Este trabalho teve por objetivo apresentar propostas de melhoria no gerenciamento da informação interna visando à administração estratégica das pequenas empresas. Apresenta uma revisão bibliográfica sobre o processo de gestão da informação, as informações necessárias ao processo estratégico e as especificidades das pequenas empresas, o que permite definir as variáveis de pesquisa. No trabalho de campo foram estudadas quatro empresas hoteleiras de porte micro e pequeno, instaladas na cidade de Brotas/SP e uma média empresa sediada na cidade de Águas de São Pedro. A pesquisa de campo permitiu identificar as informações que são utilizadas para analisar os aspectos internos do hotel, como também a maneira que essas empresas coletam, processam e distribuem dados e informações aos tomadores de decisão. Verificou-se que os hotéis pesquisados apresentam mais facilidades do que dificuldades para o aprimoramento do processo de gestão estratégica da informação. Os dirigentes dos hotéis de pequeno porte não têm plena consciência dos benefícios que o gerenciamento da informação pode trazer. Alguns dados e informações relevantes para o hotel estão dispersos dentro da empresa e circulam de forma desestruturada, dificultando a recuperação pelos dirigentes na hora da tomada de decisão. Para melhoria do gerenciamento estratégico da informação foram apresentadas cinco propostas adequadas às especificidades da pequena empresa: conscientização dos dirigentes da relevância do processo de gerenciamento da informação; identificação das informações estratégicas a partir da compreensão do funcionamento do hotel; aperfeiçoamento dos instrumentos de coleta de dados; tratamento dos dados dispersos e ampliação da memória organizacional; exibição das informações em relatórios, formulários ou gráficos visualizados na tela do computador ou impressos em papel. / This dissertation presents proposals for the management improvement of inner information aiming at the strategic management of small enterprises. It presents a bibliographical revision of the process of information management, the information necessary to the strategic process and the specific characteristics of small companies that permit defining the variable of the research. In the fieldwork four small hotel enterprises settled in Brotas city and a medium enterprise settled in Águas de São Pedro city were studied. Both cities are located in São Paulo region. This fieldwork allowed identifying the process of strategic decision-making, the information utilized in this activity as well as the way these companies collect, process and distribute the data and information to the people who make decisions. In a final evaluation it was possible to observe that the organizations analysed presented more facilities than difficulties to the improvement of the information management process. Managers of small hotel are not completely conscious of the benefits that information management can bring. Significant hotel data and information are scattered and flowing without control in the organizations, which hampers their recovery in the decision-making process. Aiming at the improvement of strategic information management five proposals were presented: making managers conscious of the importance of information management process; identification of strategic information by the comprehension of the hotel operation; improvement of data collecting tools; collection and analyses of scattered data and extension of organizational memory; exhibition of reports, graphs or formularies of information either printed or on computer screen.

O objetivo principal da pesquisa foi propor medidas de aperfeiçoamento dos procedimentos de gestão estratégica da informação na pequena empresa, compatíveis com suas especificidades. Para avaliar as dificuldades e possibilidades das pequenas empresas no uso desses procedimentos, foi utilizado o artifício de compará-los aos procedimentos utilizados pela média e grande empresa. A gestão estratégica da informação vem se tornando cada vez mais presente no dia-a-dia das empresas. Porém, nas pequenas empresas isso é realizado de uma maneira peculiar devido às suas especificidades, que apresentam diferenças significativas em sua forma organizacional. Os métodos de pesquisa foram delineados para duas fases: na primeira fase foi quantitativa, tendo como objetivo principal atualizar o mapeamento das empresas hoteleiras da região central do estado de São Paulo, além de compreender as principais características dessas empresas e de seus dirigentes. Na segunda, optou-se pelo emprego do método comparativo de casos e pela pesquisa qualitativa; para a coleta de dados fez-se uso de entrevistas, além da observação livre. Entre os principais resultados, constatou-se que as empresas estudadas se apóiam em fontes de informações informais para tomada de decisão. Foi possível afirmar que no primeiro momento do processo estratégico as informações informais e pessoais são mais valorizadas, mas ao passo em que uma estratégia se estabelece todos os procedimentos da GEI facilitam a continuidade do que foi estabelecido. A GEI foi identificada como consciente e compartilhada nas grandes empresas, enquanto que nas pequenas é inconsciente e centralizada. / This study aimed at proposing measures to improve strategic information management (SIM) procedures at small enterprises, compatible to their specificities. In order to assess the difficulties and possibilities of small enterprises in using these procedures, they were compared to those used by medium and large enterprises. Strategic information management has become an important procedure in the everyday management of enterprises. At small enterprises, however, this is carried out differently due to their particularities, since they present distinctive organizational features. The research method was designed to have two phases: the first one had a quantitative nature, and its goal was to chart the hospitality enterprises in the central region of São Paulo State, Brazil, in addition to understanding their main characteristics and managers. The second phase employed a comparative case method of a qualitative nature: interviews and unstructured observations were used as data collection tools. In general, the results show that all of the enterprises rely on information to make decisions. This study also shows that while informal and personal information is more valued in the beginning of the strategic process, SIM procedures are then used to promote the continuity of the chosen strategic actions. In addition, while SIM is intentional and shared at large enterprises, it seems to be rather instinctive and centralized at small enterprises.

The continuing requirement for computational processing power, multi-functional devices and component miniaturization have emphasised the need for thermal management systems able to maintain the temperature at safe operating condition. The thermal management industry is constantly seeking for new cutting edge, efficient, cost effective heat transfer enhancement technologies. The aim of this study is to utilize the electron beam treatment for the improvement of the heat transfer area in liquid cooled plates and experimentally evaluate the performance. Considering the complexity of the technology, this thesis focuses on the design and production of electron beam enhanced test samples, construction of the test facility, testing procedure and evaluation of thermal and hydraulic characteristics. In particular, the current research presented in this thesis contains a number of challenging and cutting edge technological developments that include: (1) an overview of the semiconductor industry, cooling requirements, the market of thermal management systems, (2) an integral literature review of pin-fin enhancement technology, (3) design and fabrication of the electron beam enhanced test samples, (4) upgrade and construction of the experimental test rig and the development of the test procedure, (5) reduction of the experimental data and analysis to evaluate thermal and hydraulic performance. The experimental results show that the capability of the electron beam treatment to improve the thermal efficiency of current untreated liquid cooled plates is approximately three times. The highest heat transfer rate was observed for the sample S3; this is attributed to the irregularities of the enhanced structure, which improves the heat transfer area, mixing, and disturbs the thermal and velocity boundary layers. Enhancement of heat transfer for all three samples was characterised by an increase of pressure drop. The electron beam enhancement technique is a rapid process with zero material waste and cost effective. It allows thermal management systems to be produced smaller and faster, reduce material usage, without compromising safety, labour cost or the environment.

The use of email as a communication and information sharing medium in large, complex, globally distributed engineering projects is widespread; yet there exists little understanding of the content of the emails exchanged and the implications of this content on the design project, design records and contracts. The importance of these issues is underlined by the fact that email records can now be required as evidence in legal disputes. It follows that the overall aim of this research is to assess the role and use of email in engineering design projects. A state-of-the-art review of literature pertaining to email is reported, along with a review of information and communication processes in engineering design projects. The primary contribution of this thesis is the creation of a content based approach for analysing the role and use of email in engineering design projects. This centres on the development and application of a coding scheme to email text, identifying what subject matter an email relates to, why it was sent, and how its content is expressed. Results are then analysed with respect to the frequencies of each code and other variables, including how coding varies between different senders and throughout the project duration. The second key contribution of this thesis is the analysis of emails and content in an engineering setting by applying the aforementioned approach to two case studies. The major case study concerned a large, complex, globally distributed, multimillion pound systems engineering project, from which 16 000 emails were obtained. It was found that emails are mainly used to transfer information but also to support management functions. Emails facilitate design work but little of this takes place explicitly in the email content. Characteristics of a project affect the subject matter or emails but have little effect on why they are sent. User roles and personal preferences also influence email use. If was found that the purposes for sending emails varied over the duration of a project; it was further determined that these changes could be used to identify project progress and design activity. Implications of the findings are identified in relation to: information management, knowledge management, project management, collaboration and email practice. Significantly, emails do contain potentially important design information and because these often support decisions made elsewhere, emails should be integrated with wider records. More consideration and training should be given to the use of project standards for email use and guidelines for composition. Changes in email use over the project duration could be a potential tool for project managers to identify design progress and possible issues in a project.

The considerable failure rate of information technology (IT) projects remains a problem for many organisations and impacts their ability to successfully participate in the digital economy. Previous root cause analysis identified project complexity as one of the key factors in and of IT project failure. The purpose of this research was therefore to critically examine complexity in IT projects. In contrast to earlier positivist research on complexity, this study was built on a critical realist perspective to better understand the underlying structures and mechanisms behind what individuals within IT projects perceive as being "complex".A qualitative research design was chosen with a series of semistructured in-depth interviews with IT project practitioners as the data collection method. The research identified four internal variables (experience, stress, frustration, and motivation) and three external variables (communication, expectations, and support) which interact with perceived complexity. These findings were synthesised into a conceptual model of perceived complexity in IT projects. In addition, the findings indicated that the role of an individual (project sponsor, project manager, project team member) influences perceived complexity. Through the identification of previously hidden mechanisms within IT projects, the study extends the body of knowledge about IT project complexity. In addition, the identified mechanisms were combined with typical situations in IT projects. The outcome, which represents the study's contribution to practice, are practice-orientated guidelines for handling complexity in IT projects which aims to support IT project professionals and organisations to better manage complexity. The study therefore provides valuable contributions to the theory and practice of IT project complexity.

O controle centralizado do tráfego tem como objetivo integrar e gerenciar informações, auxiliando na tomada de decisão em tempo real. Devido ao aumento da complexidade da malha viária, principalmente em grandes cidades, muitos estudos têm focado em sistemas de controle de tráfego, incluindo desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias e ferramentas. Para gerenciar essa complexidade, é necessário que as organizações públicas, onde estão inseridos os Centros de Controle de Tráfego (CCT), conheçam e melhorem seus processos, alinhando e integrando-os aos seus sistemas de informação, de maneira a possibilitar o atendimento das demandas de forma eficiente. Nesse sentido, esta pesquisa baseia-se nos conceitos e práticas do Business Process Management (BPM) com objetivo de propor um modelo de estruturação dos processos para a gestão inteligente das informações no controle centralizado do tráfego. O trabalho, portanto, se desenvolve ao longo das fases e etapas do ciclo do BPM, contemplando desde o planejamento até a modelagem de processos e apresentando como resultado final uma proposta para um plano de otimização de processos. Assim, para atender ao objetivo principal da pesquisa, o trabalho foi desmembrado em três artigos com níveis crescentes de glanuralidade: (i) Inicialmente foi apresentada, baseada em estudo de caso, uma aplicação abrangente da metodologia, percorrendo da primeira à terceira fase do ciclo de BPM em que a empresa está apta para executar os processos e seguir para a quarta fase, Controle e Análise de Dados. (ii) O segundo artigo apresenta o detalhamento da segunda fase do ciclo de BPM, que consiste na modelagem e otimização dos processos. Os processos As Is foram, então, modelados e analisados para que pudesse ser proposta a melhoria na forma de um macroprocesso To Be. (iii) Para embasar a proposição do macroprocesso To Be, foi realizada uma revisão sistemática de literatura, na qual foram compiladas as melhores práticas no tema e verificadas para a realidade brasileira através de entrevista com especialistas. O resultado foi o Mapeamento de Melhores Práticas associado a um Modelo Referência para o Processo de Controle de Tráfego. Em complemento, foram determinadas diretrizes a serem seguidas para a gestão inteligente das informações no controle centralizado do tráfego. Esses resultados definem, portanto, um modelo de referência To Be dos processos de trabalho em CCTs. A principal contribuição teórica desta pesquisa é, então, a consolidação de melhores práticas associadas a um Modelo de Referência do Processo de Controle do Tráfego, ajustado para a realidade dos CCTs brasileiros. Do ponto de vista prático, a metodologia e os resultados apresentados incentivam a implantação de BPM não só em CCTs, mas em qualquer setor de uma organização pública. / The centralization of traffic control aims to integrate and manage information, aiding decision making in real time. Due to the increasing complexity of the road network, especially in large cities, many studies have focused on traffic control systems, including development of new technologies and tools. To manage this complexity, it is necessary that public organizations, where the Traffic Control Centers (TCC) are inserted, understand and improve their processes, aligning and integrating them into their information systems in order to enable the fulfillment of demands efficiently. In this sense, this research is based on the concepts and practices of Business Process Management (BPM) in order to propose a structuring model of processes for the intelligent management of information in centralized traffic control. The work, therefore, is developed through the phases and stages of the BPM cycle, covering from planning to process modeling and presenting as the final result a proposal for a process optimization plan. Thus, to meet the main goal of the research, the work was divided into three articles with increasing levels of detail: (i) initially it was presented, based on case study, a comprehensive application of the methodology, that cover from the first to the third phase of the BPM cycle in which the company is able to run the process and move on to the fourth phase, Control and Data Analysis. (ii) The second article presents the details of the application of second phase of the BPM cycle, which consists of modeling and optimization of processes. The processes "As Is" were modeled and analyzed in order to propose improvements trough a Macro process "To Be". (iii) To support the proposition of macroprocess “To Be”, a systematic review of the literature was applied in order to compile best practices on the subject that were checked for the Brazilian reality through interviews with experts. The result was a Map of Best Practices in association with a Reference Model for Traffic Control Process. In addition to the map, the paper presents guidelines to be followed for the intelligent management of information in centralized traffic control. These results define a reference model "To Be" of work processes in TCCs. From a practical standpoint, the methodology and results presented encourage the deployment of BPM not only in TCCs, but also in any department of a public organization.

Magister Library and Information Studies - MLIS / Universities face complex changes such as mergers; new competitors; socio-economic; political and technological changes. In order to survive and preserve competitive advantage, the university has to adapt to such changes. The University of the Western Cape has been through many changes since its establishment to its current status as a culturally diverse autonomous institution with a mission statement that reflects its ability to respond and adapt to change. Universities that can adapt to changes are considered to be intelligent. Intelligent universities adapt to changing and unpredictable environments by organizing all information resources; transforming information to knowledge; and using this knowledge to enhance performance. Records are an information resource. They contain evidence of business activities of an organization, their management therefore is important. This study was undertaken to add knowledge and insight into records management in the intelligent university by investigating whether records management contributes to making the University of the Western Cape intelligent. Records management is a function within an organization, hence the researcher's choice of the functionalist theory to frame this exploratory qualitative case study. Secondary sources, semi structured interviews; and electronic questionnaires were used to collect data from purposively selected participants. The data was imported and analysed on a qualitative data analysis software Atlas.ti7, version 7.5.10. The findings of the study showed that records management as a function was not used optimally by the university due to limited knowledge and awareness of its existence; as well as other services it offers. Records management therefore does not contribute to making the University of the Western Cape intelligent. Marketing, training, strategic placement of the records management function on the university organizational structure, integration with other components, implementation of electronic records management and a records management model for the intelligent university were recommended to address short-comings. This study adds more knowledge on records management in the intelligent university and brings to light the importance of the records management function; highlights how university records can be used for competitive advantage as well as decision-making; and aids in developing a records management model for an intelligent university. A large scale national study in other institutions of higher learning to provide a clearer picture of whether records management plays a role in making South African universities intelligent is recommended.

Magister Library and Information Studies - MLIS / This study investigated knowledge sharing (KS) practices at the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) in Zimbabwe. The study assessed the knowledge sharing practices in the ZOU regional campus faculty departments and identified gaps, with the aim to find out how knowledge is being managed, shared in an Open and distance learning institution and if knowledge management (KM) is playing a role. The quantitative study was undertaken at the 10 regional campuses of the Zimbabwe Open University. A questionnaire survey was carried out to collect data from a sample of 100 academic staff in the 10 Regional Centres. The underlying question was whether the university academic members were aware of the knowledge that exists, how this knowledge is created and, shared and flows in the organization. The study also sought to establish the views of academic staff, on the benefits that can be reaped from KM practices. The study confirmed that there is willingness to engage in knowledge sharing activities. However, the lack of a clear knowledge policy negatively impacts on the university’s ability to competitively position itself in the knowledge economy as a knowledge driven university and this impacts research productivity and distance learning course delivery at the ZOU. One of the key recommendations emanating from this research is that the university should have a Knowledge policy aligned to its strategic plan which will act as a guideline on the sharing of knowledge internally and externally as well as make it mandatory for academic staff to publish internally as well as to store their publications in the university repository.

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to examine the information needs of reporters at a Swedish daily newspaper, and see if they are met by the information resources provided by the newspaper. It examines if there are resources which are not used and why. The examination is based on Henczel’s model for information auditing. The method used is five qualitative interviews with reporters and 25 inquiries are sent out as well. Two interviews with people working with information management on the newspaper are also conducted. The theoretical framework consists of Taylor’s theories about information use environments, Byström’s research on task complexity and how it affects information use, and a discussion about information, knowledge and knowledge management. The result shows that reporters’ information needs are vast and vary a lot depending on what kind of issues they write about. Most of the information needs are met without the information resources provided by the newspaper, although certain resources are considered very important by some of the reporters. There are also unused resources. Reasons for this are that they do not contain the kind of information needed by the reporters, that reporters do not know they exist, or that they are not updated. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this Master’s Thesis is to examine the information use and information behavior of the scientists at the company ”Forskningsbolaget”. For this purpose an Information Audit was carried out using both interviews with six managers and a questionnaire, which was sent out to the entire population of 213 scientists. After finding out what information the scientists use and how they obtain it the aim was to answer the question of to what extent the company’s Information Centre can meet these needs. The theoretical framework consists of Information management with focus on Choo’s Information management cycle. The result of this study shows that the information use to some extent differ in each division of the company. Printed scientific journals are the number one source of information used by the scientists and it’s also the most obtained source from the Information centre. Many of the scientists would like to have access to a wider range of e-journals as lack of time is an issue. In search for new information the scientists turn to the Internet as their first choice and Google is widely used. The study revealed information gaps which combined with the low use of the library indicate that the Information Centre needs to make itself and its products more visible in the organization. Another issue to consider is the impact that the fee-based system has on the use of the library. The organization also needs to communicate its view on information throughout the company, for instance by formulating an information policy. / Uppsatsnivå: D