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- The role of Bill of materials and movements (BOMM) in the virtual enterprises environmentPublication . Pires, Luís; Carvalho, José Dinis; Moreira, Nuno AfonsoOrganizing and managing dynamic networks of enterprises (or virtual enterprises (VE)) is a very complex task and many issues are still to be effectively covered. Apart from the models that can be used to create and manage VEs, product data play a central role in the VE life cycle. VE composition, interaction among VE members (Autonomous Production Systems in this work), as well as its relationship with the market, is severely dependent on the product technical specifications as well as on the product process planning information. In traditional managing systems for the single enterprise environment the Bill of Materials (BOM) plays that role and in this paper is proposed a Bill of Materials and Movements (BOMM) as its equivalent in VE environments. The BOMM includes product structure, high level process planning information and some degree of VE composition. BOMM is present during VE formation, operation, and reconfiguration, playing a central role in the material detailed planning and in the movement planning between VE members. In this article the BOMM role during the VE life cycle is described in detail.
- The impact of deterrence policies on reckless driving: the case of PortugalPublication . Tavares, António F.; Mendes, Sílvia M.; Costa, Cláudia S.In this paper, we test the effect of three different criminal deterrence theory policy tools: criminal certainty, severity, and celerity of punishment. Whereas most criminal deterrence studies in this field focus on the former two components of deterrence theory, this study also examines the potential deterrent effect of the latter component. Using a time-series design with monthly data, we estimate the effects of an increase in the threat of punishment for traffic offenses resulting from a general increase in fines for traffic offenses, an increase in the probability of getting caught with a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) level outside the legal limits, and the enactment of an “on-the-spot” fine payment policy in Portugal. We find strong evidence to support a severity effect. An increase in the statutory severity of sentence maxima for traffic violations leads to a decrease in accident and injury rates—approximately an average 0.5 percent reduction in monthly accident and injury rates. Changes in the BAC levels and the mandatory swift payment policy did not produce any convincing deterrence impact.
- Municipal service delivery: the role of transaction costs in the choice between alternative governance mechanismsPublication . Rodrigues, Miguel; Araújo, Filipe; Tavares, António F.Currently, due to their level of proximity and periodic transfers of competences from the national government, local governments are responsible for many services consumed by citizens. Their competences are growing and nowadays include water supply, promotion of regional development, solid waste collection, emergency management, health care, education, land use management, among many others. To cope with all these challenges, local governments changed from a single multi-purpose organization to a complex network of relationships with other public bodies, private agents, and non-profit organizations. In this complex network we witness different levels and combinations of autonomy and control that local governments allow/impose on their agencies/partners/contractors. Local governments in Portugal no longer assume the provision of all public services through in-house bureaucracies. They combine different strategies of coordination using both market competition and network collaboration based on trust as alternative mechanisms. The path of evolution began with simple hierarchic organizations composed by municipal services, then it moved to municipalized services (a slightly more autonomous and flexible configuration) followed by enabling legislation allowing local governments to create municipal corporations (Tavares & Camões, 2007), which in many cases replaced former arrangements. By the end of the 1990s, local governments began contracting with external actors to provide public services. Their option was to contract-out public services making use of market price mechanisms and market competitiveness. In other cases, local governments preferred less competitive partnerships with other governments or with non-profit organizations (mostly on social services). A survey conducted among local governments allows us to identify twelve organizational configuration alternatives to deliver public services: municipal services; municipalized services; municipal enterprises; inter-municipal enterprises; municipal commercial corporations; public commercial corporations; mixed commercial corporations; contracting-out of private agents; partnerships with non-profit actors; local governments associations; and metropolitan associations. Using coordination and control mechanisms as a criteria (authority, competition and collaboration), we seek to identify all the alternatives presented in three governance mechanisms (hierarchy, market, and networks). 2 Municipal Service Delivery: The Role of Transaction Costs in the Choicebetween Alternative Governance Mechanisms. EGPA Annual Conference, Malta, 2-5 September 2009 Next, we employ a transaction cost framework to derive a set of hypotheses explaining the choice of governance mechanisms to provide public services. In order to do so, we develop four sets of independent variables concerning service characteristics, community characteristics, financial situation, and administrative and political stability. Services with high levels of specificity and difficult measurability involve high levels of transactions costs, making them less likely to be externalized (Coase, 1937; Williamson, 1975; Nelson, 1997; Ferris & Graddy, 1997). Second, we argue that local governments operating in highly complex environments require more flexible governance solutions (Burns & Stalker, 1961) and, in contrast, mechanisms of governance based on hierarchy are more likely to be adopted in environments characterized by lower levels of complexity in service provision (Weber, 1947; Alexander, 1995; Blau & Meyer, 1971). Third, we argue that different degrees of financial capacity drive local governments to choose different mechanisms of governance (Brown, Potoski, & Slyke, 2006). Finally, based upon work by Hood (1998), Frant (1996), and Clingermayer and Feiock (1997), we suggest that political instability can put pressure on politicians to improve efficiency levels through the use of external agents. We test our hypotheses with a multinomial logit regression model using survey data collected from 101 Portuguese local governments and archival data available from the National Bureau of Statistics.
- Contextualized ubiquity: a new opportunity for rendering business information and servicesPublication . Cunha, Carlos R.; Peres, Emanuel; Morais, Raul; Bessa, Maximino; Reis, Manuel José Cabral dos SantosStating that information and services are ubiquitous, means that they are available anywhere, anytime. The development of mobile-devices with wireless network-access capabilities, together with the decrease in network-traffic costs and the proliferation of free wireless hotspots, makes the use of mobile-devices, as Internet access tools, increasingly common and attractive. With novel forms of presenting information and to provide new ways to interact with consumers, new business strategies can be boosted, in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and m-commerce. This paper describes a different approach to the relationship between customers and business-providers, based on contextualization mechanisms located in commercial products, which in turn acts as a gateway to static tag-embedded information as well as web-based information and services. A wine integrated management system, called SIGPV, is presented as a proof-of-concept, enumerating some of possible major business and CRM benefits.
- The use of mobile devices with multi-tag technologies for an overall contextualized vineyard managementPublication . Cunha, Carlos R.; Peres, Emanuel; Morais, Raul; Oliveira, Ana A.; Matos, Samuel G.; Fernandes, Miguel A.; Ferreira, Paulo Jorge S.G.; Reis, Manuel José Cabral dos SantosThis paper describes a Viticulture Service-Oriented Framework (VSOF) which turns around context elements or tags that are placed in the field and which can be decoded by mobile devices such as mobile phones or PDAs. The tags are used to automatically associate a field location to the relevant database tables or records and also to access contextual information or services. By pointing a mobile device to a tag, the viticulturalist may download data such as climatic data or upload information such as disease and pest incidence in a simple way, without having to provide coordinates or any other references, and without having to return to a central office. This work is part of an effort to implement a large-scale distributed cooperative network in the Douro Demarcated Region in Northeast Portugal, a region in which the effort makes particular sense due to the extremely variable topography and mesoclimates. The possibility of exchanging contextualized information and accessing contextualized services in the field, using well-known devices such as cell phones, may contribute to increase the rate of adoption of information technology in viticulture, and contribute to more efficient and closer-to-the-crops practices.
- An autonomous intelligent gateway infrastructure for in-field processing in precision viticulturePublication . Peres, Emanuel; Fernandes, Miguel A.; Morais, Raul; Cunha, Carlos R.; López, Juan A.; Matos, Samuel R.; Ferreira, Paulo Jorge S.G.; Reis, Manuel José Cabral dos SantosWireless sensor networks have found multiple applications in precision viticulture. Despite the steady progress in sensing devices and wireless technologies, some of the crucial items needed to improve the usability and scalability of the networks, such as gateway infrastructures and in-field processing, have been comparatively neglected. This paper describes the hardware, communication capabilities and software architecture of an intelligent autonomous gateway, designed to provide the necessary middleware between locally deployed sensor networks and a remote location within the whole-farm concept. This solar-powered infrastructure, denoted by iPAGAT (Intelligent Precision Agriculture Gateway), runs an aggregation engine that fills a local database with environmental data gathered by a locally deployed ZigBee wireless sensor network. Aggregated data are then retrieved by external queries over the built-in data integration system. In addition, embedded communication capabilities, including Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11 and GPRS, allow local and remote users to access both gateway and remote data, as well as the Internet, and run site-specific management tools using authenticated smartphones. Field experiments provide convincing evidence that iPAGAT represents an important step forward in the development of distributed service-oriented information systems for precision viticulture applications.
- Challenges of health games in the social network environmentPublication . Paredes, Hugo; Pinho, Anabela; Zagalo, NelsonVirtual communities and their benefits have been widely exploited to support patients, caregivers, families and healthcare providers. The complexity of the social organization evolved the concept of virtual community to social networks, exploring the establishment of ties and relations between people. These technological platforms provide a way to keep up with your connections network, through a set of communication and interaction tools. Games, as social interactive technologies have great potential, ensuring a supportive community, and thereby reducing the social isolation. Serious social health games bring forward several research challenges. This paper examines the potential benefits of the triad “health-serious games-social networks” and discusses some research challenges and opportunities of the liaison of serious health games and social networks.
- Municipal service delivery: the role of transaction costs in the choice between alternative governance mechanismsPublication . Rodrigues, Miguel; Tavares, António F.; Araújo, J. FilipeService provision by local governments can be delivered using in-house bureaucracies, private firms, and partnerships with other governments or the not-for-profit sector. This production decision has been a major focus of discussion among scholars, practitioners and political agents for the last quarter of a century. The transaction costs framework is an important tool to analyse decisions regarding the production of local services. In this paper, the authors employ this framework to analyse service delivery in Portugal and find that service characteristics and the local political environment play a key role in local officials’ choice among the three governance mechanisms to deliver public services.
- E-business maturity: constraints associated with their evolutionPublication . Morais, Elisabete Paulo; Pires, José Adriano; Gonçalves, Ramiro ManuelTo compete effectively in the e-business world, an organization must structurally transform its internal foundation. This structural change requires an organization to develop an innovative e-business strategy, focusing on speed to market and breakthrough execution. Despite the recognition and care that in recent years has been dedicated to e-business, there remains a need for continuing research efforts that seek to better understand constraints on the evolution of an organization to a state that can take advantage of e-business possibilities. There is a special need for this when considering small and medium enterprises, or businesses in developing countries. To minimize risk exposure from e-business initiatives, it is imperative for an organization to identify potential constraints on e-business evolution. In this setting,we develop a research model that involves e-business constraints and e-business maturity. We classify the constraints into the categories of environment constraints, organizational constraints, and technological constraints. Our results indicate that there are constraints that can be more or less problematic, depending on the stage of maturity. The results are also quite different in large organizations versus Small and Medium Enterprises.
- The usefulness of financial reporting for internal decision-making in Portuguese municipalitiesPublication . Nogueira, Sónia P.; Jorge, Susana M.; Cervera Oliver, MercedesPurpose – The article aims to analyse the perception of the internal users regarding the usefulness of the municipal financial reporting in the context of decision-making in the Portuguese local administration. Design/methodology/approach – This research is quantitative and positive, based on a cross-section analysis through the online application of a questionnaire to the decision makers (politicians and technicians) of the 308 Portuguese municipalities. The approach is based on the paradigm of information usefulness. Findings – The results indicate a high usefulness for the decision making of the municipal financial reporting, in its current form and content. However, this usefulness would increase if information, other than what is mandatory, were introduced. In general, the two different groups of decision makers, politicians and technicians, behave somewhat differently, regarding the usefulness that the financial reporting holds for them. The technical decision makers consider it of greater value. There is no statistical evidence that shows that there is a link between the training area and professional experience of the internal decision makers and the usefulness of the municipal financial reporting. Both types of users show a preference for the information set within the budgetary accounts, although accrual-based information also proves to be of excellent value. Research limitations/implications – The main limitations of this study are related to the way information was collected (questionnaire) to obtain empirical evidence. The questionnaire, sent by email, despite reaching a wide-ranging and dispersed population, does not assess the truthfulness and integrity of the responses. Furthermore, it does not make it possible to really identify the usefulness of the municipal financial reporting. The use of perceptive measures can also represent a threat to the study’s internal validity. Practical implications – The results of this study have important repercussions on the internal decision makers concerning the usefulness of the municipal financial reporting. Particularly, since the general approach towards the usefulness of the reporting could become a solid work basis for the regulatory bodies to enhance the current reporting model in the light of its suitability within the internal decision making. Originality/value – Research on this study is original as it provides, as far as the authors are aware, the first empirical evidence of the perceptions of internal users on the usefulness of the municipal financial reporting in Portugal, in regard to decision making.