) e o tácito (intrínseco ao indivíduo). No primeiro caso, tem-se que o conhecimento pode ser transmitido por meio de linguagem formal e sistemática (Oliveira, 2001), e se caracteriza por ser compreensível para qualquer um que entenda a simbologia na qual ele é transmitido. Entretanto, esse conhecimento passível de ser expresso por símbolos (por exemplo, palavras e números) representa apenas a ponta do iceberg de todo o conhecimento existente (Nonaka, 1994). Isso porque o outro tipo relevante de conhecimento é o tácito que, segundo Figueiredo (2005, p. 48), “está associado à capacidade de agir das pessoas, às suas habilidades, expertises, experiências, competências, raciocínio, modelos mentais, conclusões, gerações de idéias, opiniões, emoções, valores, intuição, criatividade, crenças, etc”. A interação contínua destes dois tipos de conhecimentos gera a chamada espiral de criação do conhecimento (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1997), cujas etapas estão representadas na Figura 1, a seguir. em Conhecimento tácito Conhecimento tácito

Conhecimento explícito

Socialização

Externalização

Internalização

Combinação

do Conhecimento explícito

Figura 1. As quatro formas para criação de conhecimento Fonte: Adaptado de Nonaka e Takeuchi (1997, p. 81).

A Socialização trata de um processo de comunizar experiências, possibilitando assim a criação de conhecimento tácito, como modelos mentais ou habilidades técnicas compartilhadas. Esse processo baseia-se na construção de campo entre os agentes, que só é possível por meio da solicitude entre eles. Nesse caso, o uso de tecnologias de informação para transmissão de conhecimentos tácitos não é suficientes, porque a presença dos sentidos físicos e as reações psicoemocionais, fundamentais para a transmissão do conhecimento tácito, não estão presentes. Já a Externalização trata do processo em que o conhecimento tácito é articulado R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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em conceitos explícitos, expressando assim o conhecimento tácito na forma de metáforas, analogias, conceitos ou hipóteses do modelo. A forma de externalizar o conhecimento tácito ocorre por meio do diálogo ou da reflexão coletiva. Na Combinação, depois de criados os conhecimentos explícitos por meio da externalização, eles podem ser modelados por um processo de sistematização dos conceitos envolvidos para representar o conhecimento (associação do conhecimento explícito). Esse processo combina, acrescenta e caracteriza conhecimentos por meio de documentos formais, conversas à distância (por exemplo, telefonemas) ou redes de comunicação computadorizada. Por fim, a Internalização trata da incorporação individual do conhecimento explícito para o âmbito tácito (como, por exemplo, o know-how). Para se conseguir isso é necessário aprender na prática, por meio do chamado learning by doing (aprender fazendo). Gestão do Conhecimento em ambientes internacionais É diante dessas interações retro-alimentadas e constantes entre conhecimentos que a organização articula-se e se posiciona de forma a maximizar a dinâmica da espiral do conhecimento. Ademais, na transferência de conhecimentos em ambientes internacionais, tem-se uma dificuldade adicional, especificamente na etapa da Socialização, já que nessa fase, o contato direto e a convivência física entre emissor e receptor são indispensáveis. Existem, portanto, barreiras provenientes da distância física e cultural entre agentes, que dificultam a estabilização na construção de campo. Um dos grandes desafios das empresas transnacionais é buscar a estruturação e alocação ótima dos processos de P&D (Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento), produção e atividades de marketing dentro da rede da organização internacionalizada para a minimização dos custos da organização (Adler & Hashai, 2007). No entanto, quando alocam essas atividades de forma eficiente, há sua centralização local, devendo-se transmitir para o resto das unidades da empresa o know-how e a expertise adquiridos, o que, por vezes, é a própria razão de funcionamento da subsidiária. Esse processo envolve aprendizado por parte da matriz, o que é complexo e varia conforme a empresa e os sistemas de fluxos internos de conhecimento que ela detém (Lord & Ranft, 2000). Porém, essa troca de conhecimentos não é uma via de mão única (Urban, 2006) porque as transnacionais desenvolvem operações locais para obter vantagens das competências locais ao mesmo tempo em que desenvolvem nessas operações fluxos de conhecimento provenientes de outras partes da rede de conhecimentos da organização, fortalecendo, assim, as próprias competências locais (Mudambi, 2002). Nesse contexto, quatro elementos são responsáveis para a transmissão de conhecimentos dentro de uma empresa organização transnacional: emissor, conhecimento, receptor e contexto organizacional, conforme o modelo de Minbaeva (2007), representado na Figura 2, a seguir.

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Características do Conhecimento

Emissor

Conhecimento

Receptor

Contexto Organizacional

Figura 2. Transmissão de conhecimento em ambientes internacionais Fonte: Minbaeva (2007, p. 569).

Observa-se, na Figura 2, que existem duas dimensões para a transmissão de conhecimentos em contextos internacionais: (1) elementos responsáveis pela transmissão em si e (2) barreiras e fatores propulsores desses elementos. A Figura 2 representa essas relações e, em negrito, apresentam-se os quatro elementos responsáveis pela transmissão de conhecimentos em ambientes internacionais. Em itálico, estão apresentadas as barreiras e determinantes relacionados aos quatro elementos citados: (1) capacidade de disseminação (emissor); (2) capacidade de absorção (receptor); (3) características do conhecimento (conhecimento); (4) relações entre emissores e receptores (contexto organizacional). Cabe também discutir não apenas os elementos constituintes do modelo, mas, principalmente, as barreiras e determinantes que serão responsáveis pelas ações e comportamentos propulsores da transmissão de conhecimentos. Capacidade de disseminação do emissor: As capacidades do emissor estão relacionadas (1) à riqueza da base de conhecimento que o emissor detém para transferir aos seus receptores e (2) com a capacidade de transmissão de conhecimentos que os expatriados detêm (Wang, Tong & Koh, 2004). Além destas capacidades de transferir conhecimentos, deve haver disposição por parte do emissor para o transferir de seus conhecimentos. Segundo Wang et al. (2004), essa disposição está relacionada: (1) à importância que o receptor tem para o emissor; (2) ao tipo de domínio do emissor; e (3) à percepção de confiança na relação com o receptor, esperando que ele não se comporte oportunamente perante os conhecimentos recebidos. Outros fatores de caráter psicológico podem afetar essa disposição do emissor, que segundo Cabrera, Collins & Salgado (2006) podem ser: (1) auto-eficácia (capacidade do próprio emissor de atingir alto desempenho); (2) oportunidade para novas experiências; (3) percepção de suporte por parte de colegas e supervisores; (4) compromisso com a organização; (5) autonomia das atividades do emissor (que lhe trazem responsabilidade); (6) percepção de disponibilidade e qualidade dos sistemas de conhecimento; e (7) percepção de benefícios resultantes dessa transferência. Segundo Gupta e Govindarajan (2000), é necessário saber se ter compreensão ainda se a atuação do emissor está ligada à concepção da rede internacional como um todo ou se ela foca apenas nas relações em pares entre diferentes unidades. Os autores defendem que o ideal é que se tenha uma orientação para a rede de modo que o emissor R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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tenha incentivo para transmitir seus conhecimentos. Capacidade de absorção do receptor: A capacidade de absorção do receptor está relacionada ao potencial do receptor de perceber e reter o conhecimento que lhe está disponível. Cohen e Levinthal (1990) argumentam que a capacidade de absorção está relacionada à capacidade de a empresa aprender, inovar e prover dinamismo por meio de um processo sistematizado. Para tal, os autores dizem que a empresa receptora deve reconhecer o valor do novo conhecimento para que se possa, somente então, assimilá-lo e o aplicá-lo. Zahra e George (2002) incorporaram ao modelo a idéia de que havia diferença entre o conhecimento que era potencialmente recebido daquele que era, de fato, absorvido pelo receptor. Os autores acrescentam, ainda, a concepção do gatilho de ativação (evento que ativa a absorção do aprendizado pelo receptor), e adicionaram os mecanismos de integração social ao modelo e de regime social envolvido na relação emissor-receptor. Um modelo subsequente, que será usado como modelo conceitual desta pesquisa para tratar a capacidade de disseminação do emissor, parte dos estudos de Todorova e Durisin (2007) e reconceitualiza a capacidade de absorção por meio da sistemática apresentada na Figura 3, a seguir.

Figura 3. Capacidade de absorção de conhecimento Fonte: Adaptado de Todorova e Durisin (2007, p. 776).

A primeira etapa do receptor no reconhecimento, por parte do receptor, de valor do conhecimento. Assim definirá se irá aceitá-lo ou não, e, caso aceite, poderá assimilálo ou transformá-lo, de acordo com as próprias percepções da organização para, então, explorá-lo. Em relação aos fatores externos, as integrações sociais são mecanismos que influenciaram as interações sociais propulsoras da transmissão do conhecimento. As relações de poder, por sua vez, são fundamentais na imposição do elemento de maior poder sobre que conhecimento será absorvido com maior ênfase. Os regimes de apropriação que impulsionam a capacidade de absorção devem estar relacionados tanto nas consequências da capacidade de absorção (manutenção da vantagem competitiva) quanto na relação com as fontes de conhecimento. Por fim, além da capacidade de absorção, o receptor deve saber onde encontrar o conhecimento que precisa, ou seja, ele deve saber quais são as especialidades e, consequentemente, quais são os conhecimentos que os demais agentes detêm para, então, buscá-lo (Borgatti & Cross, 2003), dentro da acessibilidade disposta pelo Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 213-236

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emissor. Deve-se saber procurar o conhecimento requerido na rede interna da organização (Hansen, 2002), no caso das organizações internacionalizadas, na própria matriz e também nas subsidiárias. Encontrada a fonte de conhecimento, é necessário haver fortes laços de relacionamento entre emissor e receptor para possibilitar essa transferência (Hansen, 1999), que está relacionado à existência de um ambiente de solicitude entre os agentes, possibilitando, assim, maior fluidez nas relações interpessoais, bons níveis de convivência e um ambiente de cooperação que facilita as transmissões de conhecimentos (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1997). Relacionamento entre emissor e receptor: Quando se fala em um ambiente de transferência de conhecimentos de âmbito internacional, enfrentam-se problemas diferentes daqueles existentes em transmissões presenciais. Além da distância e dos subsequentes problemas para transmissão de conhecimentos tácitos, há questões de diferenças entre unidades ou organizações relacionadas à cultura, às capacidades, à estrutura e à tecnologia e à experiência nos processos de transmissão de conhecimentos (Argote, 1999 apud Minbaeva, 2007). Deve haver relacionamentos fortes entre emissores e receptores (Minbaeva, 2007), sendo importantes os processos e rotinas que promovam a transmissão de knowhow (Simonin, 1999). Além disso, a interação social positiva entre as organizações em um âmbito internacional acentua, inclusive, a transferência de conhecimentos tácitos (Pak & Park, 2004). Para que exista esse ambiente propício à interação social, deve haver comunicação entre emissor e receptor, o que possibilita a aprendizagem, a transmissão de conhecimentos (Tyre & von Hippel, 1997) e a manutenção do ambiente propício à interação social. É importante que existam pontes de comunicação entre os agentes capazes de permitir o diálogo entre diferentes níveis hierárquicos, o aprendizado em equipe e a existência de sistemas que capturem e compartilhem o conhecimento (Minbaeva, 2007). O estabelecimento de um efetivo canal de comunicação depende ainda da construção coletiva de mecanismos institucionais propulsores das relações de troca de conhecimentos. A transmissão de know-how entre organizações é também potencializada ainda quando a relação entre as organizações já está estabelecida (von Hippel, 1988). O fluxo de conhecimento em corporações internacionalizadas provém de laços estabilizados entre bases de conhecimentos (Schulz, 2003). Por isso, é importante estabelecer relações sustentáveis entre as diferentes unidades de uma organização transnacional, visto que as relações envolvem interações e movimentos pessoais, podendo-se, então, transmitir não apenas conhecimentos explícitos, mas também conhecimentos tácitos (Inkpen, 1996). Características do conhecimento: Cada tipo de conhecimento, explícito ou tácito, demanda diferentes formas de transmissão. Os explícitos, por serem mais formais, racionais e sistêmicos, têm maior facilidade de transferência à distância, não necessitando de um contato pessoal e direto entre emissor e receptor. Não há necessidade de socialização no processo de combinação (troca e transferência de conhecimentos explícitos), assim como se apresenta na espiral do conhecimento de Nonaka e Takeuchi (1997), o que torna esses conhecimentos facilmente transferíveis, como no conceito de non location bound de Rugman e Verbeke (2001).

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Por sua vez, os conhecimentos tácitos demandam uma convivência entre emissor e receptor no mesmo espaço e tempo para se viabilizar sua transferência; não é apenas pela verbalização (que pode ocorrer à distância) que se transmitem conhecimentos (Rugman & Hodgetts, 2002). Por isso, esses conhecimentos são dificilmente transferíveis em uma relação de longa distância e com cultura diferente, como é o caso das relações internacionais entre unidades transnacionais. Portanto, os conhecimentos tácitos estão mais ligados aos conhecimentos location bound, ou limitados em suas fronteiras, como apregoam Rugman e Verbeke (2001). Uma das formas mais frequentes encontradas em organizações transnacionais para a transmissão deste tipo de conhecimento é por meio da expatriação: executivos servem como veículo dessa transmissão, com seus relacionamentos e vivência (Bonache & Brewster, 2001), dado que a alta gerência consegue, por meio de seus relacionamentos realizados pessoalmente, adquirir conhecimentos tácitos de organizações estrangeiras (Athanassiou & Nigh, 2000). Outras distinções importantes provêm do modelo de Fang, Wade, Delios & Beamish (2007) em que se distinguem os conhecimentos de valor não raros daqueles diferenciais (também de valor, porém que são raros) que afetam o desempenho para o contexto das transnacionais. Para os autores, o conhecimento de valor não raro está ligado àquele conhecimento genérico da matriz, relacionado à experiência de internacionalização da organização, que podem ser imitadas com certa facilidade pela concorrência e, por isso, têm caráter de curto prazo. Por outro lado, os conhecimentos diferenciais que afetam o desempenho de longo prazo e estão relacionados aos conhecimentos de operacionalização e marketing, por exemplo, sendo resultados de coespecialização. A inter-relação desses conhecimentos está descritas no Quadro 1, a seguir. Quadro 1. Relações entre dimensões discriminantes de conhecimentos Conhecimento tácito

Conhecimento explícito

Conhecimentos disponíveis para todas as Conhecimento Conhecimento que pode ser adquirido por organizações, caracterizando-se por não por de valor não meio da experiência de mercado e de seus ganhos, mas por evitar perdas quando internacionalização da organização mantém o mesmo nível de competitividade raro da concorrência Conhecimento embutido na cultura da Conhecimento empresa e que dificilmente é imitável ou aplicável de imediato numa outra diferencial organização

Conhecimentos técnicos resguardados dentro da organização ou por patentes, que são resultados de especializações operacionais da organização

Fonte: Elaborado pelos autores.

Escolhas e procedimentos metodológicos O arcabouço conceitual utilizado para a identificação de estratégias e práticas relacionadas aos fluxos de conhecimento em uma organização transnacional foi o Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 213-236

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modelo de Minbaeva (2007), apresentado na Figura 2, que divide o processo de transmissão de conhecimento em quatro dimensões. Adotou-se para análise empírica a experiência de uma empresa que fosse transnacional, com matriz em país desenvolvido, no caso europeu, e que tivesse subsidiária em um país emergente, no caso, o Brasil, e que também permitisse a condução de uma pesquisa sobre fluxos de conhecimentos (critério de conveniência). Analisou-se gestão do conhecimento (tanto tácito quanto explícito) nesse contexto, portanto, sob a perspectiva da capacidade de disseminação (emissor), das características do conhecimento transferido (conhecimento), da capacidade de absorção (receptor) e da relação entre emissor e receptor (contexto organizacional). Não foi permitida a divulgar do nome da empresa que serviu ao estudo dessa pesquisa, e ela foi referenciada como Empresa Alfa. Ressalta-se, no entanto, que nenhuma informação relevante para o estudo foi omitida. Optou-se pela utilização de um estudo de caso único, primeiramente, por conveniência, decorrente acessibilidade dos autores às organizações no estudo empírico, dado que não se conseguiu ter acesso a outros casos semelhantes de CSCs (Centros de Serviços Compartilhados) que pudessem servir como peer-to-peer para a presente análise. No mais, não se conseguiu também ter acesso a uma organização internacionalizada com um sistema de gestão de conhecimento com maturidade suficiente para oferecer subsídios para análise do modelo de Minbaeva (2007). Por fim, julgou-se que a complexidade apresentada pelo caso da Empresa Alfa caracteriza esse caso como crítico para se testar a teoria abordada, o que justifica o uso de caso único para a abordagem empírica, tal como defende Yin (2009). Apesar de esta pesquisa analisar a experiência da Empresa Alfa, o método tradicional do estudo de caso não se demonstrou suficientemente abrangente para abordar questões relativas à transmissão de conhecimentos. Essas limitações existem porque o estudo de caso é um método que, segundo Yin (1981), traz como fonte de dados evidências do estudo de campo por meio da análise de arquivos guardados, entrevistas verbais, observações ou quaisquer outras combinações. No entanto, tais estratégias de pesquisa são insuficientes para captar as dinâmicas e os efeitos dos fenômenos sociais envolvidos na transmissão de conhecimentos de uma organização. Por mais que o intuito da pesquisa seja de caráter qualitativo, por natureza, esses métodos relacionam-se, primeiramente, com a análise textual, seja ela verbal ou escrita (Myers, 1997), o que não atingiria o caráter tácito das relações sociais. Como os conhecimentos podem ser tanto explícitos quanto tácitos, a pesquisa deveria envolver ambas as dimensões de análise. Diante disso, dado que a escolha do uso do estudo de caso não se deve embasar na percepção de suas vantagens, mas também sob suas desvantagens também (MacNealy, 1997), as técnicas do estudo de caso são limitadas para o levantamento dos aspectos tácitos porque: (1) a observação, por mais importante que seja para a coleta de dados por parte do pesquisador, não é suficiente para os objetivos propostos: era necessário compreender a dinâmica dos comportamentos e ações de nível tácito na organização, o que não se atinge pela mera observação do pesquisador. Ele deve compreender a formação e os mecanismos de funcionamento social e cultural que está embutida no comportamento interno da organização; (2) as entrevistas com gestores podem trazer uma visão parcial e distorcida da realidade da empresa, baseadas no mindset do gestor entrevistado, de seus valores pessoais e individuais, e consequentemente, de sua interpretação pessoal da R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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realidade organizacional. De acordo com Schreiber, Akkermans, Anjewierden, Hoog, Shadbolt, van de Welde & Wielingia (2000), entrevistas só podem captar aquilo que o entrevistado consegue verbalizar e sua linguagem consegue formalizar, deixando elementos de dimensão tácita despercebidos; (3) a análise documental pode ser um instrumento importante para se verificar as iniciativas formalizadas da organização, além de oferecer dicas sobre seus valores. No entanto, trata-se de uma estratégia capaz de captar apenas informações codificadas (explícitas) da organização, sendo limitadas no que se refere à sua dimensão tácita, também proposta na pesquisa. Portanto, estudos de caso são limitados por não oferecerem informações completas sobre o ambiente organizacional, tais como seus respectivos mecanismos e as dinâmicas de socialização da organização que são constituídas pela vivência interna, comportamentos tácitos e pelo cotidiano da organização. Deve-se ainda ressaltar que quando se fala em transmissão de conhecimentos entre filiais, remete-se à aprendizagem organizacional da filial receptora. Tal consideração é importante para se direcionar o objeto foco de estudo, porque Schön (1983) diferencia o aprendizado individual (do trabalhador) e do aprendizado organizacional; por isso os procedimentos adotados devem também refletir essa diferença. Desta forma, conforme apontado por Ambrosini (2003), devem-se diferenciar as habilidades tácitas, que são inerentes ao conhecimento tácito do indivíduo (funcionário) das rotinas tácitas, que é o termo empregado para referir-se aos conhecimentos tácitos organizacionais. Essas rotinas são fortemente ligadas aos conhecimentos tácitos porque, de acordo com Teece (1990), não podem ser codificadas e demonstram o desempenho que difere a organização das demais. Assim sendo, os procedimentos metodológicos adotados seguiram duas linhas: uma para a verificação da dimensão de conhecimentos explícitos e outra para os tácitos. Para o conhecimento explícito, realizaram-se procedimentos estabelecidos no método de estudo de caso: por meio de entrevistas (com três gestores e quatro funcionários analistas) e da análise documental sobre registros institucionais da organização, por meio do qual se puderam colher informações necessárias para a compreensão sobre a troca de conhecimentos codificados. No entanto, para capturar dados relativos à dimensão tácita, adotou-se a construção de mapas causais com os mesmos respondentes do estudo de caso, assim como proposto por Ambrosini e Bowman (2001). Trata-se de uma técnica em que se estabelece, primeiramente, a pergunta de entrevista para posteriormente verificar perante os gestores quais são as ações rotineiras que os levam a atingir esse objetivo (pergunta de entrevista). Estipula-se uma relação de causa-efeito entre a pergunta e a rotina tácita. Considerou-se essa técnica de pesquisa adequada porque mapas conceituais são ferramentas bastante utilizadas para se explorar as crenças específicas de cada indivíduo (Markíczy & Goldberg, 1995), de forma que eles são utilizados para como ferramenta para representar “estruturas e processos cognitivos que ajudam a compreender decisões e ações que configuram uma organização” (Bastos, 2002, p. 65). Ela permite entender qual é a sistemática compreendida pelos entrevistados em relação ao objeto de pesquisa e, dessa forma, como eles compreendem a realidade na qual estão inseridos. Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 213-236

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Mapas conceituais são construídos de maneira que se estabeleçam uma estrutura em fenômenos vagos (Weick & Bougon, 1986) e que se possam, consequentemente, estabelecer relações causais entre os eventos (Laukkanen, 1994) e compreender o contexto organizacional de onde eles são elaborados (Burgess, Clark, Hauser & Zmud, 1992): “Os mapas envolvem (...) conceitos e relações entre conceitos que são utilizados pelos sujeitos para compreender seu ambiente e dar-lhe sentido” (Bastos, 2002, p. 66). Dessa maneira, os mapas conceituais servem como instrumento para se estabelecer uma estrutura de relações conceituais entre ações cotidianas da organização, o que possibilita a captação de elementos tácitos existentes em atividades rotineiras. Para se encontrar esses construtos da dimensão tácita, segundo Ambrosini (2003), podem-se realizar duas técnicas. A primeira é a chamada self-Q, desenvolvida por Bougon (1983), em que o respondente realiza uma auto-entrevista e reflete, sozinho, sobre ações que levam a empresa a chegar à resposta dada, sem a intermediação do entrevistador. Essa pergunta deve apresentar uma linguagem clara e não ambígua, seguindo o que Eisenhardt e Graebner (2007) propõem como devem ser as questões oferecidas a um entrevistado. A segunda é por entrevista semi-estruturada em que, por meio de metáforas e histórias contadas pelo entrevistado, ele oferece exemplos de fatos que levem à resposta para pergunta de entrevista proposta definida pelo entrevistador. Para este estudo, as duas técnicas foram utilizadas para se estabelecer os construtos da pergunta de pesquisa. Para Ambrosini (2003), a tendência é que, conforme o respondente aprofunda-se nas suas respostas, maior é o nível tácito obtido nas respostas. Posteriormente evidenciam-se as rotinas tácitas com perguntas do tipo: “O que causa isso?” e “Como isso acontece?” (Ambrosini, 2003). Quando o fluxo de construtos de causa-efeito parar, é o momento, então, de pedir exemplos e histórias vividas e experimentadas pelo respondente (Ambrosini & Bowman, 2001). O estudo foi conduzido em um centro de serviços compartilhados da Empresa Alfa localizado no interior do Estado de São Paulo, onde operam os serviços de finanças e de recursos humanos, cuja função é atender as unidades de negócios da América Latina e Caribe. A escolha de uma central de serviços compartilhados ocorreu por dois motivos principais: (1) trata-se de uma unidade corporativa que detém maior contato com as demais filiais da organização e pode, portanto, trazer maiores perspectivas e resultados para se compreender o fluxo de conhecimentos existente dentro da rede internacional da Empresa Alfa e (2) existe uma concentração de conhecimentos operacionais, o que favorece a gestão do conhecimento (Lawler & Mohrman, 2003) e, por isso, pode elucidar a pergunta de pesquisa. Foram entrevistados três gestores, sendo que todos trabalhavam na mesma planta da corporação pesquisada, no entanto, dois deles já haviam trabalhado em outras filiais com as quais mantinham relações com o centro de serviços anteriormente. Cada entrevista durou aproximadamente 40 minutos. No mais, um dos autores teve acesso às instalações do escritório administrativo da empresa para conversar com quatro analistas operacionais de forma não estruturada sobre o cotidiano da organização e verificar de fato a existência de algumas práticas sobre as rotinas em questão. Todas as abordagens de campo foram realizadas entre os meses de agosto e setembro de 2008, de forma que o processo de levantamento de informações de campo perdurou por aproximadamente 40 dias. R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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A Empresa Alfa: Experiências de internacionalização Conforme apontam os registros históricos da Empresa Alfa (2008), ela foi fundada em meados do século XIX na Europa, quando seu idealizador-fundador desenvolveu e passou a comercializar um suplemento alimentar que teve grande sucesso de vendas. Seu processo de internacionalização iniciou-se ainda no terceiro quartil do século XIX por meio de exportações a países próximos. No início do século XX, a empresa adquiriu outra que também detinha um produto diferenciado no mercado, o que lhe dava maior variedade de produtos e lhe permitia operar em grandes mercados, como, por exemplo, nos EUA e grandes países europeus. Logo veio a atuação na Austrália e a instalação de depósitos na Ásia. Ainda na primeira metade do século XX, a Empresa Alfa expandiu sua linha de produtos, diversificando-os, principalmente, em decorrência das fusões com outras empresas de seu país de origem. Essa constante busca por diversificação expandiu-se quando a Empresa Alfa passou a adquirir empresas em ramos que não o de alimentos na década de 1970. Desde o início da década de 1990, sua expansão e busca por diversificação continuaram em ritmo acelerado, porém, nesse momento, as fusões ocorreram com outras empresas globais, não se concentrando, portanto, com organizações de mesma nacionalidade, como era comum no início de seu processo. Apesar de a aquisição ser a estratégia dominante da empresa, em alguns momentos, ela também atuou em novos mercados por meio de joint ventures. Desse histórico, é importante entender que a organização pautou-se em uma estratégia de inserção em novos mercados internacionais por meio de fusões e aquisições, além de parcerias. Fica claro que se desenvolveu uma experiência corporativa relacionada às trocas de conhecimentos e à obtenção de know-how de empresas com outras especialidades e com culturas diferentes. Buscar, então fluxos de conhecimentos viabilizadores desses processos entre unidades culturalmente destoantes, não é algo inédito para essa organização. 3. APLICAÇÃO DO MODELO DE FLUXO DE CONHECIMENTOS ENTRE UNIDADES DA ORGANIZAÇÃO A partir dos procedimentos apresentados anteriormente, o resultado da aplicação das quatro etapas do modelo de fluxo de conhecimentos de Minbaeva (2007) à experiência da Empresa Alfa gerou os seguintes resultados. Capacidade de disseminação do emissor • Aspectos explícitos: O emissor é aquele que transmite o que a empresa julga serem os melhores processos, em uma tentativa de padronizá-los e evitar erros na realização de atividades rotineiras. Os funcionários são estimulados por seus Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 213-236

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supervisores a utilizar o tempo que for necessário para transmitir seus ensinamentos aos demais. Isso demonstra a disponibilidade dos emissores em transmitir seus conhecimentos e a difundir a idéia para os empregados de que transmitir conhecimentos pode trazer benefícios, conforme Cabrera et al. (2006) apontam ser importante. Adicionalmente, realizam-se workshops (eventos de treinamentos) cujo atendimento expande-se para todas as unidades envolvidas com a central de serviços. No mais, a unidade estudada funciona 18 horas por dia, a fim de auxiliar as demais unidades do grupo, demonstrando a preocupação com o atendimento aos demais funcionários. Esses elementos mostram que existe uma preocupação em atender às demais subsidiárias, remetendo à perspectiva de rede internacional, tal como propõe Gupta e Govindarajan (2000). Sobre os documentos corporativos que formalizam esse incentivo às capacidades disseminadoras dos funcionários, tem-se que as práticas de gestão da empresa são embasadas em manuais corporativos globais relacionados à Gestão Empresarial, Gestão e Liderança Política de Recursos Humanos. Esses documentos descrevem a filosofia de colaboração entre os funcionários, afirmando que deve existir o princípio voluntário para auxílio dos gestores perante grupos que necessitem de sua ajuda. A Empresa Alfa (2004, p. 6) “julga também importante dar uma orientação adicional às equipes sob forma de princípios voluntários de gestão”. No mais, a idéia de cooperação ganha relevância inclusive na avaliação de desempenho individual e desenvolvimento profissional interno dos funcionários: “Estar disposto a cooperar e a ajudar os outros é requisito básico na avaliação de potenciais candidatos que desejam evoluir profissionalmente” (Alfa, 2002, p. 5). Evidencia-se, portanto, por análise documental, haver a valorização da transferência de conhecimentos, o que foi inclusive corroborado por um gestor, que afirmou: “O que damos valor aqui é o conhecimento sim. Mas não vale [a pena] só ter o conhecimento, é importante saber e querer a passar ele [sic] para os outros”. Há, portanto, a percepção de existir ganhos no momento em que o emissor transmite seus conhecimentos, consoante com Cabrera et al. (2006), o que estimula os empregados a transmitir seus conhecimentos. Essas ações ainda estimulam a confiança entre emissores e receptores (Wang et al., 2004) e da existência de um sistema de conhecimento reconhecido dentro da empresa, tal como apontam Cabrera et al (2006). • Aspectos tácitos: Identificou-se o discurso de que existe um valor corporativo embutido na rotina organizacional ligado à colaboração, a qual os entrevistados chamam de pró-atividade, que estimulam o auxílio mútuo e o processo de ensinoaprendizagem entre os funcionários. É desejável que um funcionário esteja sempre disponível para ajudar e ensinar outro. Um dos gestores comentou: “O nosso time tem que aprender não só o [que é] necessário para as tarefas do dia-a-dia, eles têm que aprender a ensinar também”. Complementarmente, verificou-se, em entrevista com os funcionários operacionais, que eles têm a orientação para que a prioridade seja, primeiramente, ensinar, para depois aprender. Portanto, é política institucionalizada que, ao receber um funcionário de outra unidade, a prioridade é que o centro de serviços deva ensiná-lo e oferecer-lhe o máximo de auxílio nesse processo. Trata-se de uma preocupação da organização no direcionamento da rede (com todas suas ligações de relacionamentos existentes na organização transnacional), tal como Gupta e Govindarajan (2000) defendem ser importante para a transmissão de conhecimentos em ambiente internacional, e não apenas nas relações de pares para transmissão de R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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conhecimentos. O espírito e a vocação de servir e transmitir conhecimentos, tal como Cabrera et al. (2006) apontam serem fundamentais para o emissor se disponibilizar a transmitir o conhecimento, exaltam-se nas entrevistas e mapas causais, além de ter sido algo observado no cotidiano da organização. Na Figura 4, a seguir, está representado o mapa conceitual construído durante a entrevista com um dos gestores.

Figura 4: Mapa conceitual: vontade e solicitude para transmissão do conhecimento Há, portanto, a orientação para oferecer méritos àqueles que buscam transmitir seus conhecimentos nas políticas da organização, além da busca pelo reconhecimento do empregado que é voltado à transmição de seus conhecimentos, o que favorece o ambiente de convivência e solicitude proposto por Nonaka e Takeuchi (1997), importante para suportar a espiral do conhecimento. Observa-se também que esses benefícios percebidos na transmissão de conhecimentos por parte do emissor (Cabrera et al., 2006) são também de perspectiva implícita, em que existe uma coersão social para que o indivíduo transmita seus conhecimentos e seja socialmente aceito. Essas iniciativas também reforçam a confiança que o emissor detém com o receptor (Wang et al., 2004), o que é também importante para a criação desse ambiente de solicitude entre funcionários de diferentes unidades da organização. Capacidade de absorção do receptor • Aspectos explícitos: Em relação àquilo que se aprende formalmente, verificou-se que as políticas da Empresa Alfa focam-se em suas best practices. Localmente, cada unidade lida com seu conhecimento operacional específico. Diante disso, por vezes, o receptor adapta os conhecimentos recebidos à sua realidade específica e local, existindo, portanto, valor reconhecido sobre os conhecimentos globais, que se sobrepõe sobre os locais. Ou seja, no processo de captar conhecimentos, o emissor tem a orientação para se adquirir conhecimentos tidos como agregadores de valor, mesmo que muitas vezes esse conhecimento sofra transformações de adaptação, tal como Todorova e Durisin (2007) defendem existir. Ainda sobre o aprendizado, ressalta-se o processo de aprendizagem de um funcionário, em que diante de novas atividades, tem apoio para realizá-las Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 213-236

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proveniente daqueles que já detêm experiência sobre ela. Um gestor comentou: “O empregado é estimulado a consultar sempre quem sabe sobre a tarefa até se sentir seguro em realizá-la por ele mesmo”. Nas palavras de um funcionário que realizava uma tarefa operacional: “Quando eu precisei aprender uma coisa nova, fiquei nas primeiras duas / três semanas em contato direto com quem fazia ela antes”. Tenta-se, assim, garantir que ele tenha o conhecimento de um tutor disponível e que consiga aprender de fato, mesmo que adaptações sejam necessárias. Portanto, existem mecanismos de integração social (Todorova & Durisin, 2007) e laços de relacionamento (Hansen, 1999) que favorecem à capacidade de absorção do conhecimento. Formalizado em seus manuais, a Empresa Alfa explicita que não permite discriminação relativa à ocupação empregatícia, ou seja, a organização pressiona para que os cargos sejam ocupados por funcionários detentores do conhecimento necessário para suas atividades. A empresa demonstra, ainda, valorizar seu capital humano, tendo afixado que eles devem ser treinados e desenvolvidos intelectualmente. De acordo com os seus princípios de gestão empresarial “a seleção de pessoas certas, seu treinamento e desenvolvimento permanentes são fatores essenciais” (Alfa, 2004, p. 6). Isso demonstra não apenas a importância que se dá ao conhecimento na organização, mas também, à sua captação. Evidencia-se, portanto, a valorização da capacidade do funcionário em absorver o conhecimento de sua função. Isso estimula os funcionários a reconhecerem o valor do conhecimento a ser captado (Todorova & Durisin, 2007) por meio de seu reconhecimento profissional. • Aspectos tácitos: Percebeu-se que existe uma pressão por parte do ambiente organizacional para que o funcionário aprenda determinada tarefa nova quando solicitado a mudar alguma de suas funções. Essa pressão seria o gatilho de ativação, tal como proposto por Todorova e Durisin (2007), para que o empregado busque esse novo conhecimento. A cobrança posterior por resultados é a pressão que faz com que o funcionário realmente busque aprender rapidamente e não dependa sempre da boa vontade e ajuda de outro empregado com mais experiência e conhecimento na sua atividade. No mais, segundo um dos gestores entrevistados, o aprendizado é visto como algo de mão dupla, em que as trocas de conhecimentos entre emissores e receptores são constantes e dinâmicas, portanto, eles estão sempre aprendendo um com o outro. Nas palavras de um dos gestores entrevistado: “O próprio processo de ensinar é uma forma de aprender, reforçar ou até refletir sobre o que eu sei”. Por fim, há ainda a estratégia de enviar e receber expatriados entre as unidades da organização, empregados que com suas participações em diferentes unidades, geram alto potencial de aprendizado. A idéia apresentada é que se utilize esse profissional como intermediador do know-how (conhecimentos tácitos) que ele aprende socialmente na unidade de expatriação e que ele possa transmiti-la para outra unidade, em consonância com a forma pela qual Bonache e Brewster (2001) alegam ocorrer. Relacionamento entre emissor e receptor (unidades de negócios) • Aspectos explícitos: A relação entre as unidades organizacionais no caso estudado representa uma relação, antes de tudo, contratual, havendo, portanto, R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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contratado (prestador) e contratante (cliente). No entanto, por se tratar de uma relação de unidades de diferentes países da mesma organização, essas relações são mais próximas e flexíveis em relações àquelas que existiriam com agentes do mercado. Essa relação é vista como solícita e com alto grau de comunicação, ocorrendo por intranet, sistemas de mensagens instantâneas, telefones com redes de ramais, conferências (conference calls) e, eventualmente, outros meios. A comunicação é próxima e há grande facilidade de acesso dos funcionários entre si, tanto localmente como entre unidades. São iniciativas da Empresa Alfa que demonstram uma preocupação em incentivar o forte relacionamento entre emissor e receptor (Minbaeva, 2007), disponibilizando capacidades e estrutura tecnológica para tal (Argote apud Minbaeva, 2007). Adicionalmente, é importante também ressaltar que o ambiente virtual, onde ocorre grande troca de informações operacionais e de comunicações administrativas (sobre reuniões, avisos corporativos, etc.), é considerado um estímulo ao relacionamento entre os funcionários, pois são considerados instrumentos que auxiliam a estreitar as relações entre as pessoas (Minbaeva, 2007). Nas palavras de um gestor: “Tem [sic] pessoas que eu tenho um grande relacionamento profissional que estão em outras unidades, em outros países, que eu mesmo nunca vi e nem sei como são. Mas mesmo assim, esse contato constante faz a gente se sentir, às vezes, mais próximo que algumas pessoas que eu tenho contato direto” (presencial). Sobre o tempo necessário para se construir um ambiente de relacionamentos, os gestores admitem que há uma relativa alta rotatividade nos funcionários operacionais, mas entendem que a diretriz para os relacionamentos da organização está no sentido top-down, em que grande parte dos gestores estão lá há determinado período de tempo que indica ser suficiente para se estabelecer relações de confiança. Ou seja, os executivos não apenas estimulam que esses relacionamentos ocorram, como servem de exemplo aos funcionários e ainda atuam como intermediadores iniciais para a existência de contatos (laços de relacionamento). Isso demonstra que existe uma base de relacionamento já instalada dentro da organização (von Hippel, 1988; Schulz, 2003) que vêm se sustentando ao longo do tempo (Inkpen, 1996). • Aspectos tácitos: Esses elementos não apenas criam um ambiente de solicitude, confiança e auxílio mútuo, mas, principalmente, a institucionalização de um ambiente que congrega uma filosofia comportamental voltada à troca de conhecimentos, tanto tácitos quanto explícitos. Retoma-se assim a importância do ambiente de solicitude (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1997), mesmo entre organizações internacionais (Minbaeva, 2007) para a transferência de conhecimentos. Um dos funcionários operacionais comenta a existência desse ambiente solícito por meio da frase: “Não tenho vergonha nem receio de perguntar alguma coisa para alguém, mesmo que a pergunta pareça boba”. Por sua vez, um gestor afirma: “O clima que a gente cria para as pessoas se relacionarem é uma coisa que leva tempo sim, principalmente com as demais unidades, e é claro que levamos em consideração algumas outras coisas que a gente faz para estimular e aumentar esse contato entre as pessoas das diferentes plantas”. Percebe-se que para a criação dessa confiança (Wang et al., 2004) entre emissores e receptores na transferência de conhecimentos tácitos, é importante a existência de um histórico de

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relacionamentos estabilizados entre emissores e receptores (Inkpen, 1996; Schulz, 2003). A Figura 5, a seguir, apresenta itens contidos para a construção desse ambiente.

Figura 5. Mapa conceitual: estímulo ao bom relacionamento entre unidades organizacionais Características do conhecimento Considerando as intersecções dos conhecimentos tácitos e explícitos com os conhecimentos de valor não raro e diferencial (vide Quadro 1), podem-se identificar os tipos de conhecimentos que são valorizados e aqueles que detêm maior participação no fluxo de conhecimentos da Empresa Alfa. Por meio das entrevistas com os gestores, evidenciou-se que o foco estratégico da Empresa Alfa direciona-se, prioritariamente, ao longo prazo, o que leva a organização a desenvolver conhecimentos diferenciais sustentáveis, principalmente aqueles voltados à qualidade de serviços e valores da empresa. Isso dá a característica tácita para os conhecimentos diferenciais da Empresa Alfa. Percebeu-se pela observação e pelo apresentado nos mapas conceituais provenientes dos analistas que os conhecimentos de valor não raro também existem e são transmitidos, porém, apenas nos níveis mais operacional da empresa. A principal iniciativa de estocagem e recuperação de conhecimentos organizacionais, em sua maioria, técnicos, é por meio dos documentos sop (standard operation procedures), que são documentos criados pelos próprios funcionários e disponibilizados na intranet para explicar detalhadamente os procedimentos de suas tarefas, num manual passo a passo de como realizá-las, podendo, inclusive, ser ilustrados com figuras. Importante, entretanto, é ter em mente que, para sua compreensão, é necessário haver conhecimento prévio do contexto e das atividades da organização para que esse conhecimento explícito em documentos seja retransmitido. Portanto, têm-se dois tipos de conhecimentos na Empresa Alfa: diferenciais, de âmbito tácito, relacionados aos valores da corporação, tal como da qualidade de seus produtos e serviços (know-how operacional ou administrativo) e os não raros, que são, em sua maioria, explícitos e utilizados para a difusão das tarefas operacionais e rotineiras do cento de serviços.

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4. CONSIDERAÇÕES FINAIS Por meio dos esforços para o estabelecimento de um ambiente organizacional imbuído dos valores corporativos da Empresa Alfa, percebe-se a importância desse ambiente nas políticas de transmissão de conhecimentos. Mesmo quando há diferença de cultura nacional, entre as unidades, deve haver uma única cultura organizacional legitimada e presente para estabelecer valores que mantenham comportamentos e atitudes rotineiras que possibilitem as trocas de conhecimento. A tentativa de criar um ambiente organizacional impulsionador dos fluxos de conhecimento é incentivado formalmente nos documentos corporativos e confirmado nos discursos dos funcionários operacionais e gestores entrevistados. Isso indica ainda haver uma provável intenção de se criar mecanismos para se internalizar esses valores corporativos nos funcionários. O ambiente organizacional, por muitas vezes, força o funcionário a seguir os padrões comportamentais estabelecidos pela organização sob a pena de haver pressões de cunho social que lhe distanciem dos demais. Acaba havendo, mesmo que indiretamente, uma pressão coercitiva para que o funcionário aja conforme os padrões comportamentais que lhe são apresentados e reforçados diariamente na rotina do ambiente de trabalho. No entanto, a experiência estudada mostra que criar esse ambiente requer tempo e insistência na disposição dos valores corporativos, que estão apoiados na construção de um campo propício aos relacionamentos harmoniosos e à criação de um ambiente de cooperação e solicitude. Portanto, há evidências de que a gestão do conhecimento depende de valores morais enraizados no cotidiano da empresa e que dificilmente é algo imposto em uma organização por meio de projetos de curta duração ou iniciativas repentinas. Também foi possível observar que o relacionamento entre indivíduos e entre unidades é também um instrumento importante para a transmissão do conhecimento. O fato de haver um relacionamento próximo entre indivíduos e unidades, com o estabelecimento de confiança para realização de tarefas, além de comunicação fluída internamente, fazem com que exista um ambiente de convivência favorável à socialização e à troca de idéias, consequentemente, de conhecimentos, entre os indivíduos. Percebe-se que esse ambiente criado é fruto de um estímulo que envolve tanto o emissor quanto o receptor de conhecimento. Portanto, o ambiente de solicitude deve estar presente desde o emissor, que se dispõe a transmitir o conhecimento, até o receptor, que se dispõe a absorvê-los, sendo importante que o ambiente que viabiliza e estimula essas trocas tenha uma abrangência de mão-dupla. Paralelamente a esse ambiente propulsor de trocas de conhecimento, percebeu-se haver iniciativas que também incentivam a troca de conhecimento estritamente explícito. Para tal, estipulou-se o relacionamento virtual entre os empregados e a formalização escrita de padrões morais da empresa e de melhores práticas das atividades da organização. Isso evidencia que realizar uma gestão de conhecimentos entre unidades Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 213-236

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organizacionais envolve não apenas trocas de conhecimentos tácitos e explícitos, mas também ações de uma dimensão mais abrangente, que engloba políticas organizacionais que ajam tanto na dimensão explícita quanto na dimensão tácita. Assim sendo, o fluxo de transferência de conhecimento observado leva a crer que essas ações estruturam-se conforme o tipo de conhecimento a ser transmitido e o valor, raro ou não, que ele tem para a organização. Não obstante a isso, a gestão do conhecimento é evidentemente facilitada quando a organização define as melhores práticas (best practices) das suas atividades operacionais e concentra-se em transmitir esse conhecimento tido como melhor. Quando ela julga haver algo diferenciado, conforme a localidade, em uma concepção de melhores ajustes (best fit) frente às contingências ambientais e especificidades locais, a transmissão concentra-se dentro da unidade local. Ou seja, toda a política de gestão do conhecimento adotada e a consequente estratégia para o processo de transferência de conhecimento deveriam ser adaptáveis caso ela trabalhasse em transmitir fluxos de conhecimentos relativos a algo diferente da padronização de: tarefas; modelos mentais (mindsets); valores organizacionais. Por fim, há evidências que confirmam que um ambiente de solicitude é de suma importância para se estimular os fluxos de conhecimentos. No entanto, é importante reconhecer que desenvolver esse ambiente requer cuidados e atenções que extrapolam o conceito de ambiente como foco único de atuação do gestor. Essa atuação deve envolver dimensões maiores que abrangem mudanças psicossociais dos agentes que interagem nesse ambiente e também da estruturação social dos elementos que constituem esse ambiente. Como limitação deste estudo, é importante destacar que as informações coletadas são consideradas oriundas das interpretações diretas dos autores, uma ótica embutida de distorções por valores, percepções e conceitos pessoais trazidos por eles, inerentes da pesquisa qualitativa (Burrell & Morgan, 1979). Ademais, a própria amostra abordada para entrevistas foi pequena, não sendo representativa do universo amostral da organização. No entanto, isso não tira dela a característica de ser fonte de informações importante e relevante para os objetivos desta pesquisa, acentuando seu caráter inédito e exploratório. Por fim, por mais que a Empresa Alfa possa ser um caso útil e importante para a construção de teorias a respeito da realidade (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007), ele não pode ser generalizado para além desta experiência. Casos são amarrados a uma situação específica (MacNealy, 1997), e nem por um lado os pesquisadores podem tecer aplicações do local ao global, e nem por outro, conforme Stake (1994), os leitores devem, mesmo que inconscientemente, realizar generalizações sobre este caso embasando-se em suas experiências e percepções de vida. Para pesquisas futuras, recomenda-se que o mesmo estudo seja aplicado em outras organizações transnacionais para que se possa estabelecer um panorama de comparação entre empresas, capaz de identificar como a cultura e o ambiental desenvolvido por cada uma delas se diferenciam e influenciam a gestão do conhecimento. Outra alternativa, considerando-se a própria Empresa Alfa, é realizar a mesma pesquisa em outras filiais, verificando se os resultados serão semelhantes e, em caso negativo, entender e explicar as iniciativas de gestão do conhecimento que podem R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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JISTEM Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Vol. 8, No. 1, 2011, p. 237-262 ISSN online: 1807-1775 DOI: 10.4301/S1807-17752011000100011

CONTROLES DE GOVERNANÇA DE TECNOLOGIA DA INFORMAÇÃO PARA A TERCEIRIZAÇÃO DE PROCESSOS DE NEGÓCIO: UMA PROPOSTA A PARTIR DO COBIT CONTROLS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT FOR BUSINESS PROCESSES OUTSOURCING BASED ON COBIT Edimara Mezzomo Luciano Mauricio Gregianin Testa Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

ABSTRACT The Business Service Provider is an outsourcing system which, offers a high level of delegation of tasks that involves many suppliers, and demands an effective control necessary for the services not to be interrupted. This paper’s objective is to define a set of elements, based on COBIT - Control Objectives for Information and related Technology, to better manage and control the BSP operations. This research, is exploratory, using specialists’ panel and a case study. The results show the need to adapt the COBIT controls to fit the BSP. This article proposes the adaptation and verification of the applicability to a case, defining deployment priorities. Keywords: IT outsourcing; IT Governance; Business Service Provider; IT management; COBIT

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Recebido em/Manuscript first received: 09/03/2010 Aprovado em/Manuscript accepted: 09/08/2010 Endereço para correspondência/ Address for correspondence Edimara Mezzomo Luciano, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; Faculdade de Administração, Contabilidade e Economia; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração Av. Ipiranga, 6681 – Prédio 50 – sala 1101 90.619-900 – Porto Alegre/RS Fone/Fax (51) 3320-3524 , e-mail: eluciano@pucrs.br Mauricio Gregianin Testa, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Faculdade de Administração, Contabilidade e Economia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração Av. Ipiranga, 6681 – Prédio 50 – sala 1101 CEP 90619-900 – Porto Alegre/RS Fone/Fax (51) 3320-3524, e-mail: mauricio.testa@pucrs.br

ISSN online: 1807-1775 Publicado por/Published by: TECSI FEA USP – 2011

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Luciano, E. M., Testa, M. G.

RESUMO O Business Service Provider (BSP) é uma forma de terceirização com alto nível de delegação que envolve muitos fornecedores, exigindo controles efetivos, sob pena de o serviço ser interrompido. O objetivo deste artigo é definir um conjunto de elementos, a partir do COBIT Control Objectives for Information and related Technology-, para melhor gerenciar e controlar uma operação BSP. A pesquisa é exploratória, com painel de especialistas em dois momentos distintos e estudo de caso. Os resultados mostram um conjunto de dez processos do COBIT prioritários para controle e acompanhamento pelas organizações, definido por especialistas e refinado em um estudo de caso. Palavras-chave: terceirização de TI; governança de TI; Business Service Provider; gestão de TI; COBIT

1 INTRODUÇÃO Uma considerável parte do cenário organizacional se baseia hoje no uso intensivo da Tecnologia da Informação (TI) e da Internet, buscando a interligação da empresa com seus clientes, fornecedores e parceiros de negócio, conferindo agilidade aos processos, economias no processo produtivo e adequação dos produtos e serviços às necessidades dos clientes (Zott e Amit, 2010). Com a TI se tornando fundamental para as operações e mesmo para as estratégias organizacionais, fica mais nítida a preocupação com práticas de gestão que reduzam o risco das operações, garantam a continuidade dos serviços por elas prestados, preservando assim as operações da empresa e a sua relação com os clientes. Estas questões são endereçadas pela Governança de TI, que se refere à estrutura de relações e ao processo de tomada de decisão em TI, incluindo decisões de investimento e priorização (RAU, 2004). Sendo estas decisões de alto nível a respeito da TI, a Governança de TI pode influenciar significativamente o desempenho da empresa por meio da criação de valor para o negócio e do gerenciamento balanceado do risco com o retorno do investimento (Xue, Liang e Boulton, 2008). Esta preocupação envolve igualmente as atividades terceirizadas, já que ao terceirizar parte de suas operações de TI, uma empresa precisa ter mecanismos de controle eficientes, uma vez que a empresa terceirizada estará atuando diretamente em um dos ativos mais importantes da organização, que é a informação. Isto também se faz necessário para que a empresa terceirizada se mantenha alinhada com os objetivos de negócio da empresa cliente e que a auxilie no atendimento de suas metas e objetivos. A terceirização normalmente é utilizada no intuito de buscar aumento de eficiência organizacional, redução de custos e qualidade nos seus serviços, e o mesmo acontece na área de TI. Muitas organizações optam pela terceirização em virtude à constante mudança no ambiente de TI e às alianças estratégicas, cada vez mais comuns (Prado, 2009). Dentro das diversas modalidades ou amplitudes de terceirização, a terceirização de processos de negócio tem sido crescente e, segundo Lacity, Khan e Willcocks (2009), permeará as organizações no futuro, em virtude da crescente padronização dos R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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processos de negócio. Esta modalidade de terceirização é mais ampla do que a terceirização de um projeto, pois o objeto terceirizado constitui toda uma atividade da empresa e que normalmente contribui para a agregação primária de valor. Este tipo de terceirização em geral envolve vários fornecedores, com especialidades diferentes. Na área de Tecnologia da Informação, este tipo de terceirização é conhecido como BSP (Business Service Provider), normalmente envolvendo processamento de dados de forma remota. A vantagem para o cliente é a possibilidade de não se envolver na gestão dos fornecedores, em atividades normalmente de alta especificidade, reduzindo, assim, os custos de transação (Williamson, 2008). Estes dois cenários – a preocupação com a melhoria dos processos de gestão de TI e a crescente presença da terceirização nas organizações – fazem com que seja necessária uma boa estrutura de Governança entre os parceiros, sob pena dos serviços prestados serem interrompidos e causarem perdas para as organizações envolvidas. Estas perdas podem envolver questões financeiras, de imagem ou de oportunidade, todas elas com custos razoáveis para reversão, ou mesmo o aumento de custos diretos, indiretos e custos de transação. Entre as diferentes práticas internacionalmente reconhecidas para a Governança de atividades que envolvam TI, o COBIT se mostra adequado ao controle de processo de negócio, pois disponibiliza uma ampla gama de recursos de controle e auditoria aplicáveis a vários cenários e organizações. O COBIT, criado e mantido pelo ISACA (Information Systems Audit and Control Association) objetiva auxiliar os gerentes de TI no controle e no cumprimento dos objetivos de TI, mantendo estes sempre alinhados com os objetivos da organização. Tendo em vista os elementos expostos, este artigo tem o intuito de analisar a aplicabilidade de controles definidos com base no COBIT para o acompanhamento e gerenciamento de um caso de terceirização de processos de negócio que possa contribuir para a manutenção e atendimento dos princípios de Governança de TI. A seguir, detalha-se a situação problemática, a justificativa e motivação para esta pesquisa, os seus objetivos e a questão de pesquisa. 1.1 Problema de pesquisa Em uma terceirização via Business Service Provider, a empresa cliente contrata um fornecedor (o terceirizado) para que este forneça uma solução completa para uma determinada atividade. Este terceirizado (empresa A) pode ser ele mesmo o fornecedor do sistema de informações ou pode contratar este sistema de outra empresa (fornecedor B). Além disso, há uma empresa para a hospedagem do sistema (fornecedor C) e outra para a hospedagem dos dados (fornecedor D). Como a comunicação entre todos estes fornecedores é remota, há ainda necessidade de uma empresa que forneça uma conexão segura e de alta velocidade (normalmente via VPN) para as demais (fornecedor E). O BSP é semelhante ao ASP (Application Solution Provider), atualmente mais conhecido como SaaS (Software as a Service), só que vai além, fornecendo todos os serviços necessários para a terceirização de um processo de negócio, enquanto que o SaaS Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 237-262

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fornece os serviços necessários para a operação de um Sistema de Informações de forma remota (Lacity, Khan e Willcocks, 2009). Esta forma de terceirização com alto nível de delegação (de processos, de geração e de armazenamento de dados) é mais complexa que uma terceirização de mão de obra ou de uma atividade, por exemplo, pois há a virtualização do processo envolvido, além do número de fornecedores (em geral, há de três a cinco empresas envolvidas). Em decorrência das mudanças que estão ocorrendo com este tipo de atividade, faz-se necessária a redefinição dos processos de acompanhamento e controle desta operação de terceirização (Aundhe e Mathew, 2009). O problema de pesquisa constitui-se na organização e gestão de todos os fornecedores envolvidos no BSP, atendendo os objetivos da terceirização por parte da organização contratante, e sem comprometer os princípios de Governança de TI. Pretende-se, ao final deste artigo, responder a seguinte questão de pesquisa: quais controles, definidos a partir do COBIT, podem ser utilizados de maneira efetiva no gerenciamento de um processo de terceirização de processos de negócio baseados em Tecnologia da Informação? 1.2 Objetivo Diante do contexto exposto, este artigo tem como objetivo definir um conjunto de controles, a partir do COBIT, para melhor gerenciar e controlar a terceirização de processos de negócio baseados em TI. A atividade terceirizada analisada é o Business Service Provider. 1.3 Justificativa Em um cenário de terceirização via BSP, cresce a necessidade de estruturas de governança, que estabeleçam adequadamente papéis, responsabilidades, a política de decisões e as formas de controle, pois a adoção de BSP sem uma estrutura de governança bem definida leva ao risco de o serviço ser interrompido e o cliente ficar confuso na gestão de tantos fornecedores. Sendo o BSP composto por diferentes organizações, que tem diferenças de porte, objetivos, estrutura e cultura, a estrutura de governança é uma forma de minimizar o conflito de agência que pode surgir pelo acesso a informações de cada empresa fornecedora. O conflito de agência surge quando há a separação entre a propriedade e a gestão (Mota e Ckagnazaroff, 2008), o que gera conflitos de interesse entre as organizações de um arranjo produtivo, uma vez que há um compartilhamento de informações nem sempre saudável entre estas. Uma forma de resolver esta situação é por meio do estabelecimento de sistemáticas de governança, seja a corporativa, quando o foco é a gestão, seja a governança de TI, quando o foco são as informações que trafegam e o adequado uso da TI como suporte ao alcance dos objetivos de negócio. A motivação para esta pesquisa são os estudos de Barthelemy (2003), Willcocks, R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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Feeny e Olson (2006) e Lacity, Khan e Willcocks (2009). Barthelemy (2003) analisou os esforços de cinquenta empresas para controlarem os processos terceirizados. O autor cita a necessidade de desenvolvimento de sistemáticas efetivas para controlar e gerenciar o processo de terceirização, sob risco de que as empresas que terceirizam serviços de TI percam o controle da atividade, trazendo uma série de transtornos ao negócio e também uma razoável dificuldade caso queiram interromper a terceirização de uma determinada atividade. Já o estudo de Willcocks, Feeny e Olson (2006) apresenta duas linhas de investigação: a primeira sobre a alta performance de algumas organizações em TI; e a segunda, motivadora deste artigo, a necessidade de controles de governança para manter um outsourcing efetivo. Lacity, Khan e Willcocks (2009) citam o BSP como um dos temas emergentes em terceirização de TI que manterá a sua aplicabilidade e importância no futuro. Um recurso que tem se mostrado efetivo no controle de diversas atividades de TI é o COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and related Technology). Criado e mantido pelo ISACA (Information Systems Audit and Control Association), objetiva auxiliar os gerentes de TI no controle e no cumprimento dos objetivos de TI, mantendo estes sempre alinhados com os objetivos da organização. No contexto exposto nesta pesquisa, o de processos de negócios terceirizados, o COBIT pode auxiliar na gestão do processo de terceirização, mais especificamente na geração de controles para a gestão dessa terceirização. No entanto, como ele não é voltado diretamente para a terceirização, faz-se necessária uma análise de quais de seus processos estão mais aderentes a esta atividade. Outro importante aspecto é a baixa quantidade de publicações científicas no país sobre o COBIT, contrária à utilização dele nas organizações. Rodrigues, Maccari e Simões (2009), em pesquisa realizada com os gestores de TI das 100 maiores empresas do Brasil, mostram que a utilização do COBIT é significativa no cenário nacional. Os resultados desta pesquisa podem contribuir para uma melhor gestão das organizações envolvidas com terceirização (como contratantes ou contratadas). O processo de terceirização é complexo, envolve o controle e acompanhamento de muitos elementos e apresenta riscos, e neste sentido, novas práticas de gestão têm sido demandadas. Com o movimento das organizações em busca de uma TI gerenciada e governada, com papéis e responsabilidades claramente definidos e com controles de acompanhamento implementados, torna-se necessário investigar como controles mais comerciais (como o COBIT) se aplicam a conceitos mais acadêmicos (Governança). Com melhor gestão, contribui-se para a manutenção, crescimento e perenidade das organizações, atendendo à expectativa de contribuição por parte de stakeholders e shareholders. 2.

EMBASAMENTO TEÓRICO

Desde o surgimento do computador, a Internet é a tecnologia que anuncia as mais profundas mudanças nos negócios. Por meio da Internet, as operações ocorrem mais rapidamente e simultaneamente, resultando em menor tempo de resposta e menores custos, sendo o seu valor justamente a sua capacidade de proporcionar acesso Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 237-262

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imediato à informação, produtos e serviços (Smith e Kumar, 2004). Estas modificações propiciadas pela TI e pela Internet possibilitam que novas formas de realização de processos de negócio existam. No entanto, estas precisam de formas efetivas de controle, sob risco de a organização contratante ver interrompido o seu funcionamento (Barthelemy, 2003). 2.1 Terceirização A terceirização tem sido utilizada em larga escala por médias e grandes corporações do mundo todo. A terceirização pode ter diferentes motivadores: a redução de custos, a busca de maior agilidade operacional, a necessidade de know-how adicional ao existente na empresa contratante e a redução de atividades que não fazem parte do core business de uma organização (Aubert, Rivard e Patry, 2003). O objeto terceirizado pode assumir diferentes enfoques: parte do pessoal de uma equipe, de diferentes etapas de um processo produtivo ou de um serviço. Pode-se ter a terceirização da aquisição de matéria-prima, de etapas da produção ou mesma da comercialização do produto final. Ainda, ela pode ocorrer dentro ou fora das instalações da empresa. Observa-se um aumento na terceirização da produção, através da qual, empresas de grande porte deram início a um esforço de “enxugamento”, concentrando-se no seu core business, visando responder com rapidez às necessidades e demandas do mercado (Aubert, Rivard e Patry, 2003). A terceirização pode ter diferentes motivadores: a redução de custos, a busca de maior agilidade operacional, a necessidade de know-how adicional ao existente na empresa contratante e a redução de atividades que não fazem parte do core business de uma organização (Aubert, Rivard e Patry, 2003). O objeto terceirizado pode assumir diferentes enfoques: parte do pessoal de uma equipe, de diferentes etapas de um processo produtivo ou de um serviço. Pode-se ter a terceirização da aquisição de matéria-prima, de etapas da produção ou mesma da comercialização do produto final. Ainda, ela pode ocorrer dentro ou fora das instalações da empresa. Observa-se um aumento na terceirização da produção, através da qual, empresas de grande porte deram início a um esforço de “enxugamento”, concentrando-se no seu core business, visando responder com rapidez às necessidades e demandas do mercado (Aubert, Rivard e Patry, 2003). Terceirizar consiste em repassar a outra empresa um serviço, um processo de negócio ou parte de uma atividade produtiva, ou seja, procurar fora da empresa (out) a fonte (source) para a realização da atividade, de forma que o outsourcing envolve as tarefas não realizadas internamente à empresa (insourcing). Esta pode se manifestar de diferentes formas, de acordo com a sua distribuição geográfica (Brown e Wilson, 2005). O offshore outsourcing compreende atividades antes realizadas pela própria empresa, mas que passaram a ser realizadas por empresas em outros países, em busca, geralmente, de menores custos de produção ou transação. Já o offshore insourcing consiste na realização das atividades por subsidiárias de uma mesma empresa em outros países. Outra terminologia recentemente adotada por várias organizações é o nearshore, R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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que se refere a fontes de prestação de serviços externas ao país, mas próximas a ele, como uma empresa americana terceirizando atividades para uma empresa mexicana ou canadense, e desta forma se aproxima do conceito de offshore outsourcing. Além dos problemas tradicionais enfrentados pela empresa quando da adoção da terceirização, novos desafios emergiram no cenário de mudança do mundo. As companhias de terceirização enfrentam novos regulamentos que necessitam conformidade, e há também uma falta de equipes preparadas e experientes para controlar contratos da terceirização. O último fator conduz à ausência de um processo da revisão para o sucesso ou a falha dos projetos, um elemento vital em qualquer projeto de terceirização (Loh e Venkatraman, 2002). Alguns riscos considerados na terceirização são a comunicação, habilidades de gerenciamento adequadas, engenharia do gerenciamento de mudanças, sistemas e ferramentas, controle da qualidade, controle do gerenciamento de capacidade, fatores políticos e sociais e custos de curto e longo prazo que precisam ser considerados quando da decisão de terceirizar um serviço (Loh e Venkatraman, 2002). Além dos problemas tradicionais enfrentados pela empresa quando da adoção da terceirização, novos desafios emergiram, por meio de regulatórios cuja empresa precisa comprovar conformidade (tais como CMMI, ISO20000, SOX). Há, também, carência de profissionais preparados para controlar os complexos contratos de terceirização. Alguns riscos ainda associados à terceirização são a comunicação, gestão da atividade, gerenciamento de mudanças, sistemas e ferramentas, controle da qualidade, controle do gerenciamento de capacidade, fatores políticos e sociais e custos de curto e longo prazo que precisam ser considerados quando da decisão de terceirizar um serviço (Loh e Venkatraman, 2002). 2.2 BSP – Business Service Provider O objeto terceirizado pode assumir diferentes enfoques: uma equipe, de diferentes etapas de um processo produtivo ou de um serviço. Pode-se ter a terceirização da aquisição de matéria-prima, de etapas da produção ou mesma da comercialização do produto final. Ainda, ela pode ocorrer dentro ou fora das instalações da empresa. Observa-se como tendência global um aumento na terceirização da produção, através da qual as empresas de grande porte deram início a um esforço de enxugamento, concentrando-se no seu core business, visando responder com rapidez às necessidades e demandas do mercado (Aubert, Rivard e Patry, 2003). Segundo Lacity, Khan e Willcocks (2009), o BSP é uma forma específica de terceirização de TI, na qual a terceirização não é somente de profissionais ou de parte de uma atividade, mas sim de todo um processo de negócio, e entre várias empresas, todas elas atuando de forma eletrônica, como provedores de serviços. A título de exemplo, pode-se terceirizar o processamento de uma folha de pagamento pela maneira tradicional ou através do BSP. Pela maneira tradicional, contrata-se uma empresa que fornece o resultado da folha de pagamento (valor de salários e de impostos, contracheques, etc.), mas permite pouca interação com o contratante, uma vez que não Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 237-262

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há uma ligação via rede e um acesso ao sistema do terceirizado. A principal diferença do BSP é que o contratante pode acessar dados da folha de pagamento a qualquer momento e de qualquer lugar, desde que tenha acesso à Internet, uma vez que o processo é virtualizado. O BSP pode ser simplificado ou ampliado, conforme as Figuras 1 e 2, abaixo.

BSP Simplificado Cliente

1 - Fornecedor do Serviço BSP e do SI

2 - Fornecedor do Armazenamento do SI e dos dados 3 - Fornecedor da Conexão (telecom)

Figura 1: Funcionamento do BSP Simplificado Fonte: os autores No BSP simplificado, o provedor de serviços BSP também é o fornecedor do sistema de informação utilizado na informatização do processo. Este fornecedor, por sua vez, contrata outros dois fornecedores: um para armazenamento do SI e dos dados e outro para a conexão (Internet, VPN ou frame relay). Já no BSP ampliado, o número de fornecedores pode chegar a cinco, pois o fornecedor do BSP contrata outros quatro fornecedores, conforme ilustrado a seguir. BSP Ampliado Cliente

1 - Fornecedor do Serviço BSP

2 -Fornecedor do Sistema de Informações 3 - Fornecedor do Armazenamento do SI 4 - Fornecedor do Armazenamento de dados 5 - Fornecedor da Conexão (telecom)

Figura 2: Funcionamento do BSP Ampliado Fonte: os autores. O segmento de sistemas ERP é o que mais utiliza o BSP, tanto na forma simplificada como na ampliada. O BSP é uma importante forma de reduzir o custo e R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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“descomplicar” os sistemas ERP, uma vez que o BSP reduz a complexidade na instalação do ERP. Para os players nacionais, é fundamental que os custos de um ERP sejam acessíveis para as médias empresas, uma vez que as grandes empresas já têm este tipo de sistema, e em sua maior parte de players globais. Pelo BSP, os custos ficam mais acessíveis e transparentes. Como muitas organizações têm adotado a visão de TCO – Total Cost Ownership – no intuito de evitar custos que vão aparecendo durante a implantação de um sistema, ter custos mais controlados e demonstráveis é fundamental para efetivar vendas, em especial no segmento de médias empresas. 2.3 Governança de TI Segundo Rau (2004, p. 35), Governança de TI é a “[...] forma como a direção da empresa interage com os líderes de TI para ter certeza que os investimentos em tecnologia permitem alcançar as estratégias de negócios de uma maneira efetiva e eficiente [...]”. Na visão de Xue, Liang e Boulton (2008), a Governança de TI é definida como “[...] a distribuição do direito de tomada de decisão e responsabilidades de TI entre os principais stakeholders da organização, e os procedimentos e mecanismos para executar e monitorar as decisões estratégicas relacionadas a TI [...]”. Weill (2004, p. 3), por sua vez, define a Governança de TI como um “[...] framework de decisões para encorajar o comportamento desejado no uso da TI [...]”, sendo que esse comportamento desejado deve estar de acordo com a missão, estratégia, valores, normas e cultura da empresa. Esse link estabelecido entre TI e negócio gera resultado a partir do momento em que os objetivos da Governança de TI vão sendo alcançados. A Governança de TI tem como principal objetivo atender às necessidades de negócio da organização. Para que isso seja possível, as organizações estão exigindo que seus departamentos de TI estejam cada vez mais estruturados de modo a serem flexíveis, eficientes, padronizados, com elevada qualidade no produto e no nível de serviço, além de estarem constantemente buscando por redução de custos e tempo. Weill (2004), por sua vez, apresenta quatro objetivos que, segundo ele, são seguidos pelas empresas que apresentam maturidade na Governança de TI. O primeiro objetivo é a busca efetiva do custo da TI seguida pela utilização efetiva dos recursos, a utilização de TI para o crescimento e atendimento do negócio e a utilização da TI para flexibilizar o negócio. Mudanças consideradas simples e pouco complexas pelas demais áreas da organização, tornam-se complexas e, por vezes, acabam impedindo a realização de um negócio. Buscando obter uma flexibilidade maior, os autores abordam como alternativa a procura pela solução mais simples para o ambiente organizacional em questão. Focar em soluções simples, que não onerem a estrutura pode viabilizar uma série de negócios para a organização, garantindo assim o aumento do alinhamento com o negócio e uma maior efetividade da TI.

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2.4 COBIT O COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and related Technology) foi desenvolvido na década de 1990 pela ISACA (Information System Audit and Control Association), e pode ser traduzido como “objetivos de controle para a Informação e Tecnologia”. Esta metodologia é composta por três modelos: Modelo de Processos (framework), Modelo de Governança de TI e Modelo de Maturidade. A intenção do COBIT é prover boas práticas através de um framework de domínios e processos e apresentar atividade em uma estrutura lógica gerenciável. Estas práticas visam ajudar a otimizar a TI, habilitando investimentos, garantindo a entrega de serviços, além de prover sua mensuração (Hawkins, Alhajjaj e Kelley, 2003). Pode-se dizer, também, que o COBIT tenta garantir a Governança de TI provendo um framework que garanta quatro aspectos principais (Giampaoli, 2010): que a TI esteja alinhada com o negócio; que a TI torne o negócio possível e maximize seus benefícios; que os recursos de TI sejam utilizados com responsabilidade e que os riscos associados TI sejam gerenciados de maneira apropriada. O IT Governance Institute elenca quatro controles do COBIT, integrados de acordo com a Figura 3, abaixo. O controle dos Processos de TI TI

que satisf azem Requisitos do Negócio Negócio

são habilitados por Relação Relação de de Controles

considerando Práticas de Controle Controle

Figura 3: Os controles do COBIT Fonte: IT Governance Institute (2005). O COBIT pode ser descrito como um guia de gestão e governança de TI que está baseado em quatro domínios, que envolvem um conjunto de processos que irão garantir a completa gestão de TI, totalizando um total de 318 controles organizados em 34 processos, conforme a Figura 4. Os objetivos de controle do Cobit procuram atestar como cada processo faz uso dos recursos de TI para atender de forma primária ou secundária cada requisito do negócio em termos de informação, cobrindo todos os aspectos.

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Controles de Governança de Tecnologia da Informação para a terceirização de processos de negócio: Uma proposta a partir do COBIT

Define o plano P estratégico de TI Define a arquitetura da PO2 P informação Determina a direção PO3 P tecnológica Define a organização PO4 de TI e seus P relacionamentos Gerencia os PO5 P investimentos de TI Gerencia a PO6 comunicação das P direções de TI Gerencia recursos PO7 P humanos Assegura o alinhamento de TI com PO8 P os requerimentos externos PO9 Avalia os riscos P PO10 Gerencia os projetos P PO11 Gerencia a qualidade P Identifica as soluções AI1 P de automação Adquire e mantém os AI2 P softwares Adquire e mantém a AI3 infraestrutura P tecnológica Desenvolve e mantém AI4 P os procedimentos Instala e certifica AI5 P softwares AI6 Gerencia as mudanças P Define e mantém os DS1 acordos de níveis de P serviço (SLA) Gerencia os serviços de DS2 P terceiros

Entrega Suporte

Aquisição e Implementação

Planejamento e Organização

PO1

S S

Pessoas Aplicações Tecnologia Facilidades Informações

Conformidade

Confiabilidade

Recursos de TI

Disponibilidade

Integridade

Confidencialidade

Eficiência

Domínio

Processo

Efetividade

Requisitos de Negócio P = Primário; S = Secundário

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S S P

S P P

S P

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Monitoramento

Gerencia a performance e DS3 capacidade do ambiente Assegura a DS4 continuidade dos serviços Assegura a segurança DS5 dos serviços Identifica e aloca DS6 custos DS7 Treina os usuários Assiste e aconselha os DS8 usuários Gerencia a DS9 configuração Gerencia os problemas DS10 e incidentes DS11 Gerencia os dados Gerencia a DS12 infraestrutura DS13 Gerencia as operações M1 Monitorar os processos Analisa a adequação M2 dos controles internos Provê auditorias M3 independentes Provê segurança M4 independente

P P

S P

P S S

P P

S S

Figura 4 – Domínios e controles do COBIT Fonte: ITGI (2007) Um detalhe muito importante a ser mencionado sobre a ferramenta COBIT é justamente que ele independe da plataforma de TI adotada pela organização, uma vez que seu uso é voltado para o negócio. O COBIT fornece informações detalhadas para o gerenciamento dos processos e possibilita o monitoramento de quanto a TI está agregando valor ao negócio da organização (Weill, 2004). O COBIT é voltado para três níveis bastante distintos entre si numa organização: gerentes, usuários e auditores. No primeiro nível, os gerentes sentem a necessidade de realizar a avaliação dos riscos e o controle dos investimentos em TI; no nível de usuários, estes precisam garantir a qualidade dos serviços que são prestados para os clientes internos e externos; e no último nível, os auditores têm a necessidade de avaliar o trabalho de gestão de TI e também de aconselhar o controle interno da organização (ITGI, 2007).

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MÉTODO DE PESQUISA

Este trabalho é de natureza exploratória, adequado quando o objetivo é examinar um tema ou problema de investigação pouco estudado ou que não tenha sido abordado anteriormente (Sampieri, Collado e Lucio, 1991, p. 59), buscando compreender o estado da arte naquelas situações em que a prática se antecipa à teoria. O estudo foi feito de acordo com as etapas ilustradas no desenho de pesquisa,

2 Painel de Especialistas

Discussão via f órum

Estudo de caso

Resultados

Domínios e processos do COBIT

Coleta de dados

Ref erencial teórico

abaixo.

3 Adaptação dos controles do COBIT à terceirização via BSP

Figura 5: Desenho de Pesquisa A partir da exploração do COBIT, feita no referencial teórico, estabeleceu-se um painel de especialistas, visando analisar cada um dos 34 objetivos pertencentes aos quatro domínios do COBIT. Esta etapa foi feita com o objetivo de validar, na opinião dos especialistas, quais dos domínios e processos do COBIT se mostram mais adequados à gestão e ao controle de terceirizações via BSP. Foram contatados via email cinco especialistas com formações em administração e em ciência da computação, em nível de graduação, especialização e mestrado, todos com razoável experiência na área de TI, em especial voltada à melhoria de processos. Os resultados da avaliação dos especialistas foram submetidos à apreciação de um grupo de discussão sobre COBIT, ITIL e Governança de TI, que mantém discussões habituais sobre assuntos relacionados ao gerenciamento de TI. Nove pessoas participaram do fórum (além de dois pesquisadores), que teve a duração de 55 minutos e ocorreu de forma virtual. Esta etapa ocorreu através de brainstorming entre os participantes, a partir do resultado da etapa anterior. As observações feitas pelo fórum foram submetidas novamente a três dos cinco especialistas entrevistados inicialmente. Uma vez tendo em mãos esse conjunto de elementos, já validado por dois grupos de especialistas, partiu-se para a aplicação desse resultado em um caso. O caso analisado foi de uma fabricante nacional de ERP, que comercializa o seu ERP através da solução BSP, tanto de forma simplificada como ampliada. O objetivo desta etapa foi verificar em uma situação prática como deveria ser utilizado o COBIT para controle da qualidade e da execução do contrato de BSP.

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Durante o estudo de caso, a entrevista foi a principal técnica de coleta de dados utilizada, tendo sido complementada com a análise de documentos. Procurou-se, conforme recomendação de Yin (1994, p. 121), fazer a triangulação de fontes de evidência como forma de aumentar a compreensão do caso estudado, uma vez que “várias fontes de evidência fornecem essencialmente várias avaliações do mesmo fenômeno”. Utilizou-se um protocolo de estudo de caso, visando dar mais confiabilidade à condução do mesmo. O roteiro de entrevista é composto basicamente pelo conjunto de domínios e objetivos do COBIT, além de variáveis que identificam em detalhes o funcionamento do BSP da empresa. As entrevistas foram face a face, e duraram 3 horas e 50 minutos e 2 horas e 10 minutos. As entrevistas foram gravadas e transcritas. A análise de documentos procurou complementar e ilustrar os dados obtidos na entrevista. Os documentos analisados foram uma proposta comercial padrão, um contrato de prestação de serviços entre a empresa e seus clientes, um contrato do tipo SLA (Service Level Agreement) e o manual de normas de segurança conforme a Política de Segurança da Informação da empresa. A análise dos dados coletados para esta pesquisa foi feita por meio de análise de conteúdo, uma vez que os dados eram de origem qualitativa. Os dados procedentes das entrevistas foram analisados por meio de análise temática e análise da enunciação, que difere basicamente da análise temática por não ter como enfoque a busca de categorias, mas sim de um discurso, de um texto completo. Bardin (1977) cita que esta técnica geralmente é mais trabalhosa, uma vez que geralmente a quantidade total de texto a ser analisado é maior, sendo necessário interpretar maiores trechos para chegar a um primeiro agrupamento.

RESULTADOS

Sendo o objetivo desta pesquisa o de definir um conjunto de elementos, a partir do COBIT, para melhor gerenciar e controlar uma terceirização através de BSP analisou-se a apreciação de dois grupos de especialistas e os dados coletados no estudo de caso. A análise dos dados e as propostas deste estudo são descritas a seguir. 4.1 Validação pelo painel de Especialistas Os especialistas avaliaram o framework do COBIT, exposto no item 2.3. Pelo framework, definem-se prioridades (primária e secundária) para os 34 itens de controle, bem como os recursos de TI necessários ao atendimento de cada processo.

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A avaliação dos especialistas foi no sentido de analisar e adaptar os 34 processos para que este pudesse atender mais diretamente o controle de uma atividade de BSP. A avaliação dos especialistas foi feita de forma individual, e sem a indicação de quais itens são primários ou secundários no framework original do COBIT (embora os especialistas possam ter consultado estes dados ao fazer as marcações na sua tabela). A partir da tabela de cada especialista, procedeu-se a tabulação dos dados. A concordância entre os especialistas foi de 85%. Naqueles itens em que houve divergência, um dos especialistas (identificado aqui como Especialista Sênior) atuou como mediador, discutindo com os pesquisadores qual era a melhor indicação e o porquê. Este especialista possui certificações em COBIT e ITIL, mestrado em Administração e, atua profissionalmente como consultor em melhoria de processos de TI. Inicialmente, os especialistas avaliaram se os quatro domínios (planejamento e organização, aquisição e implementação, entrega e suporte, monitoramento) eram adequados ao controle de uma atividade BSP. Esta avaliação ocorreu porque, conforme já discutido no referencial teórico, o COBIT é abrangente, o que gera a necessidade de priorizar alguns processos para controle de determinadas situações no ambiente de TI. O primeiro especialista entrevistado considerou que todos os quatro domínios são aplicáveis ao controle de uma terceirização via BSP. No entanto, os quatro especialistas seguintes consideraram que o domínio Planejamento e Organização se refere, mais ao contexto geral da organização ou do setor de TI, e não se aplica diretamente a uma atividade de TI. Tendo em vista esta divergência, retornou-se ao primeiro especialista, que julgou procedente a avaliação dos demais, modificando a sua avaliação inicial. Desta forma, os especialistas sugeriram que fossem considerados como domínios adequados para avaliação de uma atividade BSP a Aquisição e Implementação, a Entrega e Suporte e o Monitoramento. A partir destes três domínios, os especialistas indicaram na dimensão Critérios de Informação quais dos 23 processos eles consideravam como primários e quais como secundários, conforme Figura 6 abaixo. Os itens em cinza são aqueles para os quais os especialistas sugeriram alterações em relação ao roteiro original do COBIT: de aplicabilidade Primária para Secundária, de Secundária para Primária, de Nenhuma para Primária, ou de Nenhuma para Secundária.

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Aquisição Implementação

Identifica as soluções de automação Adquire e mantém os softwares

P P

S P

S S

AI3

Adquire e mantém a infraestrutura tecnológica P

AI4

Desenvolve e mantém os procedimentos

AI5 AI6

S P

DS4 DS5 DS6 DS7 DS8 DS9 DS10 DS11 DS12 DS13 M1

Instala e certifica softwares P Gerencia as mudanças P Define e mantém os acordos de níveis de P serviço (SLA) Gerencia os serviços de terceiros P Gerencia a performance e capacidade do P ambiente Assegura a continuidade dos serviços P Assegura a segurança dos serviços P Identifica e aloca custos Treina os usuários P Assiste e aconselha os usuários P Gerencia a configuração P Gerencia os problemas e incidentes P Gerencia os dados P Gerencia a infraestrutura P Gerencia as operações P Monitorar os processos P

Analisa a adequação dos controles internos

M3 M4

Provê auditorias independentes Provê segurança independente

DS2 DS3

Confiabilidade

Conformidade

Disponibilidade

Integridade

Confidencialidade

AI1 AI2

DS1

Monitoração Entrega e Suporte

Eficiência

Processo

Efetividade

Domínio

Requisitos de Negócio (primária e secundária)

S P

P S

P P P S P

S P

P S

S S

S P P S

P P P P

S P P P P P S S

S S S S S S S S P P S P P P S P P

P P

S P

P S

S S

P P

S S S

Figura 6: Aplicação dos domínios e processo do COBIT ao controle de BSP A partir das entrevistas com os especialistas, obteve-se uma análise de aplicabilidade do COBIT em relação aos domínios e aos critérios de informação não aplicáveis, aplicáveis de forma primária ou secundária. Esse resultado foi refinado na etapa do estudo descrita a seguir. R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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4.2 Avaliação pelo grupo do Fórum Conforme explicitado no método de pesquisa, uma segunda etapa foi a submissão dos resultados da etapa anterior em um fórum de discussão sobre COBIT. Este grupo de discussão se encontra regularmente, e tem uma pauta fixa de discussões (sobre ITIL, COBIT e Governança de TI, em especial, mas também de outros padrões, como COSO, Sarbanes-Oxley e assuntos correlatos), e por isso considerou-se válida a submissão dos resultados a este grupo. Após a avaliação do framework, os participantes do fórum sugeriram cinco alterações, a saber: a) No domínio Aquisição e Implementação, no processo AI1 (Identifica as soluções de automação): alterar de Nenhuma indicação para Secundário no critério Utilidade, porque a utilidade de uma informação depende de da correta identificação da solução ideal de automação; b) No domínio Aquisição e Implementação, no processo AI5 (Instala e certifica softwares): retirar a indicação de Secundário para o critério Utilidade, porque a utilidade da informação independe da instalação e certificação de softwares, uma vez que esta é definida no processo Identifica as soluções de automação (AI1); c) No domínio Entrega e Suporte, no processo DS7 (Treina os usuários): alterar de Secundário para Primário no critério Conformidade, uma vez que o treinamento de usuários pode contribuir significativamente para a conformidade de um serviço; d) No domínio Entrega e Suporte, no processo DS8 (Assiste e aconselha os usuários): alterar de Nenhuma indicação para Secundário no critério Confidencialidade, pois muitas vezes os usuários fornecem (ou facilitam o acesso a) informações sigilosas sem saberem do risco ao qual estão expondo a empresa; e) No domínio Entrega e Suporte, no processo DS9 (Gerencia a Configuração): alterar de Nenhuma indicação para Secundário no critério Eficiência, porque o gerenciamento de configuração pode contribuir para a eficiência de um processo; f) No domínio Monitoração, no processo M1 (Monitorar os processos): alterar de Secundário para Primário no critério Integridade, uma vez que o monitoramento de processos pode contribuir para a integridade deste e dos demais processos. Estas alterações foram submetidas à avaliação do Especialista Sênior, que concordou com cinco delas e ficou em dúvida na do item “c”, pois considera que, em geral, os usuários de serviços BSP são instruídos o suficiente para não prejudicarem o processo. Como a etapa seguinte da pesquisa era o estudo de caso, optou-se por manter a alteração e ficar atento ao item durante a análise do caso.

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4.3 Estudo de caso O caso estudado é o produto BSP oferecido pela Alpha. A Alpha é uma empresa de desenvolvimento de sistemas de informação e prestação de serviços em Tecnologia da Informação, no mercado há mais de 20 anos. O principal sistema comercializado pela Alpha é o ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), nos módulos: logística, manutenção, RH, vendas, manufatura e finanças. A empresa tem mais de 80 mil usuários ativos, distribuídos em dois mil clientes. A Alpha tem certificação ISO e já conquistou diversos prêmios no país e no exterior. O serviço BSP da Alpha foi iniciado em 2002, e foi um dos primeiros do Brasil. A empresa atende em torno de 100 clientes, em grande parte empresas de médio porte. A adoção do BSP é relativamente simples: o cliente escolhe a aplicação que necessita, é definido em comum acordo se o BSP adotado será o simplificado ou o ampliado, e em poucos dias o cliente pode iniciar a utilização do sistema (a menos que sejam necessárias customizações). A redução de custos do BSP em relação à terceirização tradicional ocorre principalmente porque todos os investimentos que deveriam ser feitos separadamente pelas empresas foram feitos por uma única empresa (Alpha) com ganho de escala e compartilhamento destes investimentos, inclusive mão de obra. Além disso, a empresa cliente não precisa ter mão de obra especializada para administração do ambiente de TI, e não corre o risco da rápida obsolescência do investimento realizado. Dentro do conceito de BSP, a Alpha entrega ao cliente um pacote completo de produtos e serviços: sistema ERP, link de comunicação, mão de obra para gerenciamento do banco de dados do sistema, atualização do software, atualizações de itens internos do ERP e do banco de dados. O pagamento é por mensalidade, calculada a partir de qual sistema está sendo utilizado, dos itens contratados no SLA (Service Level Agreement) e da quantidade de usuários. A partir das entrevistas e da observação, realizou-se uma análise de como se comportam os processos no BSP da empresa. Inicialmente, o objetivo era analisar os 23 processos na figura 6, pertencentes a três domínios. No então, no primeiro contato com a empresa percebeu-se a dificuldade de uma análise aprofundada de 23 processos diferentes. Como não era a intenção deste estudo fazer uma análise superficial destes processos, criou-se uma sistemática de separação – por prioridade – entre os 23 processos. Para tal, considerou que cada um dos processos da Figura 6 do item 4.1 e modificações propostas no item 4.2, atribuindo o valor 2 para os com atribuição “P” (Primário) e 1 para os com atribuição “S” (Secundário), criando um escore de prioridade. Esta sistemática permitiu que se dividissem os 23 processos em três grupos, conforme figura abaixo.

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Grupos

Domínio/Processo Escore Gerencia os serviços de terceiros 14 Gerencia as operações 14 Define e mantém os acordos de níveis de serviço DS1 13 (SLA) DS5 Assegura a segurança dos serviços 13 Grupo 1 Monitorar os processos 13 Alta prioridade M1 para BSP M2 Analisa a adequação dos controles internos 13 M3 Provê auditorias independentes 13 M4 Provê segurança independente 13 DS11 Gerencia os dados 11 DS4 Assegura a continuidade dos serviços 10 DS10 Gerencia os problemas e incidentes 10 AI6 Gerencia as mudanças 9 AI4 Desenvolve e mantém os procedimentos 8 Grupo 2 DS3 Gerencia a performance e capacidade do ambiente 8 Prioridade DS7 Treina os usuários 8 intermediária para BSP AI2 Adquire e mantém os softwares 7 AI3 Adquire e mantém a infraestrutura tecnológica 7 DS8 Assiste e aconselha os usuários 7 DS12 Gerencia a infraestrutura 7 DS9 Gerencia a configuração 6 Grupo 3 Menor AI1 Identifica as soluções de automação 5 prioridade para AI5 Instala e certifica softwares 4 BSP DS6 Identifica e aloca custos 4 DS2 DS13

Figura 7: Priorização de domínio e processos de COBIT para BSP A partir do escore acima, foram criados três grupos. O considerado como alta prioridade (escores 10 a 14) contém 11 processos (7 de Entrega e Suporte; 4 de Monitoração). O de prioridade intermediária contempla quatro processos (2 de Entrega e Suporte; 2 de Aquisição e Implementação), e o de menor prioridade contempla 8 processos (4 de Aquisição e Implementação; 4 de Entrega e Suporte). Optou-se, então por analisar detalhadamente os 11 processos de grupo de alta prioridade, lembrando aqui que esta alta prioridade se refere à aplicação de itens do COBIT para o gerenciamento e controle de terceirizações através de Business Service Provider.

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a) DS2 - Gerencia os serviços de terceiros: Este item, junto com o gerenciamento de operações, ficou com o escore de importância mais elevado entre os 11 processos analisados no caso estudado, o que é facilmente compreensível, uma vez que ele se refere justamente ao controle dos atores envolvidos no BSP. Sem o gerenciamento dos serviços de terceiros não há como garantir a qualidade do serviço nem mesmo a sua continuidade, tanto porque pequenos erros e omissões podem se acumular como porque algumas atividades de fronteira podem passar despercebidas. Em ambos os casos, estas pequenas situações podem se acumular, gerando grandes problemas, e para a resolução destes será preciso despender esforços e investimentos. b) DS13 - Gerencia as operações: Se o gerenciamento de operações é fundamental para o qualquer atividade funcione de acordo com o que foi especificado, para o BSP essa importância foi confirmada, uma vez que se têm, além dos perigos de qualquer terceirização, dificuldades inerentes à quantidade de fornecedores e à ligação virtual entre estes. No gerenciamento das operações, mostrou-se fundamental existir a documentação dos processos, como forma de harmonizar e padronizar a realização das atividades. Da mesma forma, o registro (transparente a todos os atores do processo) do status de cada atividade auxilia os envolvidos a gerenciarem atividades predecessoras e sucessoras a uma atividade em andamento, além de conferir confiabilidade ao processo. c) DS1 - Define e mantém os acordos de níveis de serviço (SLA): O SLA têm se mostrado um efetivo instrumento de controle, um mecanismo pelo qual uma empresa contratante de serviços discrimina as garantias de qualidade, quantidade, modalidade e precisão dos diferentes serviços adquiridos de um terceiro. A Alpha tem dois tipos de SLA, um com o cliente, como fornecedora do serviço BSP, e outro com os seus fornecedores (dois ou quatro, dependendo de atuar com BSP simplificado ou ampliado), como cliente do serviço. Neste caso, há um SLA para cada um dos fornecedores. Em ambos os tipos de SLAs (como fornecedora e como cliente) há o detalhamento destes, através do o SLS (Service Level Specification) e do SLD (Service Level Description). O SLS especifica quais são os itens que devem ser fornecidos, enquanto que o SLD descreve em detalhes o funcionamento de cada item acordado, especificando os tempos ideais de acesso, de retorno a pedidos de suporte, de resposta de e-mails, de retorno em caso de suspensão de fornecimento, etc. Internamente, a Alpha define OLA (Operational Level Agreement), que pode ser entendido como um SLA interno a uma empresa, entre os diferentes setores envolvidos na prestação de um serviço.

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O SLA detalha qual é a penalidade caso algum item do SLA seja descumprido; esta penalidade em geral é um desconto (percentual) no valor do serviço do BSP, indo de 2 a 50%. O depoimento de um dos entrevistados reforça a importância do SLA. [...] eu estou assumindo contigo um nível de serviço, se eu não atender esses quesitos, você vai ter direito a ressarcimento, e a empresa vai começar a entrar no vermelho porque não vai receber pelos serviços justamente porque não cumpriu o SLA, e assim a empresa quebra. Essa é a sua garantia de segurança. [E1] d) DS5 - Assegura a segurança dos serviços: Este é um tema de extrema importância nas organizações, tanto que o ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library- conjunto de melhores práticas de gestão de TI) o coloca como base para que o fornecimento de serviços possa ser garantido. A empresa caso deste estudo toma uma série de cuidados com a imagem de ética e segurança que passa aos seus clientes: “fazemos tudo que é possível, dentro do que a tecnologia nos permite” (E2). Há uma confiança grande na equipe, em virtude de uma seleção rigorosa, e pelo tipo de contato com a informação dos clientes, já que o funcionário “não sabe que informação está ali e para quem que ela pode interessar” (G1). A empresa assume que falhas podem ocorrer, mas ressalta que toma as precauções necessárias: [...] nós temos toda uma infra-estrutura de segurança, o que tem de melhor, de mais bem feito, nós fazemos. Se você achar que deixar dentro de sua casa é mais seguro, você está enganado, mais seguro é aqui, porque temos o aparato de segurança. Se isso não bastasse, o nosso contrato prevê toda a parte de confidencialidade, com multas para tudo, além do código civil, que me obriga a reparar para ele quaisquer danos e prejuízos, e se eu infringir isso e essa situação for para a imprensa o meu negócio acabou [E1] e) M1 - Monitorar os processos: Embora pareça muito semelhante ao processo de gerenciamento de operações (DS13), a diferença entre estes é justamente a ação: monitorar ao invés de gerenciar. O monitoramento dos processos implica na criação de uma série de indicadores de controle, estabelecendo métricas e pontos de controle. Este objetivo é o que mais contribui para que a organização possa obter os níveis de maturidade expostos no item 2.3 – do nível 0 (gerenciamento de processos inexistente) até o nível 5 (processos otimizados). Com o monitoramento de processos, pode-se passar de um processo que depende mais das pessoas do que de um método propriamente estabelecido para a utilização de melhores práticas e melhoria contínua dos processos. É fundamental nesta atividade uma ferramenta de BPM (Business Process Management), que auxilia o redesenho e a otimização dos processos.

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f) M2 - Analisa a adequação dos controles internos: Este processo funciona de forma muito alinhada ao anterior, uma vez que revisa, adapta e valida os controles definidos no processo M1 (Monitorar os processos). Os controles internos, em uma terceirização através de BSP, são um elemento chave para notificação de todos os atores envolvidos nesta terceirização. No entanto, se não estiverem adequados, não serão uma medida efetiva do funcionamento do BSP. Para melhorar este processo é bastante importante a implantação de várias metodologias (ou melhores práticas) de gerenciamento de TI, tais como ITIL e COSO, assim como a implementação dos demais processos do COBIT. g) M4 - Provê segurança independente: Sendo o BSP um serviço que utiliza diversos fornecedores, é fundamental que cada um deles possa dar garantia de segurança, independente dos demais. Desta forma, caso a segurança de um dos fornecedores não seja suficiente para barrar uma determinada ameaça, o aparato de segurança do fornecedor que recebe aquela etapa do serviço pode evitar que esta ameaça se torne real. h) M3 - Provê auditorias independentes: Assim como o anterior, é importante que cada um dos envolvidos possa auditar os seus processos e os dos parceiros envolvidos diretamente com as suas atividades. Um dos grandes riscos da terceirização é uma situação na qual os diferentes fornecedores vão jogando a responsabilidade para o outro, e não resolvem o problema, prejudicando o cliente. Com procedimentos de auditoria, esta situação tende a ocorrer com menor frequência, além de ser possível o controle via SLA. i) DS11 - Gerencia os dados: Embora tenha ficado com 11 pontos, este item não se mostrou importante para o BSP especificamente, uma vez que o gerenciamento de dados já faz parte de rotinas implementadas há bastante tempo (na Alpha, mas também em outras organizações), como rotinas sistemáticas de backup e gerenciamento do banco de dados. j) DS4 - Assegura a continuidade dos serviços: A continuidade dos serviços é garantida a partir da implementação de uma série de controles internos para que os serviços não sejam interrompidos. Através das entrevistas e em especial da análise de documentos, percebeu-se que na empresa analisada o que sustenta este processo é o detalhamento e o controle dos níveis de serviço (DS1 - Define e mantém os acordos de níveis de serviço - SLA) e a garantia segurança (DS5 - Assegura a segurança dos serviços).

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Isto porque para a continuidade dos serviços é fundamental que os acordos com fornecedores estejam bem detalhados e passíveis de execução via SLA, além de ter um forte esquema de segurança física e lógica funcionando na organização. O Plano de Continuidade, alinhado à Política de Segurança completa e bem definida, é fundamental para a garantia de continuidade dos serviços, uma vez que expressa todos os procedimentos necessários para recuperara a capacidade de operação de uma empresa quando em um sinistro. É importante também que a organização mantenha OLAs (SLAs internos) com todos os setores com os quais o setor responsável pelo BSP tem dependência (em termos de serviços realizados), visando evitar que, mesmo que os seus fornecedores (externos) cumpram a sua parte, a continuidade dos serviços seja interrompida por nãoconformidades internas. k) DS10 - Gerencia os problemas e incidentes: O gerenciamento combinado de incidentes e problemas qualifica a prestação de serviços de TI, modificando a cultura comum que privilegia a resolução imediata não acompanhada de reflexão no sentido de evitar que estes desconfortos ocorram novamente. O incidente tem uma característica de ser isolado, contingencial, enquanto que o problema é algo que (provavelmente) vai se repetir. Desta forma, é importante que a empresa tenha um catálogo de incidentes e problemas, visando auxiliar a resolução e no sentido de um comportamento pró-ativo, investigando e resolvendo previamente incidentes que podem se tornar problemas. Este comportamento é fundamental para que a organização seja um fornecedor confiável de serviços BSP. Após a análise dos 11 processos considerados pelos dois grupos de especialistas como prioritários para terceirizações através de BSP, percebeu-se que o processo Gerencia os dados (DS11) não se mostrou prioritário no caso estudado. Embora possa ser um comportamento derivado dos limites do estudo de caso, os elementos coletados no estudo de caso levam a acreditar que ele não se mostra realmente prioritário, por não ser discriminante para o BSP. Desta forma, após as três etapas da pesquisa, o conjunto de controles para melhor gerenciar e controlar a terceirização de processos de negócio baseados em BSP é composto por 10 processos do COBIT, conforme a Figura 8, a seguir.

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Confiabilidade

Conformidade

Disponibilidade

Integridade

Confidencialidade

Eficiência

Processos

Efetividade

Requisitos de Negócio*

Define e mantém os acordos de níveis de serviço (SLA) Gerencia os serviços de terceiros Assegura a continuidade dos serviços Assegura a segurança dos serviços Gerencia as operações Monitorar os processos Analisa a adequação dos controles internos Provê auditorias independentes Provê segurança independente Gerencia os problemas e incidentes

Figura 8: Controles do COBIT e requisitos de negócio Em relação aos requisitos de negócio, os setes requisitos estão bem representados: efetividade e eficiência estão cobertas por todos os processos; confiabilidade, conformidade e integridade estão amplamente cobertas (nove, sete e sete itens como primários, respectivamente); confidencialidade e disponibilidade estão cobertos em menor intensidade (seis e três itens como primários, quatro e sete itens como secundários, respectivamente). Se uma organização utilizar esses dez itens para controle de atividades de terceirização via BSP, esta potencialmente terá os requisitos de negócio efetividade, eficiência, confiabilidade, conformidade, integridade e confidencialidade controlados e gerenciados. A necessidade de algum controle paralelo ocorre somente no item disponibilidade. 5. CONSIDERAÇÕES FINAIS Considera-se que os objetivos do estudo foram atingidos. Os controles do COBIT foram analisados e, após a opinião de 14 especialistas (divididos em dois grupos), foram adaptados a situações de terceirização através de BSP. Como o COBIT é bastante genérico, torna-se importante estudar aplicações mais específicas a R. Gest. Tecn. Sist. Inf. /JISTEM Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management, Brazil

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determinadas situações e cenários. A aplicação do resultado em um estudo de caso corroborou os resultados obtidos a partir da análise dos especialistas, além de que esta etapa permitiu uma descrição da adequabilidade e aplicação destes controles em uma situação real. Como limites da pesquisa, além daqueles típicos do estudo de caso, pode-se considerar a realização de estudo de caso único. Como continuidade para o estudo, pretende-se: a) conduzir estudos de caso com empresas de diferentes setores, replicando a sistemática desse estudo com o objetivo de gerar grades de processos do COBIT aplicáveis a diferentes cenários; b) conduzir uma pesquisa survey para identificar o nível atual de gestão de processos terceirizados, e a partir disso propor possibilidade de melhoria da gestão de atividades terceirizadas. As contribuições do estudo para o campo das organizações consistem na potencial melhoria da maturidade de sua gestão, por meio da utilização de um conjunto de controles para a gestão das atividades terceirizadas, reduzindo a risco associado à terceirização. A redução do risco contribui para a perenidade das organizações e no bem-estar de seus stakeholders. Para o campo acadêmico de gestão e, em especial, gestão da informação, a principal contribuição é no sentido da lacuna acadêmica citada por Barthelemy (2003), da necessidade de desenvolvimento de sistemáticas efetivas para controlar e gerenciar o processo de terceirização. O estudo também contribui para a aproximação entre organizações, na medida em que o COBIT é utilizado por empresas, e este estudo mostra uma sistemática validada de priorização de processos de acordo com a atividade foco do controle. REFERÊNCIAS Aubert, B., Rivard, S. & Patry, M.. A transaction cost model of IT outsourcing. Information & Management, 1-12. 2003. Aundhe, M. D. & Mathew, Saji K.. Risks in offshore IT outsourcing: a service provider perspective. European Management Journal, 27, 418– 428. 2009. Bardin, L.. Análise de conteúdo. Lisboa: Edições 70. 1977. Barthelemy, J. The Hard and Soft Sides of IT Outsourcing Management. European Management Journal, 21, 5, 539–548. 2003. Hoppen, N. et al. Avaliação de artigos de pesquisa em sistemas de informação: proposta de um guia. ENANPAD, 21, Rio das Pedras. Anais; Rio das Pedras: ANPAD. 2007. Ibgc. Código das melhores práticas de governança corporativa. Instituto Brasileiro de Governança Corporativa. São Paulo. It Governance Institute.. COBIT 4rd Edition: Control Objectives. Estados Unidos: Information Systems Audit and Control Association. 2007. Lacity, M. C., Khan, S.A. & Willcocks, L. A review of the IT outsourcing literature: Insights for practice. Journal of Strategic Information Systems,18, 130–146. 2009. Vol.8, No.1, 2011, p. 237-262

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Mota, N. R. & Ckagnazaroff, I. B. Governança Corporativa e as melhores práticas: estudo de caso de uma organização não governamental. ENANPAD, 32, Salvador. Anais; Salvador: ANPAD. 2008. Prado, E. P. V. Terceirização de Serviço de TIC: uma avaliação sob o ponto de vista do fornecedor. Read, 15, 3. 2009. Rau, K. Effective governance of IT: design objectives, roles, and relationships. Information Systems Management, 21, 4, 35. 2004. Sampieri, R. H., Collado, C. F. & Lucio, P. B.. Metodología de la investigación. México: McGraw-Hill. 1991. Smith, M. A. & Kumar, R. A theory of application service provider (ASP) use from a client perspective. Information & Management, 41, 977-1002. 2004. Weill, P.. Don`t Just Lead, Govern: How Top-Performing Firms Govern IT. Mis Quarterly Executive, 3, 1, 1-17. United States: Minnesota. 2004. Weill, P. & Woodham, R.. Don`t Just Lead, Govern: Implementing Effective IT Governance. Massachusetts: MIT. 2002. Willcocks, L., Feeny, D. & Olson, N. Implementing Core IS Capabilities: FeenyWillcocks IT Governance and Management Framework Revisited. European Management Journal, 24, 1, 28–37. 2006. Williamson, O. E.. Outsourcing: transaction cost economics and Supply Chain Management. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 44, 2. 2008. Xue, Y., Liang, H., Boulton, W. R. Information Technology Governance in Information Technology investment decision processes: the impact of investment characteristics, external environment, and internal context. MIS Quarterly, 32, 1, 67-96. 2008. Yin, R. K.. Case study research: design and methods. Sage Publications. United States: California. 1994. Zott, C. & Amit, R.. Business Model Design: an activity system perspective. Long Range Planning, 43, 216-226. 2010.

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Revista de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management Vol. 8, No. 1, 2011, p. 263 ISSN online: 1807-1775

Conference / Congresso

8th CONTECSI International Conference on Information Systems and Technology Management June 1st to 3rd, 2011 USP/São Paulo/SP FEA USP São Paulo, Brazil The 8th 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. Parallel event: 22th World Continuous Auditing & Reporting Systems Symposium on June 2nd, 2011. The Conference welcomes papers submission for presentation and panel discussions. Major topics on interest include, but are not limited to: Information Society, Open Systems, Systems Interfacing and Integration, Wireless Computing, Entrepreneurship in IT and IS, Accounting Information Systems, E-Commerce / E-Business, Software Engineering, ERP Systems, Financial Management in Information Systems, IT Strategic Management, etc. All papers will be subject to a blind review process and full papers will be published (CD) in the Conference Proceedings.

More information: http://www.tecsi.fea.usp.br/eventos/contecsi Chair: Prof. Edson Luiz Riccio. PhD – FEA USP and TECSI Contact: contecsi@usp.br

8º CONTECSI Congresso Internacional de Gestão da Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação 1 a 3 de Junho de 2011 USP/São Paulo/SP FEA USP São Paulo, Brasil O 8º 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 encontrase 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. Evento Paralelo: 22th World Continuous Auditing & Reporting Systems Symposium em 2 de junho de 2011. 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 focos de interesse deste congresso inclui todas as abordagens referentes à gestão de Tecnologia e dos Sistemas de Informação nas instituições públicas e privadas e na sociedade em geral.

Mais informações no site: http://www.tecsi.fea.usp.br/eventos/contecsi Coordenação: Prof. Dr. Edson Luiz Riccio – FEA USP e TECSI Contato: contecsi@usp.br

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. 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 key-words 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 a) Quanto à Formatação Os artigos submetidos para publicação, em inglês, espanhol, português ou francês, devem ser enviados em formato MS-Word. Após 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 Resenha devem ser enviadas para o Prof. Edson Luiz Riccio pelo e-mail: jistem@usp.br

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