The wind energy was already used as primary source of energy generation since before 1700 B.C, the old European civilizations used kinetic energy for sail, while windmills were used to help with farming tasks. At electricity generation, the wind energy is the primary source for the aerogenerators working, that convert some of this kinetic energy on electricity. With the technological progress, aerogenerators are modernizing with use of more efficient components, however, like any other machine, the wind turbines are subjects to the effects of time, that is, aging. The aging decreases the production capacity, increase the number of components fails, grow up the frequency of maintenance routines and increase the cost linked to the final product produced by these machines, the electricity. From that, this research was with objective to understand how the aging affect the performance decrease of aerogenerators, mapping linked factors at this effect. This study has realized was realized in 2 steps: the theoretical substantiation (1), constructed by a exploratory bibliographical review and a systematic bibliographical review, that, was with aim, mapping the related factors with performance decline at aging, followed by a factor’s validation (2), by one survey research, applied by two distinct questionnaires, one qualitative in a semi-structured interview and the other quantitative, this procedure made it possible to analyze whether the mapped factors and the constructed hypotheses were consistent with the functioning of these machines. A preliminary analysis of results allowed a construction of framework, tool that helps at grouping of mapped factors and the formulation of cause-and-effect hypotheses, the factors was grouped by similarities of your characteristics on dimensions, resulting on 5 dimensions: Climatic events, Installation site geography, Effectiveness of monitoring and predictions systems, Maintenance performance and aging, furthermore, the validation process show that the hypotheses has coherency, reinforcing the negative effects of aging on wind turbines and highlighting the impact of dimensions Climatic events and Installation site geography on the aggravation of aging and performance decline of machines.  

This research aims to propose a methodology for choosing specialties that will integrate the own network of a health insurance company located in the city of Natal, state of Rio Grande do Norte. Private health care plans are seen by the population as a complement to the services offered by the Unified Health System (SUS), coexisting with this public service. Considering that the public sector is the target of numerous criticisms due to its inefficiency, private health care plans expand their share of the national market. Although a significant portion of the population accesses private health services, the sector still operates with a deficit of R$ 21 billion, which raises concerns about spending control and revenue generation. As one of the strategies adopted to maintain its services, the offer of health promotion programs and co-payment stand out. In addition to these strategies, verticalization is also pointed out as an alternative to reduce the fragmentation of services and reduce operating costs. The financial analyses linked to vertical integration point to savings in resources for companies, but only economic aspects are considered, without examining the multiple other characteristics of the problem, such as perceived quality aspects or consultation time. For a decision with several attributes, it’s necessary to consider several aspects beyond the financial analysis, including the subjectivity of the decisionmaker of choosing which medical specialties to bring to the own network. In the case of highly complex health problems, one of the tools used with considerable acceptance is multi-criteria decision analysis. Considering that decisions in the health area involve the confrontation between multiple objectives, and knowing that the criteria used in health evaluation have profound ethical implications, decision analysis allows the investigation of these objectives and criteria in the light of possible conflicts between multiple stakeholders. For this analysis, it is suggested the combined use of Value-Focused Thinking with the FITradeoff decision support method, in order to obtain a hierarchization of the medical specialties suitable to be contracted for own network.

The objective of this study is to investigate which are the main factors that influence the use of loyalty programs in small and medium-sized companies in high-end retail in the state capital. Loyalty programs emerged in the eighties with the purpose of developing searches among consumers and companies, having a great importance in the business sphere, becoming an essential tool for customer retention. Technological evolution and the transformation of society contributed to the formation of new consumption habits, since consumers are always in search of new products and services, and it is also necessary, the evolution of companies to keep up with new needs, causing one of the greatest business challenges, to know more deeply the customer's consumption habits. All loyalty mechanisms occur in the approach of the customer to the company, the use of these mechanisms allows the obtaining of important information to improve the relationship with the customer, analyzes the level of satisfaction and understanding their needs, thus adjusting the services with the information obtained, ready for a competitive advantage in the face of great market competition, gaining loyalty and reducing the risk of losing it to competing companies. In view of the market dynamics, it is essential to understand the factors that influence consumer behavior, such as: social, personal and psychological factors, which contribute to the formation of the customer's profile. Social factors determine how decisions taken by the consumer in relation to a product or brand from the position it occupies in society. Personal factors are considered individual aspects of each consumer as well as the subject's life condition. Regarding psychological factors, it involves consumption and the need for satisfaction. The standard of consumer procedures has been changing at increasingly shorter intervals and knowing the stimuli that enhance these changes gives the company strategic advantages over other competitors. The research has a proposal that will be developed through a questionnaire, based on the understanding of the use and implementation of loyalty programs in business strategy, not small and medium-sized high-speed retail in the city of Natal, by the retail segment. Finally, the expected result is to better understand the essence of this tool and suggest a roadmap to guide its implementation.

Based on Data Envelopment Analysis and the portfolio management theory proposed by Harry Markowitz, this paper studies the efficiency of asset diversification to compose an optimal portfolio of stocks among the shares of companies listed on the Brazilian Stock Exchange (B3). It is founded that from economic data of the companies, allied to the macroeconomic and political conjuncture, the use of statistical resources and application of the Network Data Envelopment Analysis (NDEA), it is possible to construct a sample of papers whose diversified combination makes this investment portfolio optimal for the investor's profile. To carry out this assessment, a multiple case study was conducted, with an intentional sample of 180 companies registered at B3, with data referring to each quarter of the year 2022, disclosed by each company in the sample. The variables used in this evaluation were two inputs (operating expenses and total assets), two intermediate inputs (net income and total revenues) and two outputs (average return on shares in the market and volatility). Then, the output-oriented NDEA was used to identify which companies are efficient to compose a stock investment portfolio. To measure performance and analyze the portfolio, the Ibovespa index, the main performance indicator for shares traded on B3, was chosen as a benchmark. The test resulted in a positive response to the hypothesis formulated regarding the possibility of success of this diversification method. Finally, it concludes with the recommendation of the method, being an adequate strategy to assist investors in decision making. and that can be complemented by means of predictive resources, such as the bootstrap model.

Wind farms must regularly interrupt your energy production to perform the programmed maintenance. Since this pause causes losses in generation and any shortfall must be compensated with energy purchases on market, it is essential to determine the optimal time to apply the maintenance for wind turbines. Predicting wind speed through mathematical models has made it possible to define real-time production operation and equipment control. Therefore, this research has the objective in propose a model for planning wind turbine shutdowns for maintenance with use of wind forecasting and digital twin. This work was performed in three steps. The first step involved literature research about asset maintenance, wind forecasting and digital twin. The second step included the systematic literature review about the prediction models used the recent times with applications to maintenance and digital twin. The third step covered conceptual modeling for wind turbine maintenance planning and application on a wind farm. The proposed model corresponds to a combination of predictable multi-turbines spatiotemporal correlations framework method with an optimal maintenance schedule model. It consists of a probabilistic model, using predicted wind speed data and electricity spot market prices, also estimated in a stochastic program called Newave. Wind speed data is used on the multi-turbine spatiotemporal correlation algorithm; simultaneously two autoregressive moving average methods are applied for a long-term forecast of one week, while the other one is done in months. During the forecasting process, the input data is adjusted continuously for any variation. This correction is possible through the virtual simulation of the turbines using the digital twin, making the model a monitoring system with real-time feedback. The maintenance program for applying the model is centered on planned corrective, preventive and predictive methods, a decision-making is applied to choose the optimal time to interrupt production and carry out maintenance.

Globalization and the widespread use of the internet have transformed the relationship between consumers and companies, establishing direct and active interaction between them. In this scenario, understanding the customer lifecycle is vital to maintaining the operational and financial stability of organizations, with a sharp focus on factors that promote customer satisfaction and loyalty. Faced with the issue of churn – which reflects the loss of customers – several industries face challenges that directly impact their profitability and sustainability. Therefore, this research aims to develop a tool that improves predictive churn modeling, enriching it with causal analysis to not only predict more accurately, but offer clear interpretations of the reasons for customer loss. Using the IBM Telco Customer churn dataset, version 11.1.3, as empirical support, the study seeks to identify variables that influence churn and evaluate effective retention strategies. The methodological approach includes the use of machine learning techniques such as LGBM combined with advanced causal analysis methods such as Double Robust machine learning and Conditional Average Treatment Effects, CATE, modeling. Developing a tool that helps identify customer retention factors, from demographic aspects to the nature of the services provided, analyzing variables such as type of contract, gender, age, among others. The results are expected to validate the theories of Wu et al. (2021) on churn prediction and reveal profiles of customers with a greater propensity to abandon, as exposed by the authors of Rudd et al. (2021), contributing significantly to customer relationship management and offering strategic data for the development of more assertive retention tactics.

Museums are institutions that were created to acquire, conserve, investigate, disseminate and exhibit the material testimonies of humanity and its surroundings, to promote education, citizenship, culture, enjoyment and quality of life in society. Even though they hold works of cultural and material value, have employees and receive a diverse visitor population, many museums lack, or partially have, accessibility and disaster prevention and response systems, in particular, an emergency evacuation system. This research project aims to analyze the accessibility and emergency evacuation conditions of museums in the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, and the preparation of the user population (employees and visitors) for safe evacuation from the museum in an emergency context. The population studied in this research comprised employees and visitors to the museums in question. Initially, a bibliographical search was carried out on the topic of this research in the Periódicos Capes virtual library and documentary research on standards and legislation on accessibility, emergency and evacuation systems. Then, using the Global Analysis Guide for Museums, a survey and general characterization of existing museums in the city of Natal were carried out, in which a standard checklist was applied to evaluate the compliance of accessibility and systems or devices emergency and evacuation of each museum for the user population. Then, based on the Ergonomic Work Analysis (EWA), a case study was carried out in one of the museums in the city of Natal/RN, which was chosen for convenience. In the case study, the Case Study Museum's Global Analysis Guide was applied, to understand its structure, organization and global functioning, the Visitation Observation Plan, to identify accessibility problems, and the Conversation Guide with employees, museum managers and visitors to analyze their perception regarding accessibility, risks, emergency systems and evacuation. Also, a simulated exercise was carried out, with an emergency scenario inducing the evacuation of the museum's user population, to analyze their behavior in the face of the simulated emergency situation. To assess the perception of risk and the museum's accessibility, emergency and evacuation systems by the user population, a questionnaire was administered immediately before and after the simulated exercise. Also, immediately after the simulated exercise, the Conversation Script was applied to the user population that participated in the simulation to comment on the emergency scenario applied and the museum's accessibility, emergency and evacuation systems and their relationships with the behaviors assumed by them. in front of the simulated scenario. It was observed that museums that had their accessibility and emergency compliance assessed needed improvements in both the physical and informational accessibility system and the emergency system. It was also observed that the simulated exercise carried out in the case study museum contributed to sharpening the participants' risk perception and improving the museum's accessibility and emergency system. This research contributes to the theoretical and methodological knowledge of Ergonomics and Accident or Disaster Risk Management, considering the application in museums, and, from a practical point of view, to the efficiency of emergency evacuation of the case study museum and to the improvement of public policies, management and architectural and emergency projects for museums, with regard to the safety of the user population in emergency situations.

Clinical Research is defined as any scientific investigation conducted on humans, involving experiments of high methodological rigor, aimed at discovering new treatments for diseases and assessing the safety and efficacy of new drugs. This provides answers to various questions related to therapeutic practices and the quality of healthcare services. Patient Safety is becoming an increasingly discussed topic in light of the new services offered by healthcare. ANVISA established in RDC No. 36 of 2013 the requirement for the creation of Patient Safety Units in healthcare services and the reporting of Adverse Events (AE) associated with patient care. In Clinical Research Centers, it is necessary that all clinical study protocols are conducted with the highest quality required by pharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies, ensuring adherence to the protocols with guaranteed quality, reporting any AEs or errors in the study protocol processes, and continuously developing a culture of improvement. The methodology of the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) proposes a quality certification in Patient Safety in Clinical Research through quality procedures and policies. The main objective of the research is to analyze bibliographic studies in scientific databases directly related to institutions conducting clinical research, using AAHRPP methodology as a quality criterion for safety protocols. This study aims to bring the AAHRPP methodology to Brazilian Research Centers so they can use it as a basis for creating or monitoring their processes, making them capable of receiving proposals for globally relevant clinical studies. In doing so, it will bring science and new therapeutic technologies closer to the population, demonstrating how well-conducted clinical trials directly impact health promotion.

This work aims to identify and analyze the factors driving innovation in the German context, particularly in the digital transformation landscape. Given the increasing impact of digital transformation across various industries, the research seeks to understand how these factors interact and contribute to the success of innovation ecosystems in Germany, taking into account economic, technological, and public policy aspects. In your method, the study employed a qualitative approach based on the 6C framework, which provided a solid structure for data collection and analysis. The method involved conducting 53 interviews with different profiles of professionals directly engaged in Germany’s innovation ecosystems. These interviews consisted of 71 open-ended questions, organized according to six distinct respondent profiles, with 12 questions per profile. The analysis followed an exploratory approach to identify the key success factors related to digital transformation and innovation in the German context. The results reveal several critical factors contributing to the success of Germany’s innovation ecosystems, including investments in research and development, favorable government policies, effective collaboration between companies and academic institutions, and a business culture that values innovation and calculated risk-taking. Furthermore, the study found that the integration of these factors fosters an environment highly conducive to innovation, strengthening the country’s economic and technological development. The research also highlighted the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (Mittelstand) in digital transformation, with initiatives such as Mittelstand Digital 4.0 and Digital Hubs acting as catalysts for innovation in the country.

The project management has several approaches, techniques and methods, but these have not been sufficient in the face of increasing complexity of projects where it is necessary a significant amount of decisions to be made. Therefore, the academy and the organizations have invested in supplying the difficulties of project management through advanced analytical techniques, one of these techniques is the Artificial Intelligence. This study aims to propose a framework of applications, solutions and benefits present in the application of principles and tools of artificial intelligence in project management. To achieve this goal it was used the research procedure with four stages: (i) theoretical research through a systematic literature review, with analysis of 158 articles published in peer-reviewed journals, (ii) conceptual modeling of the framework, (iii) survey research applied to experts with scientific publication on the researched theme, for validation of the conceptual framework, and (iv) final structuring of the framework. As a result, the framework presents three dimensions: Benefits, Solutions and Applications. In the Benefits dimension, the application of the IA has as its main benefit the achievement of greater efficiency in the use of project resources. In the dimension Solutions, the most used AI tools in project management are genetic algorithms and artificial neural networks. In the applications dimension, the use of AI in project management are in schedule planning and resource planning. It is concluded that most of the research on the subject is in the search for improvement in the efficiency of resources, time and costs, through the use of genetic algorithms to plan projects in the civil construction sector.

In an increasingly changing society, in which technological and social development take on a frenetic pace, knowledge and information become inputs of great value. For organizations to be efficient in environments with these characteristics, they need to look for ways that systematize knowledge, information so that they are consolidated and become a usable input in their processes. It is in this scenario that the Benchlearning tool appears, which aims to guide organizations and people to focus on organizational learning and continuous improvement from the knowledge acquired by observing other organizations considering their own characteristics and limitations. In public administration it is no different, in view of the obligation provided by law to be efficient, bodies and actors working in this sector need to have this constant concern in their actions. In the field of health, this concern assumes a much greater level of responsibility, given the vital need for the population to develop actions to promote health and prevent and combat epidemics, as is the case of the Syphilis epidemic in our country. In this sense, this study aims to identify the benefits of applying Benchlearning principles in an intraorganizational view in health communication campaign projects. The research procedure was structured in 4 stages: 1) State of the art of the benchlearning theme 2) Documentary analysis of research on the communication process in health projects; 3) Field research (case study directed to the first 3 campaigns carried out by the Rapid Response to Syphilis project); and 4) Identification of the benefits of the Benchlearning tool in health communication from an intraorganizational perspective. The initial analysis of the information obtained in the case study demonstrates the importance that experience and learning assume for the efficiency of the campaigns, at the same time that it points to a deficit of the project in not systematizing its lessons learned.

Offshore wind energy is proving to be an increasingly viable option, driven by the energy transition, technological advances and the maturity of the supply chain. This growth highlights the need to develop ports, onshore infrastructure and the connection between maritime and land-based activities to effectively support Offshore Wind Farms (OWFs). The complex development cycle of the port comprises the following phases: feasibility studies; engineering design; construction; andoperationalization. These phases involve a series of performance measures that can be structured to track project progress, monitor and evaluate operations, ensure environmental compliance, conduct risk analysis related to the port's performance, among other purposes. The objective of this study is to establish a conceptual framework for measuring performance throughout the various stages of port development. The research method involved: theoretical foundation and Systematic Literature Review; document analysis; case study; and, modeling, validation and proposition of the framework. As a result, it was observed that there is a lack of research on the performance of offshore wind ports. However, 26 drivers for their development were identified, along with 32 general drivers for port development. Finally, a conceptual framework was constructed, consisting of 7 dimensions, 25 pillars and 136 indicators.

Higher education institutions (HEIs) are designated as important actors in the process of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda. As agents of knowledge, HEIs maintain a critical role in collaboration for a socially just, economically viable and environmentally sustainable world. As a general objective, this dissertation aims to understand how the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda are being incorporated into higher education institutions, analyzing in publications and research the initiatives, barriers and experiences of universities that are aligning with the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda. In the light of this context, the specific objectives of this work include a compilation of published articles on the theme that sought: i)  to understand the role of HEIs in the implementation of the SDGs, through a systematic review of the literature, identifying case studies of universities that are aligning with the theme;  ii) identify, through a bibliometric study, how the SDGs are being addressed in the publications of Brazilian theses and dissertations; and finally iii) how Brazilian federal universities are incorporating and disseminating the SDGs, highlighting successful initiatives that reflect alignment with the 2030 Agenda. From the adoption of a systematic review of the literature, a bibliometric study and empirical research with federal public universities, it was possible to gather a large balance of results. These analyses consisted of a first effort to survey and share the situation of the knowledge about the existence of the 2030 Agenda, this being research that contributes to foster dialogue and improve experiences that should be a guide to modify this reality. All studies and analyses indicate that there is still a trajectory to be traced, mainly because higher education institutions act on their own, without effective coordination of actions. It was also possible to identify the temporal evolution of research, the areas and institutions that stand out the most, as well as the SDGs that have been more addressed in theses and dissertations, pointing out that this process needs to be more driven by institutions, encouraging master's and doctoral students to reflect how their research impact and influence the SDGs. All elements and results have been structured in different dimensions, providing fundamental information on how HEIs can implement the SDGs and how the SDGs contribute to the development of these institutions, highlighting the priority role that the university acquires in achieving these global objectives.

Renewable energy sources have become competitive as a consequence of technological development, incentive policies and other factors. Although there are several benefits associated with the use of this energy modality, electricity generation by these sources depends on meteorological and climatic factors, which limits it to meet the hourly demand of electricity in the market.  Green hydrogen (H2V) emerges as the main alternative of energy storage from renewable sources to fill this gap and as the central pillar of decarbonisation of the economy, given that it also enables energy transport over intercontinental distances, in addition to its versatility of industrial applications. The study aims at proposing guidelines for the development of green hydrogen in a country that has a high potential of renewable energy sources. The research was developed in three stages: i) theoretical research on the themes, characteristics of H2V, prospective studies on the market, value chain and standards; ii) case study on roadmaps for green hydrogen in pioneer countries and; iii) modeling of guidelines for the development of the green hydrogen market in a country with high potential of renewable energy sources. As a result, 11 guidelines that contribute to the development of green hydrogen were identified, grouped in the following dimensions: Market, Regulation, Infrastructure, and RD&I.

The world quickly experienced a change in the way of working due to a worldwide need caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the perception of advantages that telework (home office) presented itself to companies that work with processes and customer service. However, not all employees have the same adaptation and performance when performing their activities outside the company's premises and not adapting to work remotely can have negative consequences on the health of employees and, consequently, on the achievement of the organization's goals. With this scenario, the decision support multicriteria analysis presents itself as an application tool to the decision process in the selection of employees with the best profile for telework activities. This research aims to develop a multi-criteria decision model for selecting employees to work remotely in a telephone service company located in the state of Rio Grande do Norte / Brazil, based on the flexible elicitation concepts of the FITradeoff (Flexible and Interactive) method Tradeoff). FITradeoff is a method for eliciting scale constants that was created according to the scope of the Theory of Multi-Attribute Value (MAVT). Thus, it is expected that the model to be developed will be able to provide information to support the choice of employees to carry out work in a telework regime, based on consistent prioritization criteria, supporting decision-makers in defense of the choice made.

The decline in production of mature oil and gas fields has led companies to further optimize their inventory and acquisition costs. This work aims to compare the accuracy of different methods of base and temporal hierarchy forecasting of demand for coating tubes for onshore oil wells in Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará (RN & CE). The research method was exploratory used in the forecasting methods: naive, seasonal naive, ETS (ExponenTial Smooth), ARIMA (AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average) and THETA, with accuracy metrics: MAPE (absolute mean error), sMAPE (synmetric mean absolute percentage error), RMSE (root mean squared error) and MASE (percentage error absolute mean of scale), using a training approach in the period from 2010 to 2016 and testing in the years 2017 and 2018. For the base forecasts, the ETS and ARIMA methods match the best of the results, the benchmark itself (naive). Considering the temporal reconciliation, there were several improvements in different methods and metrics applied, however, not being unanimous in all cases. It is highlighted the THETA method when using this approach, which occurred because the base accuracy is low, therefore being more efficient in this scenario of low accuracy. The different results between the frequencies can be explained by the difficulties of the reconciled models of capturing, with relative accuracy, as components of trend and seasonality of the models.

International Cooperation is an important means for strengthening institutional capacities and developing countries in the most diverse areas, including health. However, there is a knowledge gap in the literature regarding the development of specific performance measurement systems for international cooperation agreements and activities that go beyond the financial perspective or factors intrinsic to the object of cooperation. The objective of this study is propose a model to measure the performance of international cooperation activities aimed to public health projects, using as a case study the experience of the "Sífilis Não!" Project. The research is applied in nature, takes a qualitative-quantitative approach with the research case as a methodological procedure. The research is comprised of three stages: i) theoretical research, through the Systematic Literature Review (RBS) technique; ii) field research, conducted through a research case, which had as sources of information project documents, online information and interviews with key project participants and experts in international cooperation; iii) structuring of the performance measurement system. The proposed model has 23 indicators distributed in 6 dimensions: Sustainability (3), Result (9), Stakeholders (2), Processes (5), Learning (2) and Resources (2). The proposed performance indicators showed that the international cooperation activities of the “Sífilis Não!” Project were diversified, including the entire typology presented by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Thus, it contributed to disseminating the syphilis agenda in the fields of health, education and science and technology, in addition to problematizing the syphilis epidemic in countries that did not have it on their public health agenda.

This research aimed to propose a methodology to evaluate the efficiency of the Sounding Rocket Launch Operation (SRLO) through Network Data Envelopment Analysis (NDEA) and game theory, for suborbital rockets, launched at from a launcher with an inclined ramp, with the adjustment parameter, the calculation of ballistic wind for the launch region, in order to allow SRLO managers to make their decisions based on benchmarking analyzes, since there is a lack of efficiency analyzes on rockets and SRLO. Investments in the Brazilian aerospace sector become more contingent due to the country's current economic scenario. This requires the Brazilian aerospace sector to optimize its financial resources, therefore Ghana for the better use of these resources, and consequently, an increase in the efficiency of the internal processes of its executing agencies, become indispensable to achieve the economic and financial results desired by the country. In this context, the measurement and improvement of the SRLO efficiency of the Brazilian Launch Fields made it possible, in addition to providing better services to the Center's customers, a better allocation of resources and increased productivity, in an increasingly competitive and super-specialized sector. The research on SRLO will have a time frame from 2009 to 2019 in the launches of space vehicles of the training rockets project launched from the Barreira do Inferno Launch Center (CLBI- Centro de Lançamento da Barreira do Inferno) observing 24 launches. From this analysis, the results show that there was high efficiency of launches in the Launcher Adjustment Stage (LAS) with an average of 75.40% due to the OLFS control actions performed by the Launch Center team at this stage and a very low Efficiency in launches in the Atmospheric Flight Stage (AFS) with an average of 13.50%, due to the interference of exogenous factors in the OLFS process at this stage, mainly from the launch field atmosphere, so the average Global Efficiency of launches was of 9.80%, a value close to the efficiency of the EVA stage. This new approach sought to answer how a mathematical technique can help suborbital launch field managers' decision making.

The diversity and availability of natural resources give Brazil excellent opportunities to develop in a sustainable way, combining economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental conservation. In this context, electricity plays a fundamental role in this development. The government's strategy to meet the increase in energy demand is the transition from the predominantly fossil matrix to an energy matrix of clean and renewable sources. Due to the accelerated technological development of the turbine, offshore wind energy appears as a viable option already explored in several countries. Offshore wind farms allow the use of turbines with greater power than on land, use of an unexplored maritime area, in addition to other advantages. The objective of the research is to propose programs for managing the environmental impacts of the environmental impacts of offshore wind projects in Brazil. The research method is characterized as descriptive, of an applied nature, with inductive logical argumentation, with a qualitative approach and carrying out case studies. The research procedure included three stages: theoretical research, conducting case studies and systematizing the proposal. As a result, environmental impact management programs are presented with the aim of reducing negative impacts and enhancing the positive impacts of offshore wind farms. The programs were systematized according to the macro-phases of the life cycle of an offshore wind project: installation, operation and maintenance and decommissioning. The proposal contributes so that the management of environmental impacts is better understood and managed by offshore wind farms entrepreneurs and by technicians from regulatory institutions.

The excess demand profile in relation to the available care capacity is a reality in public health services. In the context of Intensive Care Units (ICU) in Brazil the scenario is one of inequality: out of the 45,848 ICU beds distributed among 532 of the 5,570 Brazilian cities, only 49% are available to the Unified Health System (SUS), while the amount corresponding to 51% is reserved for the benefit of only 23% of the population. Given this scenario, the multicriteria decision support analysis (MCDA) acts as a potential tool to application in the decision-making process of resource allocation due to the robustness and capacity of the multicriteria methods to consider conflicting criteria. This research aimed to develop a multi-criteria model to support the decision for allocation of Adult ICU beds in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, which are under the management of the Complexo Estadual de Regulação (CER/RN). A twelve-step framework was used to apply the PROMETHEE I and II methods. The prioritization problem was approached from the perspective of the P.γ ranking problem in which six clinical vignettes based on real patients were ranked in order of preference, defined by the observed value judgments of the decision maker. Two pre-orders were recommended: a partial one, in which four pairs of actions were incomparable to each other, and a complete one, in which relationships between each pair of alternatives were described. The sensitivity analysis performed identified considerable robustness of the model since changes in positions in the rankings could be justified by the proximities of the values of each patient's positive and negative over-ranking fluxes. Thus, the proposed model formalized the decision-making process of prioritizing access to adult ICU beds and granted it a transparent and rational character by structuring the considered elements.

 

 

In order to achieve a good level of functioning, each and every organization needs to define inventory levels appropriate to its supply. In order to corroborate with inventory planning and control, there is a usual classification method known as ABC classification, which categorizes items in stock according to a criterion, which is usually the demand or the monetary value of the item. It can be said that currently classifying items in stock according to a single criterion does not actually represent the stock, and there are other criteria to consider, such as obsolescence and criticality. Thus, the research aims to propose and develop an ABC classification model with the multicriteria analysis method FITradeoff in the stock of materials and medicines of a university hospital in Natal-RN. With this, the aim is to contribute effectively to the organization of the stock of medicines in a university hospital, reaching benefits such as reducing the disparity between the physical and accounting stock, reducing waste with expired medicines, reducing ruptures due to lack of material, reducing the carrying amount of the inventory.

Logistics influences production and distribution costs and time in several sectors. In the offshore wind energy sector, installation logistics costs can reach 20% of CAPEX. Two relevant factors in the sector are: the accelerated technological development, with an increase in the rated power and in the dimensions of the turbines; and the increased distance from the offshore wind farms to the coast, these influence the costs of installing offshore wind farms. The study aims to propose a framework for logistical decisions for the installation of offshore wind farms. The research method is characterized as descriptive, with a qualitative-quantitative approach. The research procedure included theoretical research on offshore wind energy, installation of offshore wind farms and logistics, using systematic literature review. The field research consisted of a survey with 29 experts from 14 different countries to validate the conceptual framework. As a result, the framework contemplates 8 logistical decisions required in the installation of an offshore wind farm that impact “time” and “cost” performance objectives. Logistics decisions are influenced by factors: environmental and meteorological conditions, project characteristics, turbine characteristics, characteristics of available vessels, availability of infrastructure for installation logistics and stakeholders. Finally, it is concluded that the proposed framework presents the importance of decision making with a global view, highlighting that taking only one decision not combined with the others can harm and increase the costs of the next decision.

 

 

Urology is a surgical specialty of medicine that acts on the urinary tract of men and women and on the male reproductive system. The urologist is responsible for treating organs such as kidneys, bladder, urethra, ureter, testicles, penis, prostate and others. There are several types of surgeries involving this specialty, from the simplest such as vasectomy to the most complicated, such as tumor removal and organ transplants. For urological surgeries, within the scope of the Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS, there are queues to perform the procedures, generating patient apprehension and even the evolution of the disease due to the delay in the surgery. In this context, hospital managers must seek the efficient use of resources and patient satisfaction at the lowest cost. Among these concerns, the topic of surgical interventions is particularly important due to its representativeness in hospital operating costs. In addition, queues at public hospitals in Brazil are common, with a large concentration of patients and prohibitive waiting times in various sectors, including surgical centers. In elective surgeries, when an urgency and emergency procedure is not necessary, queuing also occurs. In these lines, a patient with a less severe condition can wait for the procedure for several years, and may have complications in their health condition. At the Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes - HUOL, there are more than 2,000 people queuing for elective surgery at the urology clinic, and the wait can last for up to two years for the simplest cases. This situation worsened with the suspension of elective surgeries during the pandemic period of COVID-19. Thus, the present study aims to develop a multicriteria decision analysis model for the management of urological surgery queues at a university hospital. As a method of study, an applied, descriptive study of documentary research and case study will be carried out. The study will start by analyzing cases in the literature for applying multicriteria decision analysis techniques in surgical environments for patient selection, followed by a survey of the criteria currently used in the hospital and identification of the process actors for structuring the problem. After structuring the problem, the main objectives will be identified and measured according to criteria that will guide the development of the proposed model. The selection of the most appropriate method will be carried out after structuring the problem and identifying the decision maker. At the end of the study, the development of a model is expected to support decision makers to optimize the queue of urology surgeries, aiming at transparency and agility in all procedures.

The general objective of this work was to develop and apply a model for process performance qualification of industrial processes with statistical tools. As part of this objective, design of experiment, as well as analyzes of process stability and capacity and the evaluation of these results by two types of sampling plans, single and double from ANSI / ASQ Z1. 4 for attributes. This paper tries to answer the following question: How to make the performance qualification of industrial processes with statistical base? Thus, we studied the process and product specification variables of an industrial process, the rolling process of a packaging industry through the use of statistical tools for control and performance in a case study. The main tools used are: design of the experiment, ACF (autocorrelation function) and ACFP (partial autocorrelation function) plots, individual control plots with Western Electric rules application and adjustment of an ARIMA model for autocorrelated data. From the results obtained in the case study, the model for the process performance qualification of industrial processes with statistical tools was developed, which has three main steps: definition of the data to be used in the qualification, order of execution of the analyzes and order of execution of the evaluation of the results.

Considering the high levels of competitiveness faced by organizations, the area of planning and analysis of experiments gain notable prominence, as it consists of a fundamental statistical technique with several contributions, such as, for example, in the process of developing new products, in increasing process efficiency, in reducing the variability and costs involved, in addition to considerable gains in data analysis time. This work aims to develop a procedure to guide the planning and analysis of an experiment. For this, the main concepts about this area of study were used, as well as the understanding of the basic principles of experimentation (randomization, replication and blocking). This study seeks to contribute to the literature in three ways. First, with the development of a guide for studies in the area of experimental planning to help researchers who have or do not have experience with experimentation. Second, this study seeks to disseminate the importance of planned experiments for different areas of study, considering that experimental planning helps in reducing costs, optimizing time and resources. And third, with a systematic review of the literature in order to verify the studies that used experimental planning and that sought, even initially, to develop guidelines and recommendations for researchers who will make use of this tool.

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) has been a center of debate in a global context by governments, companies and institutions wishing to improve their governance and reap the benefits of this practice. In the national context, especially in Federal Higher Education Institutions, the subject is very recent and was stimulated by the Joint Normative Instruction MP / CGU nº 01/2016. This norm has as objectives the strengthening of the management, improvement of processes and achievement of organizational objectives of organs and entities of the federal executive power. Taking into consideration this norm, the present study aims to evaluate the level of maturity of risk management in Brazilian Federal Universities. To do this, the research will use a questionnaire, allied to a neural network (map of kohonen) in order to diagnose the degree of maturity in the Institutions, identify barriers to implementation and good practices, and characterize and identify similarities of their programs in risk management. As results of this work, the expectation is to obtain a ranking of risk management based on the degree of maturity, as well as a characterization of risk management at the national level, particularly in the scenario of Federal Universities. The research also aims to provide practical information for managers of higher education institutions, in order to assist them in the adoption / review of ERM programs.

Decision making is a process present in the routine of people and organizations around the world. Whether due to the number of agents involved or the conflicting character of the choice criteria, in many situations this process can be complex and there may not be a trivial solution. In this context, the so-called Multicriteria Decision Support (AMD) stands out, a decision support methodology, composed of several methods in different conceptions. Among the main concepts, there is the so-called Ideal Solution concept, with classic methods such as TOPSIS, VIKOR, and more recent ones such as the Reference Ideal Method (RIM). Unlike the classic methods, the use of the concept of Ideal of Reference, the RIM method allows to solve problems where the ideal in each criterion is not necessarily extreme values to the interval of each criterion. The RIM method, as well as the classic methods, was proposed to be applied in situations described in clear (real) values. However, in many decision problems, information is inaccurate, vague, incomplete and inconsistent. In order to solve these situations, these methods are extended to other types of sets, which allow representing this information, such as the Fuzzy Set, Intuitionist Fuzzy Set and the Neutrosophical Set. Considered a generalization of the others, the Neutrosophical Set can adequately represent incomplete, vague and inconsistent information, that is, it represents the decision-making process more completely than the others. With a Systematic Literature Review, it was found that there is no MCDM method in the literature using the concept of Ideal of Reference to solve decision problems in the neutral environment. In this sense, this work aimed to propose an extension of the RIM method to the neutral environment, allowing to properly represent multicriteria decision making problems with inaccurate, incomplete, vague and inconsistent data. The new method was proposed with two different normalization functions. The first considering distance to the average of the extremes of the Ideal of Reference and the second considering the distance to the extremes of the Ideal of Reference. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the method, an illustrative example in the global supplier selection literature was used. After applying the method, it was found that for both normalization functions, the ordering of the alternatives was the same.

The world lives in an era of knowledge and, due to a changing scenario, countries see in universities the possibility of being included in the world circuit of knowledge and skills. University evaluation has been the focus of several rankings worldwide and is an example of influence in the paradigm shift in universities, as the positive results from the evaluation process provide these institutions with a reputation, social and academic prestige, in addition to a benchmark among institutions about the services and practices provided in addition to the strengths and weaknesses of each course / university. In general, information on teaching, research and internationalization activities are combined to generate a grade used in a ranking order. This method is widely criticized for not showing unanimity in the formulation of its indicators and for relating the performance of an institution to just a number. In view of the above, this dissertation proposed an alternative means to academic ranking, the use of clustering techniques with neural networks. Self-organizing maps (SOM) are models of competitive neural networks. Through unsupervised learning, they perform a mapping between multidimensional data, generally two-dimensional, which approximates the original density of the information, being a technique widely used in areas such as data analysis and pattern recognition. This work presents a cross-sectional analysis of data from Brazilian universities through the training of maps with data from the 2014 and 2019 Ranking Universitário da Folha. From the profiles of the clusters, after the segmentation of the trained maps, it is possible to identify the positive points and of each group. With the identification of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in these different years, an analysis of the transitions between the clusters in the years 2014 and 2019 was carried out. Comparisons of the profiles of the clusters are shown in order to characterize their behavior in the analyzed period and showing a new one. As an alternative to the analysis of HEI performance data, the study also allows for the verification of disparities between the regions of Brazil.

Global warming has alerted the international community to the need to of renewable and clean energy sources in the generation of electricity. In this scenario, wind energy is expanding. As this source depends on a central equipment, the wind turbine, its operation and maintenance are fundamental for the viability of the business and, therefore, the application of technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, can improve the competitiveness of the sector. The objective of this study is to present a framework for the application of Artificial Intelligence in the operation and maintenance of wind farms. For this, theoretical and field research were carried out. The theoretical research complemented a traditional literature review and a systematic literature review. State-of-the-art was identified through the analysis of 51 articles obtained from the Periodicos Capes Platform. The research identified the equipment studied, data, methods and metrics adopted in the application of AI. The field research was carried out by applying the framework to a wind farm, simulating an application of condition monitoring for bearings through the modelling of its temperature using SCADA data. Three neural networks models were tested: Feedforward Neural Network, Autoregressive Neural Network and Long Short- Term Memory (LSTM). The LSTM model presented the best performance among the tested algorithms, even when compared to other studies, which shows that it can be used for this type of application. The proposed framework is composed by four macro-steps: Selecting application, data preparation, model development and evaluation of results.

This paper aims to propose a fair efficiency evaluation model for electric power transmission in Brazil. The attention to this segment is mainly due to its participation in the greater part of the costs involved to define the value of the electric energy tariff and to the great territorial extension that, together with the regional and climatic divergences, make the process delicate. The power transmission system in Brazil, under the responsibility of the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL), adopts the revenue-cap (RC) model for incentive-based regulation. For this, among other factors, an efficiency analysis is performed through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The systematic search and analysis of previous studies revealed that DEA applications, and adjacent models, in the transmission segment is still low, and the network modelling is the most used in addressing the problem. Thus, the evaluation model that this research adopts is the two-stage DEA network, in which the set of variables is responsible for explaining operational efficiency (stage 1) and financial (stage 2). The calculation is based on the centralized multiplicative method, allied to the Nash bargain game. The game theory approach aims at eliminating possible flexibilities and uncertainties inherent in network models, guaranteeing the uniqueness of optimum efficiency per stage. A two-dimensional representation of the results is also performed, in order to graphically observe the behaviour of the DMUs in front of the efficiency frontiers. It was found that the main problem of the companies under analysis is in the financial field. The graphical analysis, together with the performance indexes obtained, allows the transmitters to establish tactical guidelines that benefit them, as well as the regulatory agency and, consequently, the consumer society in general.

The shrimp farming business holds a significant amount of machines assist all stages of shrimp production, therefore their proper operation is essential to the final product’s quality. These assets need to be maintained periodically due to natural wear or human interference problems. With the purpose to structure the necessary plans to manage the maintenance processes, the need to create a department such as Maintenance Planning and Control (MPC) surfaces. It represents a door to solve problems regarding operational and managerial difficulties encountered. Consequently, the research aims to analyze the implementation of the MPC in a company in the shrimp farming business in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Norte, where, with the implementation, it is intended to supply input for the company to develop and improve its management culture in the area. The study is categorized as an action research as it involves direct actions from the researcher, it is an applied research, and its objectives are descriptive and exploratory. The application methodology supplies directions to a good MPC implementation, where the direct relationship between researcher and company provides better familiarity and mutual help. The utilization of existent practices in the maintenance macro process and management and quality tools provides the needed direction to comply with previously established goals. Results can be perceived, such as a better standardization management, team structuring and reshaping, equipment identification and tracking, routines management, yearly planning, visible management and creation and implementation of indicators. From the implementation of the MPC sector, the studied company could prove how the maintenance department was unsatisfactory and needed structural and management improvement, hence, the performance monitoring through the answers obtained by the indicators and by the daily perception of corrective measures can be highlighted

Statistical quality control is one of the most important knowledge fronts of quality engineering. Its main objective is the systematic reduction of the variability in the characteristics of the product or process. One of the ways to analyze these characteristics is through the control charts, which allows the monitoring of the process. However, some assumptions are necessary for its use, as is the independence between observations. However, in practice, many processes do not fulfill this assumption and end up generating an auto-correlated process. This autocorrelation, if not noticed, can generate an increase in alarm numbers, thus stopping the process several times and leading to an increase in operating costs. Standard control charts, in general, do not involve the calculation of autocorrelation. An ideal graph to monitor small process shifts and even some autocorrelation processes is the exponentially weighted moving average, or simply EWMA. It is also desirable to use a template that allows monitoring, data series, or process, regardless of whether such data is presented linearly or non-linearly. A model that presents itself as an alternative to this situation is Transition Distribution and Gaussian Mixture, GMTD. The objective of this work is to combine the advantages of the EWMA control chart with the GMTD model and compare it with the adjustments found in the academic literature to deal with autocorrelation. Such a comparison will be made by the performance of such graphs, the most usual measure for the comparison of control chart performance is through the mean sequence length, ARL. The data used in the comparison of performance are derived from computational simulation, generated in the R software. At the end of this step, conclusions were drawn which showed the best of the graphs to deal with some autocorrelation scenarios. An alternative to using real databases is also suggested at the end of the paper.

Children are among the segments of the population most affected by disasters. Many of the elementary schools in the city of Natal-RN, Brazil, are located in risk areas that concentrate a large number of children under fifteen. However, these schools can play a decisive role in developing and sharpening children's perceptions of risk and promoting the development of safe and resilient attitudes and skills in the face of possible risks and disasters, through educational and training activities. This research was held in schools of the municipal and state public network of the elementary school of the city of Natal/RN, in which the perception of disaster risks of the students (children) was analyzed in three main stages. The first consisted of holding workshops with Focal Groups (FGs) formed by students of the 5th year of elementary school  of a state public school located in the neighborhood of Mãe Luíza, Natal/RN, in order to develop and validate the survey (second stage of the investigation). In the School of Mãe Luíza - SML (fictitious name given to the researched school) four workshops were held, with an approximate duration of an hour and a half each, in which they participated 23 students from the 5th grade “A” and “B” of the school. Each workshop was composed of a FG, constituted of three to eight students, with a range of age between 9 and 14. In the workshops, oriented by motivating themes, the students were invited to talk about their perceptions of disaster risks and preparedness for the confrontation of risks and disasters, the workshops were recorded and, later, the words of the students were analyzed. The second stage of the research consisted of conducting a survey, which was prepared based on the results of the previous stage. Stratified sampling was used for the selection of the surveyed schools, based on the degree of socio-environmental vulnerability of the areas that compose the municipality, which varies from very high to very low. The present investigation was applied only in the areas of very high and high socio-environmental vulnerability, which add 26 of the 60 public municipal schools of Natal city, where there is the 5th year of the elementary school. For the calculation of the sample size, as well Like the random selection of the schools, statistical software R was used, generating a sample of size n = 11 schools (five schools being located in areas of very high vulnerability and six located in areas of high vulnerability). The questionnaires were applied to all the students present in the classroom in the days previously combined for the realization of the research, n = 400 students (being n = 191 of the female sex in = 209 of the male sex, with age range included between 9 and 15). The third stage of the investigation refers to the realization of a case study, which consisted in the realization of a simulated evacuation exercise of the SML, aimed at the entire academic community of the afternoon shift of the school. Prior to the simulation, there was a first aid workshop and three evacuation preparation practices (P1, P2 and P3) for the simulated exercise, constituted by a fire scenario. At the beginning of the P1, P2, and P3 practices, surveys were applied for all the students present, but only the ones applied to the students of the 5th grade were analyzed. In the exercise simulated 47 students (23 students of the 5th grade, 13 students of the 4th year and 11 students from the More Education program), 5 teachers and 7 employees, totaling a total of 59 participants. The first aid workshop, the preparation practices and the simulated evacuation exercise itself were duly recorded. After the performance of the simulation, a debriefing was carried out with the participants to evaluate it and self-evaluate. The same questionnaires applied before the practice of evacuation were again applied to the students of the 5th year of the SML. The results of the survey show that the notion of the term disaster, understood by the students surveyed, is varied and wide. However, analyzing the answers, the two most perceived situations as disasters by the students are flood (n = 151) and fire (n = 69), whose main causes attributed by them are, respectively, rain (n = 301) and playing with fire (n = 227). Flood (n = 180), fire (n = 177) and violence (n = 105) are perceived as the most likely situations to occur in the schools in which they study or in their surroundings. 83% recognize the importance of learning about when a disaster may occur. For the questions that refer to the behaviors/attitudes that should be adopted in emergent situations such as fire, flood and collapse, the answer referring to "going out as quickly as possible" was quite significant and presented, respectively, the following percentages: 31%, 30% and 36%. "Help young children out" corresponded to 21%, 33% and 33% of responses, respectively. In the debriefing performed immediately after the simulation, the students reported that the smoke produced in the simulated exercise had frightened them, due to realism. Encouraged by the simulation coordinator to reflect on it, the students negatively recognized the lack of attitude of all of them to help the students who had fallen during the evacuation and, positively, the behavior of the students who walked down when going through the smoke and the reduced time taken to evacuate the school during the simulated exercise, confronting with the time consumed in the previous practices. Also pointed as positive, for the behavior adopted during the evacuation of the simulated exercise, the received instruction and the practices previously experienced. Before the simulation, 61% of the students (n = 14) stated that, in a fire, they would leave the school, running to the street, and 39% of the students (n = 9) answered that they did not know how to evacuate the school. After the simulation, 100% (n = 23) of the students responded that they felt prepared to evacuate the school. It can be observed that the development of educational and informative actions and practices in schools, related to the preparation, prevention and mitigation of disasters, contribute to sharpen the perception of risks and disasters, and, consequently, develop safe and resilient attitudes and abilities of children. It is hoped that this research can sensitize authorities and agents of the Ministry of Education, the Civil Protection and Defense body and members of the school communities of Fundamental Education I - mainly those located in risk areas - about the importance of continuous preparation of children for the confrontation of risks and disasters in said schools.

The general objective of this dissertation is to propose guidelines for the implementation of an integrated solid waste management and civil protection and defense management model. It is observed  that the occurrence, more and more frequent, of events of the nature (storms, floods, landslides, floods, floods, etc.) in urban centers has been aggravated by global climate change, causing disruption, material loss and human damage to vulnerable populations. The problem of human occupations in areas of risk associated with fragile urban governance in solving them has made populations more vulnerable to risks and disasters. One aspect of great importance, little discussed in science and in the context of global disaster risk reduction policies and actions, concerns the management of waste or solid waste. At the national level, national policies on solid waste and protection and civil defense, although having points of convergence, were conceived separately, and this dissociation is reflected in practice, increasing the population's vulnerability to risks and disasters. This dissertation was developed adopting the Participatory Ergonomics method and a case study carried out in the district of Mãe Luiza, Natal / RN, covering the following aspects: the way of discarding the garbage by the population, the mapping of garbage disposal points by the population, the mapping of garbage accumulation points due to the action of rain, wind, etc., the analysis of the process of garbage collection by the official municipal system, the identification of the associated constraints with the collection process, the analysis of the cleaning of the drainage system and the analysis of the integration of the actions of the municipal systems of disaster risk management and solid waste management. For that, systematic observations were made in said neighborhood, analysis of videos related to the disaster that occurred in the neighborhood in 2014, interviews with the residents displaced by the same disaster and with the agents and managers of the municipal bodies of protection and civil defense and urban cleaning. The diagnosis showed that: some of the population discards garbage in places and in an inappropriate way; the official collection system does not serve equally all areas of the neighborhood, because some are not accessible to the compactor truck, truck with stationary bucket and wheelbarrow; garbage disposed of improperly or that is delayed collecting is dragged to regions (points) of lower slope of relief and storm drain, where they accumulate, causing obstruction of storm drains and flooding, and for slopes downstream from the point where it was originally discarded, generating mechanical pressure in the soil and contributing to the mass movement, due to the rains; due to the volume of garbage produced by the neighborhood, the characteristics of rugged relief and narrow access roads, the collection occurs in three different ways in the neighborhood (compactor truck, truck with stationary bucket and wheelbarrow) and with daily frequency. The reports showed that the interviewees are aware of the relationship between bad waste disposal and the occurrence of disasters, but some of them believe that there was no contribution of garbage to the occurrence of such disaster. It was also identified that communication and cooperation between municipal civil protection and defense and urban cleaning agencies only occurs in situations of imminent disasters or during the response phase. Only recently, with the ongoing process of elaboration of the Municipal Contingency Plan to deal with disasters, that the urban cleaning agent was called by the civil protection and defense agency to contribute to the elaboration and assumption of the responsibilities set forth in the Plan, in the event of disasters. It was verified, at the time, that the municipal company only has tractors and trucks bucket, without prior notice, until the 15 hours of the day. In addition, there was no joint and coordinated planning and action between the two agencies. It was also verified the overlap of competencies of the agencies, regarding the removal of the trash, weeding of gutters and cleaning storm drains and drainage pipes. It is recommended that, in order to reduce the risk of disasters caused by the discards of urban waste in the public places, it is recommended that integrated actions be promoted between municipal protection and civil defense and urban cleaning agencies throughout the rich disaster management cycle. (prevention, mitigation, preparation, response and recovery), giving rise to actions to promote education and permanent socio-environmental culture of environmental preservation and prevention of risks and disasters, the involvement of the population in decision-making and actions, the use of information and communication technologies to aid in the management of disaster risks, and the review of the competencies of municipal agencies, so as to concentrate the cleaning of drainage devices.

This dissertation aimed to analyze the Outdoor´s Gym (OG) in public spaces, which were implanted in Brazil, with the purpose of providing the population with the practice of physical activity, in order to minimize morbidity and mortality rates, as part of a public health policy. This study aims to classify the users and the physical activities performed by them in the OG`s, analyze the existing physical activity programs, analyze the physical practices performed by the users and the risks of associated with musculoskeletal injuries and evaluate the determinants of the adopted management system in the OG, that can interfere with the quality of the practices of the physical activities and, consequently, in the generation of risks of injury in the users. In order to do so, a mapping of the OGs existing in the town of Parnamirim/RN, Brazil, was carried out, followed by a case study, in which the Ergonomic Work Analysis (AET) method was adopted and the observational and interactive relevant techniques. The case study was carried out in the OG of Monsenhor Walfredo Gurgel park located in the same town. The subject population of the study is composed by 41 practitioners of AAL physical activity, which 70.7% are women. The occurrence of musculoskeletal injuries was reported by 9.8% of ALL users. It was also observed that the physical activities performed by the individuals in the most used equipment, arriving at the following data: presence of pain in 85.3% of the users; physical activity with a frequency of 4 to 7 times per week, by 73.1% of users; 48.8% of the subject remained in the park for up to 60 min per day; 82.9% attended the ALL for more than 2 years; and 87.7% of users walk up to 3 km to reach the park and 82.9% of the user reaches the park walking. It was observed, in different contexts of use in the ALL physical activity equipment, the existence of different modes of use adopted by users when performing the physical activity, such as the biomechanics used in the execution of the exercise, in certain cases, was wrong and not recommended, forcing musculoskeletal injuries. This scenario is even more favored, among other factors, when it is verified that the presence of multidisciplinary team of professionals to assist and guide users is not available , 100% of the AAL users used the equipment without specialized professional supervision, 100% carried out the physical activities without a specific program and the possibility of adjusting the equipment to the user anthropometry is not existing, since 100% of the AAL equipment does not have adjusting settings. In general, the AAL equipment and physical space do not meet the requirements of comfort, safety and accessibility. In order to minimize the risk of musculoskeletal injury among users of AAL, it is recommended to: create and consolidate a public physical activity program for AAL users that takes into account the singularities of each one, the user’s physical activity program, and which were elaborated by their respective professionals, and orient them when performing the physical activity; the creation of multidisciplinary teams of professionals to assist and guide users; the procurement steps to buy the equipment, which prioritize the needs of the population, based on epidemiological studies, safety, comfort, ergonomic, accessibility, durability and equipment regulation criteria; the creation of a preventive and corrective maintenance plan for the equipment; the elaboration and execution of AAL projects associated with the park those project should provide safety, comfort, well-being and beauty to the population, in order to favor physical activity in AALs; the implementation of a program of health and quality of life for the town`s population, that contemplates the program of physical activity in AALs.

Family farming is the type of agricultural production with the largest number of rural establishments in Brazil and accounts for 70% of the food that comes to the table of the Brazilian family. The growing concern with the conservation of natural resources, food sovereignty, the health of farmers and consumers and the quality of life of the population promotes a search for agroecological and / or organic production. Among the problems faced by family farmers are difficulties in the management of production and their business, and partly because of the lack of accurate information on inputs, process losses, sales and real profit obtained. Furthermore, the generation of farmers has low levels of education, does not have management training or training in the use of information technology. In this sense, the objective of this work is to apply a set of performance indicators for family agriculture that is useful and easy to use, in order to assist farmers in controlling production, productivity, sustainability, sales and profit, so that they can accomplish the necessary decisions, aiming at the continuous improvement of this activity. For this, a bibliographical research was performed on performance indicators in the technical and scientific literature for family agriculture. Next, the participatory method of the Ergonomic Work Analysis - AET was used to apply the performance indicators in family farms of the "Zé Maria do Tomé Camp" in Limoeiro do Norte - CE, through the following steps : a) an exploratory study of the place chosen to carry out the study, with the purpose of knowing the sociodemographic and economic characteristics, the overall production operation, the commercialization of the products and the requirements of the activity in focus that the farmers b) presentation to family farmers of a set of indicators obtained from the bibliographical research to select the indicators of interest that could be used in their family farms, c) request to the family farmers, so that other possible indicators of interest that, by chance , were not included in the list; d) adaptation of AGROINDEX - system of performance indicators for family agriculture -, considering the indicators pointed out by the actors consulted; e) application, in 3 family farming properties of said Camp, of the system of performance indicators of family farming resulting from the previous stages. The following results were obtained regarding the Zé Maria do Tomé Camp: the characterization of the vegetal and animal production; the way in which the products are marketed; the strategies of water management, soil, seeds and agroecological techniques; characterization of the workforce; indicators on planted area, vegetal and animal production, vegetal and animal commercialization, pluviometry, fertilization and irrigation. Therefore that the system of performance indicators that has been applied is easy to use and useful and constitutes a tool that produces an important source of information, which assists in monitoring production, decision-making and production management family farming.

This dissertation is about the joint application of Lean Thinking and Six Sigma: Lean Six Sigma. Many services have high prices because they are slow, requests several resources, and often require rework to be delivered as the desired quality. The research aims to propose a framework for Lean Six Sigma application in outsourced services with labor residing inside Brazilian Federal Judiciary. To do this, we sought to identify the most appropriate tools for each stage of DMAIC cycle, applied to the service in focus type. This action research is exploratory and characterized by a quantitative and qualitative approach, based on an exploratory application in Federal Justice in Rio Grande do Norte Management Nucleus. For this purpose, we counted on topped-up roadmap, informal interviews, lean six sigma tools and in order to achieve the goal, belt system qualified supporters were incorporated. As results, this dissertation brought water reduction, temporal average and variability main cleaning process reduction, besides eliminating paper towels using and indicating powerful financial savings with Lean Six Sigma application inside Brazilian Federal Judiciary, as well as methodology benefits for Federal Justice in Rio Grande do Norte Management Nucleus.

The aspirations for sustainability progressively guide companies to the construction of strategies that help to increase a continuously clean production, that is, the creation of products, processes and services with reduced use of resources and, as a consequence, less environmental impact. It also adds up to market demand, increasingly demanding and concerned with environmental issues. In the mining sector, practices aimed at the efficient use of resources are of paramount importance to sustained development, mainly due to the issues related to the extraction of natural goods, inherent to the activity. The same importance for environmentally appropriate measures concerns kaolin enterprises, because the exploitation produces a high percentage of waste, whose inadequate disposal causes several negative impacts on the mining and neighboring areas. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the practices of Cleaner Production (CP) in the companies of extraction and processing of kaolin in Rio Grande do Norte. To do so, a descriptive and inductive study of the mineral activity was carried out in three companies operating in the State through on-site visits, with annotation subsidies, photographic records, interviews and structured questionnaires, based on a literature review. The results showed that, despite the limitations imposed by the companies participating in the research regarding the provision of detailed data on the measures and plans adopted for waste management, mainly because they are information that compromise the environmental image of the enterprises studied, the measures aimed at the sustainable production proposed by the P + L is a challenge for the segment in the State, considering characteristics intrinsic to the process of obtaining kaolin benefited. As consequence, finally, suggestions for future work are presented.

In the early 2000s, due to the lack of rainfall in hydroelectric power generation sites in Brazil, the need for the search for new sources of energy arose. The Incentive Program for Alternative Energy Sources (PROINFA) was created in mid-2002, bringing significant investments in alternative sources of energy - especially renewables - with a view to diversifying the Brazilian energy matrix and, at the same time, contribute to reducing the effects of global warming. In the face of its abundant natural resources, the use of the Brazilian wind potential is accelerated. It was observed that a large part of the wind turbine manufacturers and other components of the wind farms installed in Brazil come from countries with different climatic conditions and culture of wind farms (from component manufacturing / power generation to operation and maintenance) already mature By the end of 2018, Brazil had 601 installed wind farms, much of it in operation since 2010. Exploratory studies indicate that failures in these wind farms have increased, reducing the availability of electricity generation. This dissertation aims to propose guidelines and good practices for the management of the operation and maintenance of wind farms in Brazil. The research method can be characterized as a predominantly exploratory research, of applied nature and inductive character, with a predominantly qualitative approach. Field research included the study of cases in ten wind farms. The research procedure included three steps. In the first stage, a traditional bibliographic review was performed on the structure of a wind farm, as well as its operation and about maintenance management, involving types of maintenance, characteristics and applications, as well as maintenance management strategies and tools to aid analysis of failures and decision making; and a systematic bibliographic review regarding the operation and maintenance of wind power plants. The second stage covered the case study. The third step consisted of the analysis of data already treated using tools to aid in the analysis of failures. As a result of the dissertation, we present the proposal of guidelines and good practices for the operation and maintenance of wind farms, grouped in the following components: i) wind turbine, ii) medium voltage circuit, iii) elevating substation, and iv) others.

The present work endeavours to analyse the management of solid waste of health services at the hospitals in Natal/RN, from the collection throughout the final disposal. SWHS are waste from all health service providers, such as hospitals, laboratories, diagnostic and treatment services, veterinary clinics, legal medicine institutes, etc. Correct management of SWHS means not only controlling and reducing the risks, but also reducing the amount of waste from the point of origin, which would also increase the quality and efficiency of the health services as a whole. The general objective of this research is to analyse the management of solid waste of health services at hospitals in Natal/RN. The method employed to reach its goal is a quantitative survey with all the members of the research universe, running a census survey at the public and private hospitals in Natal/RN.

Among the 24 existing hospitals in the city of Natal, 22 were surveyed, and even thought most were very well evaluated, some need to improve in awareness. In addition, the higher education responsible for solid waste management in health services, hospital parners for waste disposal and companies responsible for final disposal were evaluated.

A considerable number of wind farms with low implementation feasibility can show a low maturity of the sector, represented by the lack of previous knowledge about the risks inherent to wind projects, as well as the inability to eliminate or even mitigate such risks. Compared to other stages of a wind farm project, implementation is critical to the viability of the project, because: this is where the most diverse activities occur, the variety of uncertainties is maximum, the number of stakeholders involved is maximum, the period for start is short (2-3 years) and imposes severe penalties if not met and the investment in the project at this stage is maximum. Therefore, the lack of knowledge about risks and / or the inability to manage them correctly, especially in the implementation stage, can directly affect the technical and economic viability of these projects. The objective of the study is to propose a Risk Analytical Structure in the wind farm implementation stage by identifying the existing risks in the projects. The research method can be characterized as descriptive research, applied, inductive, with a qualitative approach. The theoretical research contemplated the systematization of the literature about risk identification tools and risk categorization. The field research included case studies with information on unsuccessful projects and, with the organizations: i) construction company; ii) electric construction company; iii) company that owns the wind farms and; iv) environmental consulting firm specializing in the wind sector. As a result, is present a specific risk analytical framework for the implementation of wind farm projects.

Organizations, communities and cities deal with everyday situations, not routine, unpredictable and with varying degrees of complexity, but often these socio-technical systems do not know their necessary skills and / or have not sufficiently developed them to deal with such situations in a resilient way. To know their resilience, these systems are now better handle these situations. So how can a sociotechnical system assess its resilience? It is important that sociotechnical systems, especially those dealing with uncertainties and unforeseen circumstances, such as those dealing with disaster risks, can continually assess their resilience, to be able to know their deficiencies and real capabilities, and thus make good decisions and act. The main objective of this work was to develop and make available a system of indicators to evaluate the resilience in relation to disaster risk management of protection and civil defense agencies in Brazil. For this, a methodology was developed that has three phases, which were called modeling. The modeling I corresponded to the stages of exploratory research and systematization through literature review, selection and classification of the indicators found, construction of the data collection instrument, evaluation of indicators by researchers in the area and revision of the data collection instrument. Modeling II was named multi professional validation.  This phase involved the evaluation of the indicators by managers and people in key positions in protection and civil defense and had as objective to select the indicators with the highest degree of use and importance according to the perception of the respondents and to define the final indicators for the system. The modeling III corresponded to the situated validation of the system of indicators resulting from the modeling II through case studies with protection and civil defense agencies in Brazil. The diagnosis of resilience made possible for the protection and civil defense agencies evaluated, to know their weaknesses and strengths of resilience. The continuous use of the system of indicators by these agencies will allow the monitoring of their resilience and that these institutions will reformulate and reorient policies, strategies of action, decisions and actions, in order to make the city where they act most resilient. 

The balance between economic growth and a low carbon economy has become a target to develop a sustainable society, especially in emerging countries. The objective of this work is to identify the main factors that contribute to the increase of CO2 emissions in OECD and BRICS member countries and, how the emerging countries are in this context, since they have the greatest challenge of maintaining economic growth and the industrialization of its economy in line with the reduction of environmental impacts. The study was applied in a universe of 40 countries, among developed and emerging, with a longitudinal cut between 2000 and 2014. In the data analysis, the multiple linear regression analysis technique was used. The dependent variable was the emission of CO2 and as independent variables: PIB, IDH, population, forest area, territory, consumption of electricity, production of energy from renewable energy, and energy use. The analysis was divided into three groups of countries whose results showed that, in group one, the countries Canada, Australia and the United States were the outliers in the CO2 emission per hab/km², with energy use being the main contribution factor in the emissions. In group two, no variables were considered significant. In group three, the significant factors in the carbon emission contribution equation were energy use and electric energy consumption. In this group, Russia was considered the outlier, being the country with the highest CO2 emission per hab/km² and whose main contribution factors were PIB, energy use, forest area and IDH. Finally, the results presented a panorama of the three groups of countries correlated with the covariates of the research, which made it possible to identify China as the largest emitter of CO2 per hab/km². As for the relationship between developed countries that grew economically during the period analyzed, it was observed that there was not necessarily an increase in carbon emissions. The covariables use of energy and use of electric energy, when coupled with the economic growth of emerging countries, were the most significant in the research. The results obtained varied from one group of countries to the other, with their outliers analyzed in this work.

The present study aimed at analyzing the relationship between determining factors for masters and doctoral production engineering student satisfaction in Brazil. A national and international bibliographic survey was conducted to enable construction of a theoretical framework based on a discussion of satisfaction, loyalty, satisfaction levels, and graduate teaching. The structural model selected was the European Customer Satisfaction Index – ECSI, which analyzed the following dimensions: Image, Expectations, Perceived Value, Perceived Quality, Overall Satisfaction and Loyalty. To analyze the primary research objective, 11 study hypotheses were established, each representing the relationship of one of the student satisfaction factors. With respect to the methodological aspects, this is a descriptive cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach. Data were collected nationwide using a 34-item ECSI questionnaire applied in 35 production engineering graduate programs. A total of 588 responses were obtained and subjected to exploratory factorial analysis and structural equation modeling, applying IBM® SPSS® statistics 21.0 and IBM® SPSS® Amos 18.0 software. The study met all statistical criteria for its validation, in addition to exhibiting a moderate and satisfactory adjustment index. After a number of adaptations, the ECSI was suitable for measuring the satisfaction of graduate students, maintaining all the constructs contained in the original model. The hypothesis test confirmed seven of the 11 hypotheses proposed; H3 and H4, which dealt with the relationship between the concept of image and satisfaction and between image and loyalty, respectively, were rejected for being non-significant. Likewise, the results showed the non-confirmation of hypothesis H7, the influence of perceived quality on perceived value and H9, the influence of perceived quality on loyalty. Moreover, when the CAPES quality variables were integrated to the model, it demonstrated statistical stability; however, negative correlations indicate dissociation between CAPES assessment and student satisfaction. Finally, the results suggest a strong relationship between student expectations and satisfaction. This paper was divided into four parts: introduction, literature revision, methodological procedures, concluding with analyses and discussion of results, final considerations and references

The objective of this study is to evaluate the factors affecting the loyalty of Brazilian online hotel reservation users. A total of 227 suitable answers for the study were collected from a previous contact database, in all the 5 macro-regions of Brazil. Subsequently, the structural equation modeling (SEM - PLS) was used to analyze the data found. The results show that the tested model presented a good statistical adequacy, besides evidencing the propensity of the Brazilians to prioritize satisfaction in the decision to reuse an online booking platform, and navigation functionality was presented as the main catalyst for this feeling. These results show the need for the hotel industry to develop virtual platforms that foster the satisfaction of its users and to develop a loyal relationship. The originality of this study focuses on the use of SEM-PLS to understand how to catalyze loyalty among Brazilian online booking tools users.

The Distance learning model displayed significant growth in the last years and, consequently, the current circumstances are favorable for the dissemination of courses and platforms. As such, this moment demands refinement of the mechanisms of course quality evaluation, and intuitive platforms of E-learning. In this scenario, AVASUS – Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem do Sistema Único de Saúde [Virtual Learning Environment of the Brazilian Unified Health System] - aims to improve the qualification of professionals and students, management and assistance in the Unified Health System (SUS), promoting integrated and accessible knowledge in healthcare education. The objective of this research is to develop a model for the evaluation and monitoring of processes in the Virtual Environments of Learning (AVA), and to implement it in AVASUS. Thus, the following steps were taken: mapping of the process from content creation to the insertion of AVASUS courses, definition of the indicators for each step of the process, preparation and implementation of a action plan, verification of the impacts of the action plan and development of the model for evaluation and monitoring of processes. The execution of this research generated positive impacts, such as: optimization of processes of VLE, improvements in the quality control of VLE, improvements in student learning, as well as a reduction of the academic gap about Operations Management in the Distance Learning in the literature.

The Lean philosophy born in the automotive industry in the 1940s has been gaining ground in other areas such as goods and services. Its initial application in the health care can be seen from 2002, but still little is said about its specific implantation for the surgical center. Facing this gap, this study aims to present a model for implanting lean philosophy in the surgical center of a private hospital in   . This study aims to propose a model for implantation of the Lean Philosophy in the Surgical Center of a private hospital in Rio Grande do Norte. The study is characterized as descriptive with qualitative and quantitative methods, as far as the planning of the research, we opted for bibliographical research and case study. The research, to be developed, aims to analyze the organizational environment of a surgical center of a private hospital in Rio Grande do Norte. In order to do so, the current scenario of the processes of the sector will be evaluated, mapped in order to generate value for the client as well as eliminate the waste. As a result, the study employs Lean and Service Design methodologies and tools for a better understanding, systematization and improvement of the Surgical Center activities, from the point of view of the consumer, minimizing throughput time. This is achieved by reconfiguring processes so that patients' flow in the system improves, removing activities that do not add value to the process. Lean can help solve these problems. This study shows that, even as it takes its first steps, the Lean can be very powerful in the health services sector

The aim of the present dissertation is to elaborate guidelines for the joint optimization in the practice of parathetism, that is, to contribute to the formulation of strategies to prevent musculoskeletal injuries and to improve the performance of paratlete paratricians in the paratlete of dart and disc launches. Paralympic sport has great potential, but it has been marked by high prevalence and incidence of injuries, which can compromise athletes' health and performance. A long and complex chain of factors interact in this phenomenon, and may promote imbalance in the relationship between the athlete's ability to dissipate, generate and transfer mechanical energy and the amount of stress imposed on the musculoskeletal system during the performance of sports activities. This study aims to understand these factors and their relation to the athletics modality of launches, for individuals with spinal cord injury, of the functional class F55. The research had as methodological approach the Ergonomic Analysis of the Work. Interaction and observation techniques, conversational action scripts, verbalizations, photographic records and videos were used. The study of the practice of dart and disc launches has evidenced the adoption of different operative modes by the paratlete in the contexts of training and competition, some of which are pathogenic, in terms of RSI / DORT, and inhibitors of better yields. The operative modes are related to aspects of work organization (planning, monitoring, cadence, goals, etc.) of training, with the technology (launching chair, implement) used in the training and with the characteristics of the paratlete (functional class etc). There was a lack of systematized breaks during the training sessions and the minimum requirement by the technical team to improve the movement of the implements executed by the paratroopers during the training, the execution of training outside the prescribed periodization of the group, lack of individual monitoring of the athletes, by the technical team, from the beginning of the practice to the completion of training cycles and the absence of use of RSI / DORT prevention monitoring instruments, as well as of income. Other items were also evidenced, such as the use of craft chairs, without adequately taking into account the anthropometric data of paratlete, their characteristics, their functional class, their practice and actual use - activity itself - nor the comfort, safety, portability and modularity criteria. All these associated factors contribute to the development and / or aggravation of RSI / DTS in the dart and disc throwing players, as well as in their performance, in their entirety. At the end of this research it was possible to understand the modality studied, within its peculiarities and contexts, thus enabling the elaboration of recommendations for improvement to sports practice, in the perspective of the joint optimization between RSI / DORT prevention and sport performance improvement. It is recommended, therefore, to carry out an anthropometric study of the paratlete, for the development of launching chairs, the production of launching chairs for the training and competition contexts, considering safety, comfort, performance, functional class and modality criteria the launch of a formal break at each launch during the performance of the training, a systematic correction of the movements of the athletes, by the technical team, among others.

Disasters have occurred more frequently and caused material losses of great magnitude and damage to populations from various locations around the world. This fact makes recurrent the discussion about the need to adopt measures and resources that help in the dissemination of information of occurrence of risks and disasters, in order to prevent or reduce the severity of losses and damages caused. Organizations such as the UN promote the discussion on the subject and establish guidelines and policies that can guide the development of Early Warning Systems around the world. The main Brazilian legislation on Civil Defense and Protection has some aspects of the Disaster Risk Reduction policy, however, it presents little approach on warning systems. This research has as aim main to analyze the Municipal Warning System of the Natal city and to propose improvements and / or solutions by means of survey of the information of the formal system and guiding directives and policies. To understand the dynamics of the functioning of the municipal disaster warning system, conversation scripts were applied to the individuals from institutions and bodies, direct and indirect, of the chain of emission of the disaster alert: the municipal and state organs of Protection and Defense Civil, Fire Department, Integrated Center for Public Security Operations (CIOSP) and Situation Room. Also were analyzed videos produced by the students of the Extension and Research Group in Ergonomics-GREPE, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, which contained records of a series of meetings attended by members of the district of Mãe Luíza, Natal-RN, Brazil , affected by the disaster that occurred in this community in June 2014, when it was hit by heavy rains that caused landslides, knocked down and damaged several homes and disarmed and displaced several families. These videos were recorded after the disaster in 2014, and their analyzes were intended to verify the functioning of the warning system at the time of the disaster and the participation and performance of the community and the municipal Civil Protection and Defense Agency. The city of Natal has several areas at risk of disasters and the community of Mãe Luiza is one of the areas of risk of disasters disquieting due to its socio-environmental vulnerability. Today, the community is susceptible to other events of this nature, as well as other communities in the city of Natal. The neighborhood of Mãe Luíza reports’ showed that the warning system in 2014 reached few people and that ignorance of the severity of the risks they were exposed was decisive for not to evacuate when alerted. It was also verified that the municipal agents of Protection and Civil Defense did not have, at the time, resources for the mass alert issuance. The alert was spread "face to face", the agents went from house to house alerting the people the day before the crater rupture in Guanabara street, one of the main neighborhood. The alarm was also issued in the same way, when the disaster was triggered. The warning system has a decentralized and poorly collaborative working dynamics, since the entire chain is composed of institutions and bodies with little proximity. The Protection and Civil Defense municipal agents reports' showed that the alert is still made "face to face" and that the population is not fully aware of the risks of disasters to which it is exposed. It should be noted that the current disaster warning system does not meet international recommendations, standards and guidelines. It is recommended, for a more efficient warning system, the approximation of the organs that integrate the chain of the warning system, investments in technology for the issuance of the alert, education projects in disaster risk reduction with communities, training of the agents Protection and Civil Defense and especially the preparation of the Municipal Contingency Plan Natal city.

Measuring energy resources has a great strategic importance for any country. Factors include the social and economic growth, impacts of new technologies, environmental factors, strategic decisions on imports and exports of energy resources, among others. It is very difficult to plan cities and industrial development, in the long term, without carrying studies on energy resources and current and future demands. About 30 years ago Brazil begun to produce the National Energy Balance (BEN), a document that maps information such as primary and secondary sources, consumption by major sectors, losses, transformation centers, etc. However, due to the difficulty of obtaining data and its processing, much of the presented information are estimated. Currently the responsibility of BEN is with the EPE - Empresa de Pesquisas Energéticas, under the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME). Some states like São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul produce annually energy balances. Others, such as Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte, have done it in the past. However, due to various factors, such as funding, its publication had been discontinued. This dissertation advocates the importance of each Brazilian states to maintain and update energy data and integrate them into the EPE in a hierarchical structure, in a bottom-up strategy, which could allow results closer to reality. However, many factors had limited the achievement of such studies, including: Sensitization of Decision Areas; Elements of Regional Articulation; Channels of Incentive and Cooperation between States; Resource Sources (such as lack of trained personnel and budgets); Methodological, Conceptual and Criteria Unification; And Systematization of Data Collection. For this, a questionnaire was prepared and distributed to those responsible for the production of BEEs. The analysis will make it possible to characterize the positive points and experiences of the states that produce balance sheets regularly and to point out the deficiencies and needs of attention to the states that, due to some factors, no longer generates the regional energy data reports. The second part of the research involves a structural and content analysis of BEEs in relation to BEN. Due to the discontinuity of balance sheet generation, in some states, we use information from the last available BEE. The objective is to analyze possible future integration (bottom-up, i.e. bottom-up, from specific to general), from state balance sheets to the national balance sheet.

The objective of this work is to propose a model to evaluate the water supply system of the Potiguar municipalities, which are served by the Companhia de Águas e Esgotos do Rio Grande do Norte (CAERN), in the operational management of water resources in drought years (2010-2015) by means of a dynamic modeling. The scenario of unsustainability observed in water reserves is a result of the lack of awareness and unrestrained use of water resources. Population growth and climate change further aggravate this scenario. The negative effects of the lack of water are present throughout the national territory, especially in the semi-arid region, where the impacts are observed more sharply. Thus, the Dynamic Data Envelopment Analysis model will be used to evaluate the context presented during a 5 year time window. The sample includes 155 municipalities from all mesoregions of the state. The modeling adopted considers 1 input variable, 2 output variables and 1 carry-over to represent reality. The data needed to conduct this work were obtained through consultations with the National Information System on Sanitation. At the end of the work, it was possible to observe that the supply systems studied operate, for the most part, inefficiently. Only 6% of the municipalities obtained maximum scores in the overall analysis. Although the performance of the mesoregions is also not satisfactory, the municipalities of the central meso-region have obtained better results, especially in 2013. Finally, it was possible to verify the negative potential of water losses and how this variable compromises the sustainability of the current system of supply of the cities of the State.

Within an economic industrial context, the productive process has always been linked to consumerism to the present day. In the fish industry this is no different, the raw material is not used in its entirety, being a good part wasted, causing environmental and economic damage. It is known from data from other studies that approximately 20% of the raw material is edible meat, and what remains are residues such as viscera, heads, bones, skin and scales, are not used, and can be discarded incorrectly, and can cause serious environmental problems such as pollution of water resources, soil and air. Thus, it is necessary for fishing industries to adopt preventive techniques, such as Cleaner Production in the industrial sector, in production processes, in products and services, acting in the fish food industry as a way to increase the efficiency in the use of raw materials and not generation, minimization or recycling of waste. In this way, the main objective of this study was to identify, within the 3 levels of the Cleaner Production, the best use of the raw material in the industries of fish processing of the state of Rio Grande do Norte. Based on achieving this objective of the study, quantitative and qualitative surveys of multiple cases were carried out in three different fish industries of the state, using the CNTL implementation manual and the Cleaner Production guide as a guide: "Do It Yourself" of CEBDS, aiming to calculate mass and energy balances, to evaluate processes and products in the fish industries, object of the study. In addition, proposals for utilization for industrial waste generated for each industry were offered, addressing levels 1, 2 and 3 of Cleaner Production. As a result, in industry 1, there are three types of processing, with shrimp heading and shelling the most wasteful. On the other hand, industry 2 presented differentiation in the quantity of residues, being the fillet of fish, for all the processes executed in the industry, that in the percentage of loss of raw material is the greater; and industry 3 generates little residue when compared to the other two industries studied, but it is the one that least values the potential of the captured raw material. Conclusion that the present work, besides having increased scientific research, with the study and use of fish waste, which is still little studied, still proposed within the three levels of PML the minimization and the use of these residues, avoiding environmental degradation and fostered other forms of economy. The objective of the work was not to actually implement PML in the fishing industries, but to propose future work.

The growing concern of today’s society with environmental issues, in the face of disorderly growth and the increasing depletion of nature, has led to search for alternatives that may change established paradigms, where nature is still treated as an inexhaustible source and mere provider of resources. This concern has also a great significance for the important construction industry, which plays a prominent role in the economic life of any country, which is not different in Brazil, but which is also characterized for causing great environmental impacts. The present work aims to study this theme, which deals with the relationship between civil construction works, more specifically the public ones, and environmental preservation, based on the possibility of changes in its traditional mode of production, as it aims to propose guidelines for directing such works to sustainability. To achieve this work, a bibliographical, documentary and field research was carried out. For the development of the field research,  case study method was adopted, having as field of study the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) and as subjects of research public agents (architects, engineers and legal adviser) and also representatives of construction companies, all responsible for the construction of civil works in UFRN, using semi-structured interviews conducted individually and in focus group meetings, followed by reflective dialogue. The results of the research indicated that, despite the great acceptance by the subjects of research in regarding the idea proposed in this work, the works carried out at UFRN cannot be considered as directed towards sustainability yet, due to the indication by the subjects about needs of institutionalization of this idea, greater capacity building of responsible teams and better adaptation to current regulations. Thus, as a result of this work, the guidelines for application of environmental requirements in public construction projects are presented, in order to direct them to sustainability, considering their planning and execution stages, as well as, for administrative measures applicable.

Brazil needs to improve its economic and innovative potential in the face of competitiveness in the world market. The advent of startups improves this performance, due to the ability of these companies to shape market changes, and generate innovations in the face of technological disruptions. Knowledge is the essence of the innovation process, but although these companies present innovation as a basis, they face barriers related to the knowledge management process, and this factor contributes to the high mortality rates diagnosed in the country. In view of this scenario, the objective of this research is to develop and validate a structural model that demonstrates the interrelationship of the key factors of knowledge management as determinants of the innovation capacity of Brazilian startups. In this way, we search for results that allow us to help the decision-making of these companies and their respective stakeholders. The theoretical basis is based on the discussion between the themes: Innovation, Knowledge Management, Startups and Modeling of Structural Equations. In developing the theoretical framework, we sought to analyze the currents of thought among the main authors of these themes in the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Regarding the methodological aspects, this study is characterized as a qualitative-quantitative research, of formalized objective with interrogation method and scope of case study. The collection of data will be national, and will be carried out through a survey applied with the startups registered in the ABStartups database. The analysis of the data will be developed using Structural Equation Modeling, this method was chosen because it is appropriate for the global analysis of a model, because a confirmatory analysis is generated that allows the representation of non observable concepts, verifying possible errors of During the process. As expected results, we seek to achieve a structural model that can serve as a basis for a plan of action to be developed by startups, so that they improve their knowledge management processes and improve their innovation capabilities. The increase in the development of innovations will be a positive result for the entire society, promoting quality of life for the population and economic development for the country.

Renewable energy sources have gained relevance because of its wide social acceptance and ability to provide sustainable energy to meet the world's electricity demand. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the sector for new materials and forms applications to be searched in order to provide greater efficiency of the materials used, as well as explaining the range of application options for this feature. It is in this perspective that the open innovation emerges as a factor that helps in the process of generating ideas that provide the development of the sector. Thus, for its implementation, it is important to identify the essential elements. The objective of this study is to identify the key elements of open innovation to practice in the solar and wind energy sector. For this work, the research procedure follows the following steps: To perform this work, the research procedure follows the following steps: (i) Theoretical Research; (ii) Field Survey, (iii) Tabulation, Statistical Treatment and Data Analysis (iv) Results. The results pointed out the main elements present in the open innovation approach directed to the study sector.

Government agencies are investing in their computerization, not only within the inner workings, but mainly in the population's access to information and services in modern society need to be available to citizens virtually. Therefore, the easy access is reducing bureaucracy for citizens, also opening the possibility of realization of social participation channels in public management. In this perspective, proper technique is necessary to evaluate the performance of the Government. Among these services are undergoing the transition to digital, there is the transport management and urban mobility, which is the direct responsibility of local governments. This thesis has as main objective the evaluation of maturity in e-Government practices at the Brazilian cities and metropolitan regions of Brazil. In the survey, developed a vector analysis criteria, constructed from the Federal Law No. 12.587 / 2012 (the National Urban Mobility Policy) and the concept of web-functionality, the application provides the ranking of each web site at increasing levels of maturity. The evaluation was conducted in a sample of 46 cases, including at least one case in each Brazilian state. The results both highlighted good practice, as pointed out the ways in which the websites need improvement.

To think of innovation nowadays is to bring to the field of organizations the notoriety not only found in the literature, but also in the management practices of a strategic bias that is highly recommended and decisive for the current managers of the institutions of products and services in our country. Allied to this, the high degree of competitiveness present in the market, contributing significantly to the complexity of decision making. Currently managers need to maintain a continuous cycle of renewal over their processes, products and / or services, and it is also important to know the conditioning factors and determinants for new alternatives that encourage innovation within organizations. The research aims to analyze the organizational environment of the EBSERH Network - Brazilian Company of Hospital Services, considered one of the largest private public companies, focused on the management of university hospitals in our country. The research sought to cover the set of University Hospitals connected to the EBSERH Network (50 Hospitals - 39 Contracts, 10 Without Contract and 1 Public Company) located in the main regions of our country, seeking to verify what important characteristics allowed the development of innovations. Data were collected, however, from 17 Hospitals (44%) in all regions of Brazil. As a methodology, this work took a descriptive approach, with qualitative and quantitative methods, based on a planning of research directed to bibliographical research and case studies. For this purpose, a questionnaire produced by the Minnesota Innovation Survey - MIS methodology, developed by the Minnesota Innovation Research Program - MIRP of the University of Minnesota in the United States, was used and applied to the main managers of the EBSERH Hospitals. As results, statistical data point to aspects such as satisfaction, leadership, support, resource acquisition, engagement and innovation planning and execution, the best performance factors for innovation based on the Kruskal-Wallis parametric test, for a significance level of 1 %.

This study aims to evaluate the overall efficiency and subprocesses of innovation and commercialization of products and services of Brazilian technological parks through the use of the Network Data Envelopment Analysis (NDEA) technique. It is intended to determine which technological parks are efficient or inefficient and to identify their location factors. The research is delineated as quantitative and qualitative by presenting both the measurement of the data found and the characterization of the study object technological parks in the Bibliographic Review. The data were collected through an electronic questionnaire applied to Brazilian technological parks. These data served as the basis for the Network Data Envelopment Analysis (NDEA) technique and for location analysis. The sample includes 19 technology parks in operation in Brazil. The results are presented in 4 steps: step I - descriptive statistics of the variables; Stage II - analysis of overall efficiency and subprocesses of technology parks; III - identification of location factors of Brazilian technological parks and stage IV - challenges and opportunities for improvement. The results indicate that the Brazilian technological parks in operation still suffer in achieving higher rates of global efficiency and processes of innovation and commercialization of products and services. As a result, strategies to achieve better performance indicators in technology parks are suggested.

This research aims to expose the integration of the lean tool called Value Stream Mapping (VSM) with the Data Envelopment Analysis technique as a managerial mechanism to support the management decision making regarding to the process leanness. This becomes essential in view of Brazil's current economic downturn, which has a direct impact on the construction industry, leading to a decline in sales and, consequently, in profits. As a result, the construction companies need to redefine their production systems in order to stand out from their competitors, through improved operations, resulting in increased productive performance and, consequently, consumer satisfaction. This raises the significant contribution to the company under study, since it exposes the current situation of the execution of one of its main production processes and proposes actions that allow it to approach its ideal state, represented by operations without waste and in the pace of customer demand. In addition, the constant consummation of the mechanism performed in this work allows the organization to identify incidents more quickly, then, define immediate actions that eliminate them and be always in continuous improvement. The contributions are also based on filling a gap in the literature, identified through a review of 291 articles. To reach the proposed objective, the research was developed in the structural masonry process in the construction of a residential project of a medium-sized construction company located in Natal/RN. The data collection was done directly by observations of the execution of operations on 16 floors, over 9 weeks. The classic CCR model and the NDEA model with structure in networks were used in the association of the DEA with the VSM. The results of the aggregate and univariate evaluations are equated to the results of the value stream mapping. Thus, the models are validated and it is identified that, in order to analyze the lean level of the process as a whole, the most appropriate model is the NDEA, but when it is restricted to the individual operations, it is recommended to use the DEA-CCR. The diagnosis also facilitates the elaboration of a plan action that assists the reach of the idealized state in the VSM and, then, the organization obtains a competitive advantage over competitors.

Creativity has been extensively studied by researchers from different fields of knowledge since the 1950s, same period when business games began to be used for educational purposes. However, the relation between the two themes has yet to be more studied, although there are several possibilities of correlation between them. Business games have become efficient and effective means of empowering people in organizations and teaching in schools, while creativity has come to be perceived as part of the innovation process and therefore important for all segments. The goal of this research is to develop a game that stimulates the creativity of its participants. For this, the research method is characterized as descriptive with a qualitative-quantitative approach. The theoretical research contemplated a traditional literature review and a systematic literature review (SLR) of 64 articles hosted on the Scopus and Web of Science platforms regarding the business game theme, published between the years of 1970 and 2016. The action research contemplated six applications with 73 people, allocated at a university and a creative industry company, and the data were collected between August and November 2017. As results this research presented a conceptual model with the elements of a business game and a business game for the creative stimulation of its participants - STORM, with acceptance rate of 97.5% among the players.

A cidade de Natal possui várias áreas habitadas vulneráveis a desastres, entre as quais se encontra o bairro popular de Mãe Luíza, que possui 16.547 mil habitantes e se localiza em região de dunas, na região litorânea, vizinho ao bairro de Areia Preta, cujo m2 é o mais valorizado da cidade. As fortes chuvas (285 mm) que atingiram Natal nos dias 13 e 14 de junho de 2014, em meio ao cenário da Copa Mundial de Futebol da FIFA, provocaram no bairro de Mãe Luíza, no dia 14 de junho, enxurradas, que resultaram em alagamentos e um intenso deslizamento de terra, capaz de formar uma imensa cratera (área de 10.000 m2 e profundidade de 30 m) no solo, destruindo, totalmente, 26 casas e afetando a vida de 187 famílias. Assim como tem ocorrido em outros desastres, a população foi a primeira a agir diante dos riscos, mesmo sem possuir a capacitação adequada para este fim. A solidariedade emergiu da população e se alastrou de forma coletiva no bairro, como se constatou e geralmente ocorre nessas situações. Durante o desastre ficou explícita a fragilidade e o despreparo das organizações governamentais e não governamentais e, também, da comunidade, para lidar com a situação de crise. Infere-se que o nível de fragilidade no enfrentamento dos riscos e desastre aumenta sem a participação da população e, ainda mais, se esta não for qualificada para atuar nestas situações. Considerando o desastre como um acontecimento social, dinâmico e complexo, é fundamental compreender como as sociedades podem lidar com este fenômeno de maneira adaptativa, de maneira a aumentar a sua resiliência e reduzir os riscos e impactos provocados pelo desastre. A Organização das Nações Unidas tem promovido e implementado uma série de estratégias voltadas para a redução dos riscos de desastres no mundo, assentada na melhoria da resiliência das cidades. Em 2012, o Brasil reformulou sua política de gestão de riscos e desastres, promulgando a Lei nº 12.608, com base nestas estratégias. Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo geral “Compreender de que maneira as ações de solidariedade realizadas entre os membros da comunidade de Mãe Luíza durante as fases de mobilização, resposta e recuperação do desastre contribuem para a promoção da resiliência da comunidade”. Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva e explicativa, quanto aos objetivos; estudo de caso, participativa, bibliográfica e documental, quanto aos procedimentos de coleta; estudo de campo, bibliográfica e documental, quanto às fontes de informação; e qualitativa, quanto à natureza dos dados. O bairro de Mãe Luíza foi o local escolhido para a realização da pesquisa e os sujeitos da pesquisa são as vítimas de desastre, as autoridades e os agentes de proteção e defesa civil, dos órgãos governamentais e não-governamentais, envolvidos no desastre ocorrido em junho de 2014, que concordaram em participar da pesquisa. As ações de solidariedade referentes às fases de mobilização e resposta foram quantificadas, levando em consideração a porcentagem de vezes em que o tipo de ação praticada ou testemunhada foi relatada, a porcentagem por tipo de vinculo social entre a pessoa que realizou a ação e a pessoa favorecida e se a ação relatada foi bem ou mal sucedida, do ponto de vista dos próprios moradores. Os resultados mostraram que das 23 (100%) pessoas entrevistadas nenhuma relatou ações de solidariedade praticadas nas etapas de prevenção de desastre e de preparação. 8,7% das pessoas relataram ações de solidariedade realizadas ou testemunhadas na etapa de mobilização, 100% relataram ações de solidariedade realizadas na etapa de resposta e nenhuma relatou ação de solidariedade praticada ou testemunhada na etapa de recuperação. De acordo com os moradoresque participaram da pesquisa, as ações de solidariedade ocorreram espontaneamente e foram regidas pelo sentimento de amor ao próximo e de compaixão para com o sofrimento do outro, acompanhado pelo desejo de amenizar tal situação. No que diz respeito ao motivo pelo qual a pessoa teria agido solidariamente, os moradores acreditam que o amor ao próximo é também o principal motivo.Concluiu-se que o despreparo dos agentes dos órgãos municipais responsáveis pela gestão de riscos de desastres e, em consequência, dos membros da comunidade afetada, somado à ausência de um plano de contingência da cidade do Natal, contribuiu para o agravamento dos riscos existentes no bairro de Mãe Luíza, o que acabou resultando no desastre aqui estudado e fazendo com que a comunidade agisse por conta própria, solidariamente, mesmo sem a coordenação adequada - antes, durante e depois do desastre. Contudo, constatou-se que certas ações de solidariedade, praticadas por membros da comunidade, contribuíram para mitigar os riscos, minimizar os danos e amenizar os sofrimentos provocados pelo desastre, culminando, ainda, no fortalecimento dos vínculos e laços comunitários. Concluiu-se que a prática de ações de solidariedade, também voltadas para a gestão de riscos de desastres, deva ser incentivada nas comunidades, por parte dos órgãos de proteção e defesa civil municipal e estadual e das lideranças comunitárias, visando desenvolver e melhorar a resiliência comunitária e global do sistema.

O estudo do vento para geração de energia vem ganhando espaço desde que países como Estados Unidos e China, líderes em capacidade instalada mundial, passaram a investir neste recurso energético. Atualmente no Brasil, a produção da energia eólica está em ascensão, sendo que o desenvolvimento de parques eólicos cresceu consideravelmente na região Nordeste. Esse crescimento no número de parques gera mudanças no ambiente social, impactando tanto positivamente, com geração de emprego e renda, como negativamente, com mudanças na paisagem. O objetivo da pesquisa foi identificar quais os impactos causados nas comunidades com a instalação de parques eólicos, tendo o interesse de compreender melhor a relação desta nova fonte de energia com a comunidade local que recebe as torres, tendo em vista que há modificação do ambiente. O estudo foi importante por se tratar de uma nova fonte de energia na matriz energética brasileira e pela necessidade de se compreender as mudanças geradas nas cidades pequenas do Rio Grande do Norte, especificamente Serra de Santana. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida utilizando uma abordagem qualitativa, sendo caracterizada quanto aos objetivos como descritiva, ao descrever o fenômeno ocorrido nas comunidades pelos impactos causados com o recebimento do novo empreendimento no município. Para isso, foi realizada uma pesquisa de campo com a aplicação de entrevista individual a dez residentes locais. O resultado da pesquisa apresentou a percepção dos residentes quanto à instalação de parques eólicos em seu município. Em relação aos impactos ambientais, os entrevistados relataram incômodo sonoro na zona rural. Nesta perspectiva, os agricultores acreditam que a terra é impactada com a instalação dos parques, sendo que o cultivo de plantas frutíferas é prejudicado. Verificou-se ainda que, apesar dos impactos ambientais, a paisagem visual é considerada atraente e bonita, e a interferência eletromagnética é percebida nos aparelhos de televisão nas comunidades que convivem lado a lado com os parques eólicos. Os maiores impactos sociais estão na geração de emprego e renda e na infraestrutura do município, diante a falta de investimento do setor público. O turismo é pouco desenvolvido na Serra de Santana, não existe artesanato local, os empreendimentos de lazer são de particulares, faltam ações para promover a cultura local para crescimento do turismo. E os impactos econômicos ocorreram nos preços de imóveis e mercadorias, no entanto, os fatores externos do cenário nacional de crise econômica e inflação também influenciaram a resposta dos entrevistados. Considera-se com o estudo que os residentes são os mais impactados negativamente, o setor público e os donos de parques eólicos não entram em comum acordo para resolver problemas com os moradores, sendo poucos os benefícios oferecidos às comunidades.

In Brazil, the university hospitals have fundamental importance in the evolution of the Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) and in several areas that foment the improvement of population health conditions. Despite the high social relevance of these organizations, that does not make it impossible to go through various operating crises. Therefore, developed the Hospital Universitário Onofre Lopes performance analysis, located in the northeastern region of the country, in biennia before and after joining the management contract with the Empresa Brasileira de Serviços Hospitalares (EBSERH). To conduct this study, the performance evaluation indicators were selected in hospital organizations and to comparative analysis of the performance of the biennium (2011- 2012) (2014-2015), it was adapted the performance indices matrix adopted by Brizola et al. (2011), which are arranged 32 indicators assessed by experts in the structure and results dimensions, in the categories: installations, human resources, revenue, production, productivity, quality, costs and teaching/research/extension. The results show better performance in the biennium (2014-2015).This evolution of the performance indices are assigned to the expansion and reorganization of the work team, revenue growth, structural reforms and the provision of new services to the population.

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a methodology for strategic management worldwide
consolidated since the 1990s. This system has been applied in various market sectors, in private
and public institutions, because of its flexibility. The educational sector is increasingly
competitive and there is growing demand for quality and the consequent need to improve the
management of educational institutions. Several studies show the success of the BSC use on
education in different countries, but few in the context of basic education. Within this scope,
the objective of this work is the development of a BSC model in education field, applicable to
private schools that work with both elementary and middle level. The preliminary model of
objectives and indicators for BSC was developed based on the literature review. From this
initial model was followed by the development of questionnaires, that they were applied in
interviews with school managers, to conduct a feasibility study of a future implementation of
the BSC in in educational institutions, as well as enabling the collection of information for
validating the set of strategic objectives for the four perspectives of the BSC, obtaining the most
importante, considering the context of the area surveyed. A technique called "bag of stars" was
used in the application of questionnaires to filter the objectives and indicators. The results were
the description of the general overview of strategic management in the surveyed schools, the
model of BSC for elementary and high school private institutions and a strategic map developed
from the objectives present in the model. The proposed model provides a basis for
implementing the BSC in schools, especially with the profile comprised in the search. The work
is a reference to the expansion of knowledge and exploration of new studies on school
management.

The aim of this work is to evaluate the functionality of the organizational structure of municipal and metropolitan authorities of urban transport in Brazilian Northeastern Region, regarding urban mobility problematic as well as the requirements prescribed and duties assigned by the National Urban Mobility Policy, formalized by Federal Law n° 12.587/2012. The problematic of urban mobility in Brazilian cities motivated the creation of this public policy; its effectiveness is an enhancement factor of the conditions of urban life in the country. Therefore, it is necessary the adequacy of organizational structure of the management bodies in the cities. To perform the intended analysis, a research work based on qualitative approach was conducted; evaluation was done thru the application of an analytical matrix based on O & M literature review, requirements of Federal Law n° 12.587/2012 and a benchmarking of best practice managing institutions of urban mobility in Brazil. The collection of information on the assessed organisms was conducted through semi-structured interviews with managers and sector stakeholders. Two management bodies of transport and urban mobility conformed the empirical corpus: the first one, a metropolitan transport authority in charge of urban mobility in the Metropolitan Region of Recife (MRR); the second, a municipal one, in Natal. The analysis of the results concluded that the organizational structure of the management body in MRR is not fully adequate to the requirements of National Policy; but the changes needed to achieve a full fitness to Federal Law and other standards are not difficult to reach. On the other side, the compliance of Natal urban mobility authority to National Policy is quite fragile, requiring a significant effort to reach a reasonable degree of adequacy with Federal Law and other standards. In order to clarify how the analyzed authorities shall better fit to National Policy, benchmarking and best O & M theoretical findings, the work concludes by proposing a set of reorganization measures able to turn management bodies into being in compliance with their missions.

Efficient performance, efficient and effective public administration, always in favor of society, requires adequate resources, both human and financial, to improve their performance. In this sense, strategic planning can target the whole public administration to fulfill its institutional objectives, offering range of indicators of expected results and their goals. The aim of this work is to propose, through a survey, a continuous improvement management model to achieve the goals and management of strategic indicators using for both a Balanced Scoredcard - BSC integration methodology, which help in alignment and evaluation of goals, in prioritizing efforts and consequently, the scope of the results. Today the strategic planning implementation in public organizations became a fad or almost a compulsory act, either through a legal act or requirement of an external funding body, however, in practice, are not widespread effective achieving the planned results. This research proposes a management indicators model and based targets on continuous improvement theory (Kaizen), focusing on PDCA / SDCA tools (Plan, Do, Check and action / standard of, check and action), to develop a integrated and standardized system that assists in organizational strategy, focusing on the work process, in order to contribute to the improvement of strategic indicators and achievement of goals. In conducting the research will be used: exploratory research techniques through the use of a relevant bibliographic reference on the subject under study, with the necessary adaptations for public administration; Search source of secondary data and field research through direct observation and interview.

The production model observed in the construction industry uses largely non-renewable natural resources and is responsible for generating a large number of waste. One way to mitigate the impacts of this waste is recycling. In this scenario, the objective of this study is to propose the creation of a construction waste recycling plant from the perspective of business symbiosis, assessing their economic and environmental viability. The research is an exploratory case study of applied nature, with a quantitative and qualitative approach. A structured questionnaire was administered with the companies of civil construction of the great Natal registered in SINDUSCON-RN, in order to know the average amount of waste generated by construction companies, the destination of the waste and if there is separation of waste in the work before allocation. Thus, it was possible to estimate the size of the plant and its production volume, to thereby scale the environmental impacts involved and estimate the costs and expenses, essential factors for carrying out feasibility studies. We used the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for environmental assessment and methods of Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and payback for the realization of economic evaluation. The study concluded that the implementation of the construction waste recycling plant in the metropolitan region of Natal is viable environment as much as economically, as well as the organization symbiotically of companies is seen in a positive way to encourage the separation of waste at work and, consequently, improve the quality of the recycled aggregate produced. In addition, the reuse of waste by own construction companies reduces the extraction of non-renewable natural resources and the generation of new waste, contributing to the reduction of the environmental impact generated by this sector.

The search for new energy sources and impacts of traditional forms of electricity generation have led to a search for renewable and clean energy to supplement their energy matrixes. Wind energy is currently regarded as one of the most promising sources of renewable energy. The Brazilian wind power sector is going through a unique moment since the early progress made in early 1990. The great generation potential and the increasing number of projects being implemented throughout its Brazilian territory (the heating sector economy) They have been gaining prominence as a differential to overcome the demand for the need for electric power generation. Faced with the growing number of wind farms in Brazil, you must ensure that the construction of these projects are being carried out efficiently and effectively. The objective is to propose a set of guidelines and best practices in building onshore wind farms, aiming at a better use of resources. Therefore, we carried out a literature review on wind energy issues, construction processes of wind and good practices parks. In the application of research techniques carried out a survey and mapping on construction companies that operate in this segment in the state of Rio Grande do Norte and used semi-structured questionnaires in the field of research with the companies involved. At the end of the survey obtained the current mapping of the builders who carried out and carry out the construction of these projects, in addition to the proposed set of guidelines and best practices for building wind farms, aimed at better planning and execution of the work of plants and help entrepreneurs to develop projects more efficiently and effectively.

The organizations in general have been concerned about the scope of the strategies and goals set and, based on this premise, the Quality Management enters to further optimize the results, satisfaction and expectations of the customers. Among that, ISO 9001, one of the quality tools of generic character, enables any company to adopt standards and quality management systems according to the requirements of the standard, in order to standardize its processes to the requirements of customers. Coupled with the interest in the certification and the inclusion of practices that generate an improvement in the services offered, through research, education and extension, the Innovation Lab in Health (LAIS), a reference in research and technology in Rio Grande do Norte , aims for such procedures to be adopted. Thus, the object of the study is the LAIS, working with the tripod of education and with a goal to deliver technology solutions for the Brazil's Unified Health System (SUS). The study is conducted by means of an action research, guided by the requirements of ISO 9001: 2015, and its analysis is qualitative and quantitative. Furthermore, it has the purpose of process modeling in adequacy for the ISO 9001:. 2015 in the Technological Innovation Lab in Health. As for the planning, the literature review and the case study were chosen. The conduct of this research is very important, as it promotes the improvement of the innovation processes and the credibility of the institution and serves as the basis for other organizations and researches in the area. The results of the work will be considered for major contributions and relevance of the subject studied.

This dissertation aims to propose a Performance measurement system (PMS) for operation and maintenance (O&M) of wind farms in Brazil. To this end, was performed a literature review on the characteristics of an PMS and performance measurement initiatives in power plants. This allowed the elaboration of Conceptual Model that has guided the field research and the Indicators Framework, which was validated in the Focus Group 1, for examining the objective, scope, applicability, adaptability and relevance of the indicators. The field research had as technical procedure case studies in seven companies, aiming to collect information for the development of the proposal. The existing performance management forms in the wind farms were analyzed and the Indicators Framework was evaluated as to its use and acceptance. The cases were conducted through interviews with managers of strategic and tactical levels, in addition to collections of records, reports and other documents and information from the web page. The analysis of the cases occurred for the triangulation of this information. The PMS propositions were structured in the Focus Group 2, in which was analyzed the dimensions, constraints and performance indicators, by the analysis of the proposal’s scope. The PMS includes four dimensions: Financial (7 indicators), Energy Generated (12 indicators), Operation and Maintenance (13 indicators) and People (2 indicators), sustained by the performance constraints Reliability of the prospecting’s study, Construction and Assembly Quality, Organizational Learning, Support Tools and Techniques and Supply Chain Coordination. The use of PMS enables decisions based on evidence and causing increased operational efficiency and performance optimization in O&M of wind farms

With the installation of chaos in the Brazilian institutional scenario, it is necessary to search for and improve entrepreneurship education in the country. In this way, qualifying students, building a self-confident personality and having sufficient knowledge to identify existing market gaps has become essential for Revitalize and move the entire economic group in the state. In view of this, the present research aims to analyze the educational landscape of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte regarding the disciplines that approach entrepreneurship and, in view of the result and if necessary, propose action plans aimed at improving the methods developed In the classroom in order to contribute to the evolution of students' entrepreneurial thinking. This work is justified because it is possible to identify university deficiencies in terms of curricular components. It is necessary to demonstrate the importance of the dissemination and implantation of entrepreneurship since basic education in Brazil, a situation that is already experienced in many developed countries. Due to this fact, underdeveloped or developing countries must awaken in their environment the need for this entrepreneurial attitude, under the care and interaction of the essential tripartite that are: Government, University and Business; To sow a more consolidated entrepreneurial culture. In view of the above, the research method used was predominantly quantitative, cross - sectional and with a sample composed of 96 students from the most diverse areas of UFRN. The data collection was developed through the questionnaire instrument, composed of 46 questions subdivided into 5 dimensions (characterization and typology of entrepreneurs, motivations, obstacles, teaching approaches, and means of undertaking). In view of the results, it is necessary to remodel the methodologies used by the university in order to introduce more practical and dynamic techniques in order to reduce the students' fear of entering the professional market; And to seek to bring companies and environments that encourage entrepreneurship to classrooms.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of the municipalities of Rio Grande do Norte by applying public resources destined to the education and child health sector, considering both productive subprocesses and intertemporal aspects in research. In order to meet these objectives, the research method proposes a quantitative approach based on the use of the Data Envelopment Analysis with the use of Network Data Envelopment Analysis – NDEA and Dynamic Data Envelopment Analysis – DDEA). The sample consists of a balanced data panel with information referring to 56 municipalities of the State of Rio Grande do Norte for the 2009-2011 period. Initially, the aim is to evaluate the municipal efficiency of public spending through the classical DEA-CCR modeling. Then, the calculation of the relative efficiency of the municipalities of Potiguares is carried out by means of the NDEA model, in which four stages of analysis are considered, two for each dimension. The use of the network approach makes it possible both to evaluate the relative productivity of the operating units in each of the productive subprocesses and to estimate the overall efficiency of the system. The first and third stages consist of budget execution for contracting physical and human resources allocated to the education and health sector, respectively. The second and fourth stages, in turn, use the resources contracted to promote the effectiveness of teaching and health. Finally, the DDEA model is applied in order to estimate the intertemporal dynamic effects associated with the analyzed dimensions. The results obtained in the study carried out indicate different levels of efficiency at each stage between the global analyzes and per period. In the case of the educational dimension, the analysis stage regarding municipal budget execution presented, on average, a higher level of inefficiency, which may have been motivated by the expressive expansion of the municipal expenditures destined to the dimensions of education during the years of 2009 to 2011. On the other hand, in the health dimension, the fourth stage was more inefficient, evidencing the need to implement emergency measures with the purpose of expanding the capacity of ambulatory care and immunizations for the set of municipalities observed. The results obtained for the intertemporal evaluation of productivity indicate a reduction of the average rate of municipal efficiency throughout the analyzed period in both dimensions. Thus, the most relevant finding of this research shows that the expansion of municipal expenditures for the provision of public health and education services in the State of Rio Grande do Norte did not guarantee the expansion of the population's access to such services and, at the same time, did not promote Improvements in the quality of the indicators associated with these dimensions over time. Thus, it is urgent that the most inefficient municipal governments, regarding budgetary execution in the dimensions of education and child health, carry out an evaluation of the internal structure of these sectors in order to identify possible sources of inefficiency and in an emergency in the short term , Are reflected in the municipalities that present the best relative productivity indexes.

The objective of this study is to propose an alignment of the General Packaging Sector Agreement to the post-consumption chain of mineral water containers in the city of Natal, in order to provide the adequate disposal of waste as provided by the National Solid Waste Policy. To fulfill this objective, the research method proposes a qualitative approach, of an applied nature, and the data collection procedures are obtained through field research in fifteen actors that make up the post-consumer chain of mineral water packages. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in four mineral water bottlers, two collector cooperatives, five intermediate buyers and three recycling industries in order to understand the dynamics of the reverse flow of packaging after its disposal by consumers and industry. At the end of this stage of the research it was possible to obtain a picture of the reverse chain of the disposable and returnable mineral water containers, verifying along the post-consumption flow the rate of recovery of these materials that followed for recycling. Data were also obtained regarding the improvements made by the cooperatives of collectors and intermediate buyers to the collected packaging, identifying the necessary requirements for the commercialization of these materials to the recycling industry. With this scenario identified and exploited, adjustments were proposed for the alignment of the mineral water container sector in line with the scope established by the Packaging Sector Agreement for the systematization of reverse logistics of post consumer packages.

This paper aims at evaluating the impact of free of charge, regular and permanent public school transport in the academic career of high school students from countryside regions in the Professional Scientific and Technological Federal Education Network (RFEPCT), especially students from two Campus of Federal Institute of Education Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN). With the expansion program of the RFEPCT, started in 2008, 564 new units were inaugurated until 2014, bringing this level of education to young Brazilians from all regions of the country, previously a privilege only of those residing in large urban centers. The Program foresees the construction in polo cities, strategically selected, to cover young people from as many municipalities as possible within a 50-kilometer radius, with no distinction between states. Therefore, in order to achieve this goal, it is necessary, in addition to providing the physical structure of the school, to provide the means of access to education, including, among other demands, transportation on the home-school-home path. In this perspective, associated with the main objective, the following secondary objectives were proposed: i) verify the public policies related to school transportation and whether there would be a need for normative change; ii) to identify the dynamics of the student's journey in the home-school-home path and; iii) to verify the extent to which the transport conditions affect the student's performance and avoidance. For that, primary and secondary data were used and qualitative analyzes were performed, with bibliographic, documentary and content analysis techniques; with the use of descriptive statistics and econometric models of Multiple Linear Regression by the Ordinary Least Squares Method. The results pointed to a legal gap to the social right to school transportation of students of federal basic education, due to the mandatory provision of this service to all students in the mandatory stages of education, which suggests normative changes proposed in this research. The analysis of the interviews with the Campus Managers and the Municipal Secretaries of Education demonstrated the legal ignorance of the actors of this process on the subject and an attempt to equalize the conditions of access by the Campus Managers In negotiation with the prefectures of the municipalities where these students reside, which do not have a homogeneous policy on this aspect. The results of the quantitative analysis showed that there was no statistical significance between having access to the school transportation service and student performance, but they presented a correlation between distance and academic performance, according to researched literature.

A presente pesquisa apresenta a evolução e o desenvolvimento da literatura da modelagem

dinâmica da Análise Envoltória de Dados (DEA) por meio da proposição de taxonomias,

identificação das relações entre os modelos, mapeamento das áreas de aplicações e comparação

da estrutura das modelagens. Ao delinear o estado da arte de modelos dinâmicos DEA

(Dynamic DEA - DDEA), analisou-se a bibliografia desde os trabalhos precursores até as

publicações mais recentes, contemplando o período de 1996 a 2015. A pesquisa identificou que

cerca de 80% dos trabalhos de DDEA apresentam aplicações, de modo que os avanços da

literatura foram motivados pela necessidade modelos mais próximos da realidade e com

avaliações da eficiência mais precisas. Dentre os resultados, destaca-se a identificação de três

modelos DDEA estruturantes considerados como trabalhos inovadores, que ao longo desses

anos colaboraram com o desenvolvimento de diversos estudos. Além disso, observam-se os

recentes ganhos computacionais dos modelos, a utilização de técnicas complementares para

obter análises mais robustas e diferentes vertentes de estruturação da modelagem dinâmica, o

que permitiu a classificação dos modelos.

O violão é o instrumento musical mais tocado em todo o mundo, tanto em caráter recreativo quanto profissional. Considerando que as pessoas tendem a reproduzir ao longo da vida algumas práticas, hábitos e costumes aprendidos, desde a mais tenra idade, e que o processo de formação musical pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento de habilidades do músico profissional, faz-se necessário compreender até que ponto o processo de formação superior do violonista é provedor de comportamentos que levem os alunos ao adoecimento por LER/DORT. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo geral analisar a prática de estudo dos alunos do curso de violão da Escola de Música da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte-EMUFRN em Natal-RN, de modo a identificar situações críticas que para o possível desenvolvimento de LER/DORT. A pesquisa classifica-se como qualitativa. Trata-se de uma pesquisa exploratória de campo, que, fundamentada no campo de estudo da Ergonomia, se utilizou de técnicas observacionais e interacionais para coleta de dados de campo, restituição e validação. Como resultados, foram identificados cinco cenários considerados críticos na rotina de estudo: sessões prolongadas de estudo com o instrumento, estudo para apreensão de técnicas específicas, preparação para recitais (avaliação acadêmica), retomada da prática após período de recesso, desconformidade no mobiliário e instrumentos de trabalho (cadeiras, suporte para violão, apoio para membro inferior). O estudo concluiu que a postura corporal adotada, a técnica escolhida pelo músico e a carga horária dedicada à prática com o instrumento são fatores importantes em todos os cenários apresentados.

As constantes evoluções nos sistemas de produção tem procurado atender, em grande parte, às necessidades dos clientes. O mercado, desde então, vem se tornando cada vez mais competitivo. Neste contexto de busca de um diferencial competitivo para impressionar os clientes e fidelizá-los a posteriori, as empresas tem apostado no desenvolvimento de novos produtos. A falta de uma gestão clara e um método no Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP) pode fazer com que as empresas não consigam incorporar novas tecnologias que resultem em melhorias significativas. A maioria das Micro e Pequenas Empresas (MPEs) não tem uma metodologia de PDP definida, e por muitas vezes acabam ainda se baseando na experiência empírica dentro da empresa. Existem muitas ferramentas estatísticas que auxiliam nesse processo, dentre elas o Planejamento de Experimentos, que é uma técnica utilizada para se planejar experimentos, ou seja, para definir quais dados, em que quantidade e em que condições devem ser coletados durante um determinado experimento, buscando, basicamente, satisfazer dois grandes objetivos: a maior precisão estatística possível na resposta e o menor custo. O objetivo desta dissertação, portanto, é propor uma metodologia de desenvolvimento de novos produtos, utilizando a técnica de planejamento de experimentos, em uma pequena empresa do ramo alimentício. O estudo foi realizado em uma sorveteria artesanal e o produto escolhido para a realização da pesquisa foi um sorvete à base de um suplemento alimentar proteíco, o Whey Protein. A fim de conduzir a pesquisa foi elaborado uma metodologia baseada em 8 passos: (1) Concepção da ideia; (2) Ouvir a voz dos clientes; (3) Ouvir a voz dos especialistas; (4) Identificação dos parâmetros de interesse; (5) Planejamento de Experimentos; (6) Análise; (7) Otimização; (8) Lançamento do Produto. Para a concepção da ideia foram realizadas entrevistas com dois grupos focos: grupo de oito pessoas, incluindo esportistas e atletas e um outro de cinco pessoas, incluindo nutricionistas e educadores físicos. O desenvolvimento do produto se deu em três etapas: na primeira foi realizado um experimento de um único fator para entender a composição da base do sorvete. Na segunda foi realizado um fatorial completo, com foco nos fatores fibras, proteínas e água. Na terceira etapa outro fatorial completo, com foco nos mesmos fatores.  Ao longo do desenvolvimento do sorvete, foram conduzidos testes sensoriais e de composição centesimal do produto para fazer a validação do mesmo de acordo com os requisitos dos stakeholders e da legislação vigente, respectivamente. Ao final do produto, pode-se afirmar que a nova metodologia de desenvolvimento de produto obteve um resultado de sucesso, com um produto inovador no mercado e melhorando aspectos da gestão da informação dentro da organização estudada. Destaca-se como positivo a empresa possuir um ótimo ambiente de inovação, que se caracteriza por ser bastante aberto a ideias novas e ousadas. Sugere-se a aplicação desta metodologia em outras MPEs a fim de melhorar a gestão da inovação.

A presente dissertação tem o objetivo de analisar a atividade dos operadores de um centro de controle da produção on-shore de petróleo; com foco nas restrições ao curso da ação dos operadores, nos processos de cognição e de tomada de decisão e, nas  estratégias (individual e coletiva) para  regular  e manter a ação requerida e a segurança desse sistema sociotécnico. A atividade em foco envolve a supervisão e controle da produção de milhares de barris/dia de petróleo em uma complexa e dispersa estrutura de produção construída numa extensão  de 80 km. Esse contexto operacional evidencia a importância da atividade dos operadores da sala de controle no cumprimento das metas locais e corporativas de integridade, eficiência, segurança, meio ambiente e saúde. A pesquisa tem natureza qualitativa, abordagem exploratória e descritiva, utilizando a metodologia da Análise Ergonômica do Trabalho, técnicas observacionais e  interacionais. A população do estudo é formada pelos operadores da sala de controle de uma empresa de petróleo brasileira. Os resultados evidenciaram que a atividade de supervisão e controle do processo de injeção de vapor superaquecido representa o contexto de maior complexidade, pelas demandas de maior atenção, concentração, cálculos, comparações, análise de tendências e tomada de decisão. A atividade é construída coletivamente entre o operador da sala de controle, o operador de campo e a  empresa fornecedora de vapor. A pesquisa evidenciou que os processos de comunicação e colaboração do operador da sala de controle e os operadores de campo e equipes de apoio são elementos estruturantes dessa atividade e os operadores dispõem da autonomia e dos elementos necessários para o trabalho; que existe permanente investimento para melhoria da tecnologia utilizada e  que os operadores relatam distúrbios de sono em decorrência da exposição crônica ao trabalho noturno. O estudo contribui com propostas de transformação dessa atividade no tocante à instalação de uma área de apoio às refeições na sala de controle, atualização das telas dos supervisórios à condição operacional atual, visitas periódicas dos operadores da sala no campo, padronização de relatórios de produção, desenvolvimento de sistemas de ajuda e padronização das nomenclaturas das estações controladoras de vapor, visando melhorar as condições de realização da atividade, melhorar a qualidade dos produtos produzidos pelos operadores e contribuir para reduzir a possibilidade de lapsos ou desvios na atividade.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar as relações e influências existentes entre as práticas de planejamento e controle, as equipes de projeto e a qualidade e escopo destes sobre o sucesso da gestão de projetos na indústria de petróleo e gás. Esta proposição fundamentou-se da necessidade de se gerenciar os projetos de forma eficaz e eficiente haja vista os benefícios trazidos, como, por exemplo: apadronização de operações; melhor capacidade de planejamento; redução de custos; qualidade e atendimento aos requisitos. O setor de petróleo e gás merece atenção diferenciada pelo fato de seus projetos apresentarem alta complexidade, altos custos incorridos, incertezas durante a execução e irreversibilidade de ações no ciclo de vida. Diante dos benefícios da gestão e as dificuldades do setor, traçar modelos que determinem e considerem a complexidade e multidimensionalidade da gestão de projetos de petróleo podem ser utilizados como impulsionadores do sucesso da gestão de projetos e consequentemente da companhia. Para tal, o método de análise escolhido foi a modelagem de equações estruturais com estimação por mínimos quadrados ponderados (Partial Least Squares, PLS), por permitir lidar com múltiplas relações simultâneas e capacidade de especificar, estimar e testar relações hipotéticas entre um grupo de variáveis. O PLS é um método de modelagem considerado suave, livre de distribuição e altamente adequado para aplicações sem ter que fazer suposições fortes e com grandes amostras. Para coleta dos dados, foi aplicada uma survey com projetistas e gerentes de projeto de distintas unidades de operação da maior empresa de petróleo e gás brasileira, considerando como dado amostral um projeto, obteve-se uma amostra de 77 projetos. A partir do uso do método e observação da significância e coeficientes das relações entre as variáveis foram verificados os fatores que merecem maior atenção na gestão interna da empresa, norteando ações de aprimoramento. Os resultados apontaram que 63% dos projetos ultrapassam os orçamentos previstos e 57% excedem os prazos de conclusão. Acerca dos construtos analisados, as equipes de projeto não apresentam forte efeito direto no sucesso da gestão, todavia, seus efeitos indiretos sobre as demais variáveis são significativos, uma das justificativas para estes resultados apontam para as questões de comunicação. A qualidade, o escopo, planejamento e controle têm efeitos significativos no sucesso da gestão de projetos.

O presente trabalho estudo tem como objetivo compreender como as relações da Tríplice Hélice (Universidade; Governo e Estrutura Produtiva) intervêm no processo de captação de recursos das fundações de apoio brasileiras. Observadas enquanto elos das relações citadas, as fundações de apoio emergem no cenário brasileiro a partir do pleito de estabelecer uma plataforma de desenvolvimento econômico baseada no tripé: ciência, tecnologia e inovação - CT&I. Em termos aplicados, as fundações operam como ferramentas de desburocratização, tornando a gestão dos entes públicos mais ágil, sobretudo à gestão acadêmica em conformidade a abordagem da hélice tripla. Para compreensão das relações postas, utilizou-se os modelos de interação Universidade-Empresa-Governo preconizadas por Sábato e Botana (1968), a abordagem da Tríplice Hélice disposta por Etzkowitz e Leydesdorff (2000), assim como a perspectiva dos sistemas nacionais de inovação, discutida por Freeman (1987, 1995), Nelson (1990, 1993), e Lundvall (1992). Fora objeto deste estudo as 26 fundações estaduais de amparo à pesquisa associadas ao Conselho Nacional das Fundações Estaduais de Amparo à Pesquisa – CONFAP, assim como as 102 fundações de apoio às IES associadas ao Conselho Nacional das Fundações de Apoio às Instituições de Ensino Superior e de Pesquisa Científica e Tecnológica – CONFIES, totalizando 128 entidades. Como estratégia de pesquisa, este estudo se caracteriza enquanto uma pesquisa aplicada, de abordagem quantitativa. Os dados primários desta pesquisa foram coletados com o uso do procedimento e-mail Survey. Foram coletadas 75 observações, que correspondem à 58,59% do universo de pesquisa. Cabe ponderar que fora utilizado ainda o método bootstrap com vistas a validar o uso da amostra nas análises de resultados.  Para a análise dos dados foram utilizadas técnicas de estatística descritiva e de análises multivariadas de dados: a análise de conglomerados; a correlação canônica e a regressão logística binária. A partir das raízes canônicas obtidas, os resultados indicaram que a relação de dependência entre as variáveis de relações (com os atores da tríplice hélice) e os recursos financeiros investidos em projetos de inovação é baixa, admitindo a hipótese nula deste estudo. Por outro lado, os resultados obtidos com a análise de conglomerados apontam que as entidades que possuem maiores quantitativos e montantes financeiros de projetos constam em sua maioria de fundações de grande porte (mais de 100 funcionários), que apoiam até cinco IES, publicam relatórios de gestão e utilizam em sua estrutura de capital maior financiamento do setor público. Em face do exposto, conclui-se que apesar de dispor de diversas prerrogativas institucionais que fomentam a interação entre Universidade-Empresa-Governo e promovam o desenvolvimento tecnológico brasileiro, as relações da Tríplice Hélice não têm interferido positivamente ou negativamente na captação de recursos para investimentos em projetos de inovação. Por fim, é pertinente destacar que o poder de classificação do modelo logístico obtido neste estudo foi de 80,0% para o total da amostra e de 94,3% para o grupo de fundações que possuem maior captação de recursos e volume de projetos.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo avaliar a eficiência dos Núcleos de Inovação Tecnológica com o uso do modelo Network Data Envelopment Analysis - NDEA. Para realizar esta pesquisa, realizou-se uma survey para obter informações coletadas no âmbito qualitativo e quantitativo em que se constitui uma amostra de 46 Núcleos de Inovação Tecnológica (NIT) no Brasil, em uma escala temporal de cinco anos – 2009 a 2013. Adotou-se o modelo NDEA multiplicativo relacional de dois estágios. O processo de avaliação de eficiência as unidades avaliadas são os NITs filiados ao FORTEC. O modelo é composto por três analises de eficiência: (1) avaliação do processo de P&D – para avaliar captação de recursos para o desenvolvimento e acumulação de tecnologia nos centros de pesquisas; (2) avaliação do processo de comercialização – para avaliar na criação de valor para realizar o processo de comercialização da inovação na difusão da tecnologia; e, (3) avaliação global do processo do Núcleo de Inovação Tecnológica. Esse modelo apresenta uma composição das variáveis de inputs: os números de professores (X1), recursos financeiros (X2) e tempo de atuação dos NITs (X3); os inputs/outputs intermediários são: licenciamento (Z1) e royalties (Z2); e a última etapa, os outputs finais, são patentes comercializadas (Y1) e pedido de patente (Y2). Com o uso desta metodologia, os resultados apontam que os 21,74% dos NITs são eficientes no processo de pesquisa e desenvolvimento; 10,87% são sob o processo de comercialização; e, sob ambas as perspectivas, não há NIT 100% eficiente. A partir desses resultados, esta pesquisa revela que é difícil alcançar um desempenho altamente eficiente em ambas as fases do processo de transferência de tecnologia. Compararam-se, também, os modelos DEA tradicional e NDEA, para evidenciar as características de cada modelo, bem como identificar os resultados obtidos pelo NDEA. Para respaldar essas análises, quatro hipóteses foram avaliadas pelo teste estatístico Kruskal-Wallis e teste F, alcançando os objetivos propostos, fornecendo informações aos gestores da Instituição, a fim de identificar quais são os fatores que melhor poderia ser implementado para alavancar a eficiência do NIT. Conclui-se também que o capital proveniente do Governo não é suficiente para que o NIT atinja necessariamente a eficiência.

Nos dias atuais, caracterizados por demandas sociais cada vez mais crescentes, a análise de indicadores sociais representa uma ferramenta significativa para a avaliação do bem-estar e qualidade de vida da população, seja em nível nacional ou local. Criado em 1990 pelo Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento (PNUD), o Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano (IDH) dos países, um indicador sintético que varia de 0 a 1 em faixas de IDH Muito Baixo, Baixo, Médio, Alto a Muito Alto, tornou-se reconhecido e aceito na maior parte do mundo. Para verificar esta realidade em nível regional, o PNUD desenvolveu o Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano Municipal (IDHM), a fim de avaliar a realidade social nos municípios brasileiros. Identificou-se desta maneira a oportunidade de desenvolver uma análise exploratória de dados dos indicadores sociais nas dimensões educação, longevidade e renda que compõem o IDHM dos 167 municípios do estado do Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil, em 1991, 2000 e 2010, por meio de uma pesquisa aplicada e explicativa, com uma abordagem quantitativa, baseada em referencial bibliográfico, utilizando o método de modelagem de redes neurais SOM, a partir da base de dados do portal do Atlas do Desenvolvimento Humano Municipal Brasileiro. A aplicação do método de agrupamento utilizando mapas autoorganizáveis permitiu a identificação de cinco grupos e as similaridades entre os municípios. Os testes das hipóteses identificaram diferenças significativas entre os grupos. Associado às técnicas descritivas, como a segmentação por quintis, taxas de desenvolvimento e de redução de hiato, os resultados das segmentações identificaram os avanços diferenciados e as proporções de desigualdades entre os municípios, nas microrregiões e mesorregiões do estado, visualizados por meio de mapas temáticos dos municípios do Rio Grande do Norte. Tais resultados podem colaborar na compreensão da realidade social regional e na consequente busca da melhoria da qualidade de vida dos cidadãos.

DIRETRIZES E BOAS PRÁTICAS SOB A PERSPECTIVA DA SUSTENTABILIDADE EM EMPREENDIMENTOS EÓLICOS

The information technology diffusion (IT) is embedded at all levels of society. The advent of increasingly advanced technology allows to connect businesses and citizens among themselves and with global market. This reflects in the process of computerization of companies and an allocation of efforts to micro and small companies to obtain success in this process. The objective of this study is to assess the background factors (perceived usefulness, ease of use, external pressures and internal environment) to investment in information technology and the impact of adoption on growth performance (cost, quality, time, increase market, loyalty market) in micro and small businesses in the city of Natal / RN. To reach the goal, it constituted a conceptual model, based on review of the literature. The theoretical framework and the understanding of the reality faced by micro and small companies allowed the construction of hypotheses about the relationship between the constructs of the model. For the preparation of the measure, empirical research in order to test the hypothesis was performed using a questionnaire with Likert scale validated in the literature. The final sample obtained was attended by 76 companies from micro and small. For testing and validation of the measure, we used the model of structural equation (SEM). The measure reaches the reliability requirements and internal validity. The results suggest that constructs such as ease of use and external pressure positive influence on the adoption of technology, while the perceived usefulness had the opposite effect. The paper presents managerial implications that can assist members that make up the micro and small organization, as well as companies that provide software, suppliers and supporting bodies and regulatory decision making.

A revolução tecnológica vivenciada pela sociedade, em contínua expansão e transformação, tem demandado usos crescentes de energia, nas várias formas. O planejamento estratégico energético visa balizar as relações entre oferta e consumo dos vários energéticos na sociedade e nos seus variados setores. Administrar eficientemente os recursos energéticos presentes em um determinado local é de vital importância para o desenvolvimento sustentável. O balanço energético é um documento que retrata as fontes energéticas primárias e secundárias, quantificando os recursos e seus fluxos, podendo ser utilizado para auxiliar no entendimento situacional e na elaboração de estratégias para suprimento contínuo de energia.

Dentre os vários energéticos, a lenha e o carvão vegetal fazem parte de vários processos industriais, agrícolas, residenciais, etc., tendo sido, ao longo dos anos, substituído por outros energéticos, como eletricidade e derivados do petróleo, devido ao avanço tecnológico e por serem mais eficientes. Porém, indo na contramão do mundo, o Brasil apresenta aumento no consumo destes componentes nos últimos 20 anos.

Este trabalho objetivou uma análise comparativa da oferta e consumo da lenha e do carvão vegetal no cenário energético brasileiro a partir de dados da EPE – Empresa de Pesquisas Energéticas, entre outras. Em termos metodológicos foi feita uma análise exploratória de dados, a partir de uma análise longitudinal. Dados foram coletados dos balanços energéticos nacionais e estaduais disponíveis.

Objetivou-se realizar uma análise temporal, com marcos em 1992, 2002 e 2012, a fim de visualizar as diferenças, ao longo destas últimas décadas, nas variações dos perfis nos setores econômicos e nos segmentos energéticos, dando ênfase qualitativamente ao segmento de lenha e carvão vegetal. Tal comparação foi feita entre o Brasil e os estados da Bahia, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo. Comparações percentuais, relativas aos maiores valores são obtidas, de forma a gerar perfis gráficos para comparações visuais. Análises de correlação nestes marcos temporais com indicadores relacionados ao grau de riqueza e população do país foram feitas. Também foi avaliado o impacto do consumo destes energéticos com a incidência do Programa “Luz para Todos”, ocorrida nos últimos 12 anos.

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O mapeamento de processos é uma ferramenta importante que contribui na gestão das organizações, melhorando os níveis de produtividade, qualidade e reciprocidade das decisões tomadas e implementadas. Neste sentido, o objetivo deste estudo é descrever o mapeamento dos macro processos da gestantes de alto risco da Maternidade Escola Januário Cicco - MEJC. O método de pesquisa utilizado foi descritivo. A partir de observações, entrevistas e análises foi possível entender que há sobrecarga de atividades de atendimento a pacientes. Além disso, foi observado que não existe um sistema informatizado e, sobretudo, um banco de dados que permita um controle mais efetivo para o gerenciamento. Percebe-se que através do mapeamento deste setor pode-se ter uma visão mais clara e abrangente dos processos organizacionais, e dessa forma gerir as informações de modo eficiente e eficaz.

O presente estudo tem como objetivo geral de verificar se a cultura organizacional das concessionárias em estudo são orientadas a qualidade, motivado pelo seguinte problema de pesquisa: existe uma cultura organizacional nas concessionárias em estudo que propicie aplicação máxima das práticas da qualidade sugeridas pela ISO 9001? Para tanto, evidenciou-se uma revisão teórica nos seguintes pontos: Cultura organizacional, Cultura da qualidade, Gestão da qualidade total, Sistema de gestão da qualidade ISO 9001 e a indústria automobilística brasileira, necessários ao embasamento da temática dissertada. Sobre o método, a pesquisa possui natureza aplicada, com abordagem quantitativa, sendo exploratória em relação aos objetivos e bibliográfica, documental e survey em relação aos procedimentos técnicos. O objeto de estudo foram todas as concessionárias automotivas de veículos leves certificadas com ISO 9001 ativas no Brasil. A pesquisa procurou abranger as 80 concessionárias ativas com certificação ISO 9001, conseguindo contribuição de 32 concessionárias. O instrumento de coleta utilizado foi enviado aos gerentes de vendas de veículos novos, formatado em cinco seções: 1) mensagem introdutória à pesquisa, 2) perfil do gestor, 3) identificação dos motivos de implantação e benefícios gerados pela ISO, 4) avaliação dos níveis de adoção das práticas da qualidade e 5) diagnostico da cultura organizacional.  As indagações contidas nas seções 2 e 3 foram estruturadas em múltipla escolha, e nas demais seções foram estruturadas em escala Likert de 5 pontos. Utilizou-se como método estatístico (análise dos dados) a estatística descritiva para representação dos dados em frequência percentual (FP) e nível padrão (NP). Os resultados evidenciados demonstraram que as concessionárias em estudo, em uma análise geral, possuem uma cultura organizacional em níveis de predominância muito alta, apontando “robustez” nas dimensões: “Orientação a resultados” e “Atenção aos detalhes”. E quanto as outras duas dimensões consideradas propicias a qualidade (Inovação e Trabalho em equipe/respeito pelas pessoas), ambas observaram alta predominância, sendo consideradas como dimensões “fortes”. Desta forma é possível concluir, após diagnostico realizado, que a cultura organizacional das concessionárias em estudo são orientadas a qualidade, vide perfil predominante nas quatro dimensões culturais como estimuladoras da qualidade. Com as conclusões citadas, é importante ressaltar a existência de uma cultura da qualidade nas concessionárias, mesmo que em um estágio inicial, fazendo com que as demais organizações que procurem adotar práticas da qualidade procurem construir, desenvolver e consolidar esta cultura, que por sua vez atua como estimuladora a adoção destas práticas em níveis máximos, permitindo a promoção de uma satisfação “irredutível” ao consumidor.

Atualmente, a qualidade na prestação de serviços aparece como importante elemento diferenciador entre empresas, e deve ser desenvolvida no intuito de gerar vantagem competitiva. O conceito de comportamento servidor envolve aspectos da orientação para o mercado, envolvendo as dimensões de responsabilidade, simplicidade, renúncia, iniciativa, vontade de ajudar, prática do bem e utilidade. A orientação para o consumidor tem efeitos positivos sobre o desempenho de vendas, qualidade percebida, e na construção de relacionamentos comprador-vendedor e satisfação do cliente. Este é um fator essencial para o sucesso em organizações do setor de serviços, especialmente em serviços com alta interação, como a indústria hoteleira. Neste contexto em que a diferenciação na prestação de serviços é uma tendência constante e a cultura orientada a serviços é uma base para o desenvolvimento e entrega de serviços de alta qualidade, este trabalho buscou verificar se a percepção do comportamento servidor afeta a avaliação da qualidade de serviço nos hotéis natalenses. Para tanto, foi aplicado um questionário com 395 pessoas que estavam deixando Natal e que haviam se hospedado em hotéis na cidade. Foram utilizadas as ferramentas estatísticas do teste-T de Student e regressão ordinal. Verificou-se que as expectativas com relação ao comportamento servidor dos funcionários era elevada, e a percepção do desempenho foi aquém do esperado pelos hóspedes. Na averiguação da influência das dimensões do comportamento servidor na percepção da qualidade do serviço, verificou-se que a Responsabilidade, Utilidade e Simplicidade foram mais significativas na predição da qualidade, em detrimento das outras. Essas dimensões explicaram 56,20%, 56,71% e 51,14%, respectivamente, das observações elevadas da qualidade do serviço. 

Diante das mudanças do mercado, as empresas passaram a considerar como de muita importância revisar seus modelos de gestão, no intuito de encontrar um sistema que avalie e dê informações confiáveis, por sua vez, a gestão do conhecimento pode ser considerada como de grande valia para uma companhia. A presente Dissertação de Mestrado tem como objetivo geral analisar a influência da gestão do conhecimento nas companhias brasileiras com melhor governança corporativa no Investor Relations Global Rankings.  Para isso, foram reunidos elementos que contemplaram a abordagem pesquisada. Foi realizada uma pesquisa bibliográfica e documental, com a finalidade de reunir os trabalhos e documentos relacionados com esta temática, buscando atualizar os conceitos sobre a gestão do conhecimento, a governança corporativa e o IR Global Rankings, além de ajudar a verificar até que ponto a gestão do conhecimento pode influenciar empresas a possuírem uma melhor governança corporativa. Esta pesquisa classifica-se ainda por ser exploratória descritiva, pois proporciona maiores informações sobre um assunto, com levantamento de dados tipo survey, já que esse método pode ser caracterizado pela obtenção de dados ou informações sobre características, ações ou opiniões, e uma abordagem quantitativa e qualitativa. A pesquisa investigou a temática em seis grandes organizações brasileira classificadas entre as melhores do mundo no quesito governança corporativa, no ano de 2012. A coleta de dados foi feita por pesquisa documental e bibliográfica, através de contato presencial, virtual e via um questionário semi-estruturado enviado por e-mail, gerando as informações necessárias para as análises. Os dados provenientes do questionário, além das analises embasadas pela fundamentação teórica, tiveram dados tabulados com o auxilio do programa estatístico Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Ao final do estudo, foi possível identificar a importância da gestão do conhecimento como recurso para a gestão empresarial, bem como fornecer mais informações sobre essa ferramenta para as empresas pesquisadas, e assim, ajudá-las a formular estratégias para continuarem satisfazendo seus clientes.

Esta dissertação apresenta o processo de validação do Sistema de Indicadores de Desempenho para Empreendimentos em Construção Civil – SIDECC. O objetivo foi desenvolver um sistema de indicadores de desempenho, a partir da abordagem macroergonômica, considerando critérios de utilidade, praticabilidade e aplicabilidade e o conceito de melhoria contínua na indústria de construção civil. O processo de validação do SIDECC consistiu de três modelagens distintas. A Modelagem I correspondeu ao desenvolvimento e validação teórica de um sistema de indicadores. A Modelagem II diz respeito ao desenvolvimento e validação multiprofissional do sistema de indicadores. Para esta modelagem, utilizou-se a Matriz de  Utilização e Importância e a Análise Multivariada. A Modelagem III correspondeu à validação situada, que consistiu de um estudo de caso em uma obra da construção de edifícios, onde foram aplicados e analisados os resultados da Modelagem II. Este trabalho teve como resultado o desenvolvimento de uma metodologia aplicada e testada para a construção de um sistema integrado de indicadores de desempenho, envolvendo os aspectos de  produção, qualidade, sustentabilidade ambiental, saúde e segurança do trabalho. Infere-se que o SIDECC pode ser aplicado, integralmente ou parcialmente, nas empresas de construção civil como um todo, bem como nas empresas de outros setores econômicos.

A concepção de novos produtos, ou a melhoria dos já existentes, bem como a concepção e desenvolvimento de processos de fabricação mais eficientes e confiáveis, são atividades cruciais na maioria das organizações industriais. Gestores industriais que organizam a inovação e estabelecem metas, projeções e mecanismos de avaliação de eficiência e produtividade, buscam coordenar o avanço tecnológico no sentido de retirar seu aspecto de indeterminação e imprevisibilidade. Neste sentido, há muitas ferramentas estatísticas que auxiliam nesse processo, dentre elas o Planejamento e Análise de Experimentos (Design of Experiments - DoE), que auxilia na determinação dos principais fatores que afetam diretamente no desenvolvimento do produto ou no processo produtivo. O objetivo desta dissertação é aplicar técnicas de planejamento e análise de experimentos, a fim de promover a inovação de produtos ou processos em uma fábrica do setor alimentício. Para atingir a finalidade proposta nesta pesquisa, fez-se inicialmente uma revisão de literatura abordando a inovação tecnológica e o planejamento e análise de experimentos. Os procedimentos metodológicos aplicados se desenvolveram a partir de uma pesquisa aplicada com base nas discussões teóricas realizadas e quanto à forma de abordagem do problema, a pesquisa foi classificada como quantitativa. Em relação aos objetivos propostos, foi apresentada uma aplicação com as técnicas de planejamento Fatorial Fracionado 2^k-p em um processo de obtenção de coco ralado. Baseando-se nessas informações, a proposta metodológica seguiu as seguintes etapas: a) Mapeamento do processo, a fim de identificar oportunidades de melhoria; c) Planejamento e execução dos experimentos; por fim, e) Interpretação e apresentação dos resultados. Com essa pesquisa experimental identificou-se o fator mais importante do processo: Tipo de matéria prima. A inovação gerada foi do tipo inovação de processo, tendo como ferramenta para auxílio, o planejamento e a análise de experimentos, com foco principal na melhoria da eficiência e da produtividade, reduzindo perdas desnecessárias no processo.

Este trabalho apresenta uma abordagem multicritério híbrida Fuzzy-TOPSIS-ELECTRE para o problema de seleção de Infraestrutura de Serviços de Computação em Nuvem (IaaS Cloud Computing). A pesquisa foi de caráter exploratório, utilizando de um Estudo de Caso, baseado nas exigências reais de profissionais da área de Computação em Nuvem. A obtenção dos resultados foi feita a partir da condução de Experimento alinhado ao Estudo de Caso, utilizando o perfil distinto de três decisores, para tal, utilizou-se o método Fuzzy-TOPSIS e Fuzzy-ELECTRE-TOPSIS para obtenção destes resultados e comparação entre eles. A solução contempla a Teoria dos conjuntos Fuzzy, para assim poder suportar informações de caráter impreciso ou subjetivo, facilitando assim a interpretação do julgamento do decisor no processo de tomada de decisão. Os resultados obtidos mostram que ambos os métodos foram capaz de classificar as alternativas existentes no problema da maneira esperada, porém o método Fuzzy-ELECTRE-TOPSIS foi capaz de atenuar o caráter compensatório existente no método Fuzzy-TOPSIS, resultando na ordenação diferenciada das alternativas existentes no problema de decisão. A atenuação do caráter compensatório destacou-se de maneira positiva dentro do problema abordado, pois valorizou alternativas mais balanceadas que o método Fuzzy-TOPSIS, um fator que foi comprovado como importante na validação do estudo, visto que para composição de um mix de serviço as alternativas mais balanceadas constituem um mix mais consistente ao se trabalhar com restrições.

A evolução das práticas e estratégias de gestão da manufatura, no decorrer dos anos, tem feito muitas empresas readaptarem seus sistemas produtivos com o intuito de elevar o seu desempenho operacional e se tornarem mais competitivas. Entretanto, na maioria das vezes essas mudanças são realizadas de modo heterogêneo, o que acaba deixando o sistema produtivo sem um objetivo definido, o que pode acabar prejudicando as estratégias gerencias da organização como um todo. Assim, algumas empresas buscam utilizar práticas produtivas bem sucedidas utilizadas por outras empresas, acreditando que conseguirão também reproduzir os mesmos resultados. Um sistema produtivo eficiente deve ser plenamente planejado e adequado aos objetivos estratégicos da organização. Por assim entender, esse trabalho tem como objetivo identificar a o perfil da gestão da manufatura adotadas por indústrias paraibanas, bem como identificar as práticas enxutas por elas utilizadas. Para tal fim, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa, utilizando-se como base metodológica o estudo multicaso. Foram feitas observações diretas, entrevistas e aplicados questionários semiestruturado com os responsáveis pelo setor de produção das empresas participantes. Como resultado, foi possível identificar o tipo de gestão do sistema de manufatura adotado pelas empresas. Foi detectado que a Empresa A utiliza um sistema de Manufatura em Massa Atual, com foco em produtividade e baixo custo; e a Empresa B está utilizando o sistema de Manufatura Enxuta com foco em qualidade e diversidade. Nas duas organizações foi possível perceber a aplicação de práticas enxutas, na qual a Empresa A, que não utiliza a Manufatura Enxuta, possuía práticas enxutas em nível extremamente maduro de utilização.

O fast-fashion (FF) une a estratégia produtiva do quick-response com a utilização de recursos avançados para o design de produtos, além de apresentar flexibilidade em todos os elos da cadeia de suprimentos para atender a gostos frequentemente mutáveis, e apresentar um produto com tendências atuais tão rápida e eficazmente quanto for possível. O FF, que surgiu e se desenvolveu na indústria de confecção, está cada vez sendo mais adotado em outros setores industriais, como é o caso da indústria de informática e de aparelhos de telefonia, pois estes setores têm como característica comum o tipo de produto, caracterizado como produto de moda. O objetivo desta dissertação é entender o modelo fast-fashion e propor sua aplicação em comunidades de artesãs. Para tal, foi elaborado um modelo conceitual de uma organização FF, e em seguida feito o diagnóstico do objeto de pesquisa - composto por duas comunidades de artesanato situadas nos municípios de Vera Cruz e São Gonçalo do Amarante - RN– através de entrevistas feitas durante visitas às comunidades, finalizando com a proposta de um modelo fast-fashion customizado para comunidades de artesãs. O método de pesquisa se caracteriza de acordo com o objetivo como descritivo, conforme o procedimento técnico como estudo de casos, e segundo sua abordagem como qualitativo. Definiu-se que o modelo conceitual de uma organização fast-fashion se subdivide em quatro dimensões: Cultura; Processo; Informação; e Medição de desempenho. E, após pesquisa de campo, conclui-se que para que uma organização possa utilizar os parâmetros do FF é necessário ter abertura para se adaptar às mudanças constantes. Acredita-se que a comunidade de artesãs de Vera Cruz, por ter uma formação mais heterogênea, seja capaz de utilizar uma abordagemfast-fashion. Enquanto que na comunidade de artesãs de Massaranduba não seja possível aplicar os preceitos do FF uma vez que o perfil das integrantes torna esta comunidade menos aberta à mudanças.

Esta dissertação é o resultado de uma pesquisa que teve por objetivo propor um processo de pré-incubação para Empresas de Base Tecnológica – EBTs no âmbito acadêmico. A pesquisa centrou-se na revisão bibliográfica sobre os temas: Incubadoras de empresas, processo de incubação e técnicas/métodos/ferramentas de apoio à fase de pré-incubação, proporcionando quatro estudos  de casos em empresas incubadas. O estudo avalia a existência da pré incubação nas empresas localizadas na Incubadora Tecnológica Natal Central – ITNC – e na incubadora inova-metrópole.  O método de pesquisa utilizado neste estudo foi a abordagem qualitativa, tendo como procedimento a pesquisa de campo, por entender a necessidade de se aprofundar os conhecimentos sobre a utilização de técnicas de planejamento para a criação de EBT's na fase de pré-incubação. Como resultado, foi observado que a maioria das empresas passam pela fase de pré-incubação de maneira informal. Dessa maneira, pôde-se propor um modelo de processo de pré-incubação alicerçado em 04 fases: Descoberta do negócio, busca de informações, modelo do negócio e concepção do negócio, onde cada fase possui atividades, ferramentas/técnicas de apoio e objetivos definidos. Como contribuição, este estudo apresenta uma ferramenta de gestão que possibilita uma maior eficácia e eficiência na geração de novas EBT's inseridas no ambiente acadêmico.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo propor um modelo para avaliação da eficiência dinâmica, aplicado aos hospitais gerais do Sistema Único de Saúde do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte, para promover uma melhoria na taxa de atendimento para população e na gestão de recursos (humano, material e capital) nestes hospitais. Este propósito justifica-se pela situação atual da saúde brasileira definida por um contexto de alto número de redução de leitos ao longo dos anos; alto número de mortes; salas inapropriadas para intervenções ambulatoriais e cirúrgicas; leitos indisponíveis por inexistência/falta de manutenção de equipamentos básicos, e uma elevada defasagem no número de profissionais de saúde na rede hospitalar. Além disso, há uma forte dependência de financiamento para os altos custos operacionais, incapazes de gerar um padrão de qualidade aceitável. O método de pesquisa foi predominantemente exploratório, com aplicação da Análise Envoltória de Dados com modelagem dinâmica (Dynamic Data Envelopment Analysis - DDEA) para determinar a eficiência das unidades organizacionais no período entre os anos de 2011 a 2013, por meio de cortes transversais. Para a condução desta pesquisa, foram consideradas unidades hospitalares gerais (39) administradas diretamente por órgãos da saúde, o que representam aproximadamente 80% dos hospitais públicos gerais do Rio Grande do Norte. Com o uso desta metodologia, os resultados apontaram os hospitais com melhor desempenho no período analisado, contribuindo para a tomada de decisão gerencial e o planejamento eficiente das ações de saúde pública no Estado. A implementação da análise dinâmica alcançou o seu principal objetivo, ao apresentar resultados mais discriminatórios em relação ao modelo clássico de DEA e também permitir a análise dos impactos na produtividade dos hospitais no período observado.

Esta dissertação traz uma análise do atual planejamento estratégico do Poder Judiciário do Rio Grande do Norte dando ênfase à avaliação dos indicadores estratégicos verificando a eficácia na execução, a partir da implantação do Balance Scorecard como ferramenta de avaliação de desempenho da gestão estratégica. A pesquisa apresentar o mapa estratégico e os índices de avaliação de desempenho estratégico verificando a eficácia. Após análise bibliográfica e documental, é tomada a mensuração dos indicadores que são tratados do ponto de vista de uma pesquisa exploratória e descritiva no planejamento estratégico utilizado pelo Poder Judiciário Potiguar. Os dados foram analisados quantitativamente e qualitativamente utilizando-se de técnicas da estatística descritiva para avaliação dos dados comparando-os entre os Poderes Judiciários dos Estados Brasileiros. Com relação à coleta de dados utilizaram-se os indicadores de desempenho extraídos dos dados da Justiça em Números fornecido pelo CNJ no período 2004 a 2011, e as informações pesquisadas no Setor de Planejamento Estratégico do TJ/RN. Os principais resultados deste estudo são os seguintes: Aquisição da  visão  sobre  em que nível se  encontra  o planejamento estratégico do Poder Judiciário do Rio Grande do Norte  e a evolução dos seus indicadores desempenho comparando-os com os Estados do RS, CE, SE e com o Poder Judiciário Nacional.

Esta dissertação teve como objetivo geral investigar e descrever as metodologias utilizadas pelas escolas de ensino médio que contribuem com a escolha do aluno pelo curso de Engenharia de Produção da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte. Foram identificadas as práticas pedagógicas das escolas que contribuem/auxiliam o aluno do ensino médio na escolha da carreira. O objeto de investigação foram as escolas de ensino médio que mais aprovam no curso de engenharia de Produção da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). A abordagem da pesquisa é qualitativa e quanto aos objetivos a pesquisa é considerada exploratória, pois as informações obtidas não podem ser quantificáveis e os dados obtidos são analisados indutivamente. O método utilizado é o estudo de caso, pois se trata de um estudo contemporâneo dentro do contexto da vida real. A pesquisa foi realizada com os coordenadores pedagógicos do ensino médio das escolas selecionadas, nos meses de setembro, outubro, novembro e dezembro de 2012. Os dados foram coletados por meio de análise documental, entrevista semi-estruturada e a observação. Os resultados mostram que as escolas que mais aprovam no curso de Engenharia de Produção da UFRN são: - Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciências e Tecnologia-(IFRN); Colégio Salesiano São José; Centro de Educação Integrada-CEI (Mirassol); Colégio Marista de Natal; Colégio e Curso-(CAP).Os  resultados, encontrados na pesquisa, mostram que os  motivos que levam a escolha pelo curso de Engenharia de Produção conforme os ingressantes 2000-2012 estão relacionados à  vocação e à oferta de mercado de trabalho. Foi possível identificar que 80% dos alunos egressos no curso de Engenharia de Produção da UFRN, concluíram o ensino médio em escolas particulares no turno diurno. Espera-se desta forma contribuir com estudos e pesquisas na área de educação em engenharia de produção relacionando a educação básica e a escolha da carreira a fim de reduzir as taxas de evasão em uma das profissões mais importantes para o crescimento sustentável do país.

O objetivo geral dessa pesquisa foi analisar os fatores que determinam as estratégias de gestão ambiental na indústria Millennium Inorganic Chemicals: Cristal Global, como também analisar quais estratégias de gestão ambiental são usadas pela indústria. Para o atingimento do objetivo proposto, foi realizado um estudo de caso na organização baseado em vinte e oito estratégias de gestão ambiental levantadas na literatura. Após esse levantamento, pôde-se verificar quais dessas estratégias são usadas na indústria estudada, como também quais fatores são determinantes para implantação destas. A pesquisa caracteriza-se como qualitativa e de natureza aplicada, quanto aos objetivos é exploratória e descritiva, no que se refere aos dados, estes foram obtidos por meio de entrevistas junto aos diretores da organização e também documentos disponibilizados pela indústria. Como principal resultado, percebeu-se que a indústria pratica vinte das vinte e oito estratégias de gestão ambiental propostas nesse estudo, sendo a dimensão Gestão de Resíduos que mais engloba estratégias. Quanto aos fatores determinantes percebeu-se que os fatores endógenos são os que mais pressionam a organização para criação de estratégias ambientais, sendo estes determinantes, já os exógenos, com exceção da legislação ambiental, não exercem pressão sobre a organização.