Uma questão central no estudo da estratégia é a tomada de decisão estratégica ou TDE (Eisenhardt e Zbaracki,1992; Papadakis e Barwise, 2002; Furrer et al, 2008; Ribeiro et al, 2016). Estudos anteriores demonstraram que, em setores mais dinâmicos de atividade, é melhor tomar decisões estratégicas mais rapidamente - já que processos estratégicos tradicionais e demasiadamente estruturados podem fazer com que empresas inseridas em ambientes de alta velocidade se tornem menos competitivas (Eisenhardt e Bourgeois, 1988; Judge e Miller, 1991). Mas e quanto aos ambientes de velocidade moderada, como os hospitais? Será que estes ambientes requerem uma TDE tão veloz quanto a prescrita pela literatura para as empresas, por exemplo, de Tecnologia? A resposta para esta pergunta pode ser útil a decisores atuando em ambientes menos velozes. Com o propósito maior de contribuir para sua obtenção, a pesquisa aqui apresentada teve como objetivo a análise dos processos decisórios estratégicos de três hospitais, através de entrevistas retroativas e semi-estruturadas realizadas com os diretores destas organizações. Para isso, foi utilizada a abordagem metodológica do tipo estudo de caso exploratório de casos múltiplos (Martins, 2008; Zainal, 2007). Foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas com 15 executivos de três hospitais, num intervalo de 6 meses. As entrevistas foram analisadas em seu conteúdo e trianguladas com dados provenientes da análise documental (Yin, 1999). Os casos foram então comparados com os da literatura pré-existente. Resultados: (a) os processos decisórios estratégicos avaliados nesta pesquisa se revelaram estruturados e seguiram um padrão de ordenação de fases (Mintzberg, 1976), tendo durado mais tempo do que o prescrito pela literatura de TDE para empresas em ambientes rápidos (Eisenhardt e Bourgeois, 1988). Seus tempos de duração, porém, se mostraram adequados às dinâmicas de mercado em que as organizações estudadas estão inseridas e ao caráter estratégico das decisões; (b) os estilos de TDE foram predominantemente racionais, embora tenham sido evidenciados comportamentos políticos. Através de informações provenientes tanto de documentos quanto das entrevistas, foi possível observar variações no estilo de TDE nestas organizações, ao longo do tempo. Estes foram se tornando cada vez menos centralizados e menos políticos; (c) cinco das seis decisões estudadas estavam completamente alinhadas a objetivos estratégicos claros e bem comunicados, obtidos através de processos de planejamento estratégico abrangentes e estruturados, feitos com a ajuda de consultorias especializadas. Estas características parecem ter relação direta com o sucesso da implementação da decisão estratégica e (d) a análise dos resultados evidenciou, ainda, que a experiência e o perfil de liderança dos decisores foram determinantes da forma como os processos de TDE ocorreram e do sucesso de sua implementação. Em todos os casos estudados, os superintendentes gerais trouxeram para a organização atual executivos que fizeram parte de suas equipes em outros hospitais, tendo este fato por si só contribuído para o consenso nas decisões e para a presença de um certo nível de comportamento político. Limitações: A aparente estruturação dos processos decisórios pode ser fruto da racionalização a posteriori dos entrevistados ou da seleção de casos menos conflituosos pelos líderes dos hospitais estudados. Estudos futuros em que os pesquisadores presenciem as reuniões de TDE podem reduzir estas limitações. / A central issue in the study of Strategy is Strategic Decision Making or SDM (Eisenhardt and Zbaracki, 1992; Papadakis and Barwise, 2002; Furrer et al., 2008; Ribeiro et al., 2016). Previous studies have shown that, in more dynamic industries, it is better to make strategic decisions more quickly, since traditional strategic and structured processes can cause companies in highly accelerated environments to be less competitive (Eisenhardt and Bourgeois, 1988; Judge and Miller, 1991). But what about organizations operating in moderate velocity environments, such as hospitals? Do they require such fast-paced decision-making processes, as the ones prescribed by SDM authors for Technology companies? The answer to that question may be of interest for decisors in moderate paced environments. With the main purpose of trying to answer it, we have analized SDM processes in three hospitals, by means of semi-structured and retroactive interviews with top level executives at these organizations. A methodological multiple case study approach was used (Martins, 2008; Zainal, 2007). 15 executives in three hospitals have been interviewed for this study, in a six-month interval. The data was triangulated with document analysis (Yin, 1999), and compared to the existing literature. Results: (a) the strategic decision-making processes evaluated in this research have proved to be well structured, following a pattern of stage sequencing (Mintzberg, 1976), having lasted longer than what is prescribed for fast paced industries in the literature (Eisenhardt e Bourgeois, 1988). The duration of these processes, however, suits the dynamics of the industry and the strategic character of the decisions in the examined cases; (b) a predominantly rational decision-making approach was observed, even if a certain degree of political behavior has been observed. Document and interview content analysis have revealed changes in SDM style, over time. SDM seems to be less politic and centralized nowadays than it was 20 years ago; (c) five of the six decisions studied were completely aligned to clear and well communicated goals, which were obtained through comprehensive and structured strategic planning processes that were implemented with the help of specialized consultancies. This fact seems to have direct relation with the rationality of the decision and the success of its implementation and (d) the analysis of the results demonstrated that decision-makers\' characteristics, such as educational background, previous experience, and leadership skills were instrumental in the way the strategic decision-making processes occurred in the cases studied in this research. However, in all cases studied, the general managers have invited former team members with whom they had worked in other organizations, and that fact alone could have contributed to the level of consensus observed and to the presence of a certain degree of political behavior. Limitations: the apparently structured nature of these SDM processes may be due to some form of retrograde rationalization made by the interviewees and/or a biased selection of cases by the hospital general managers. Future studies where researchers can witness ongoing SDM processes may produce cleaner data.

O fornecimento de informações relevantes em momentos que sejam oportunos para influenciar decisões estratégicas de desenvolvimento tem representado, há muito tempo, um grande e árduo desafio para a prática de Avaliação Ambiental Estratégica (AAE). O entendimento apropriado das questões que respondem pelas causas reais de problemas decisórios sugere uma oportunidade para alcançar o papel estratégico potencial da AAE e influenciar as decisões tomadas para a formação de uma ação estratégica. Este trabalho procura entender e discutir como se operacionaliza uma perspectiva mais estratégica de AAE, questionando o papel de procedimentos e mecanismos que observam o timing dos problemas de decisões estratégicos. Para alcançar este objetivo foram analisados processos de AAE, considerando a influencia do problema de decisão que motiva a formulação de ações estratégicas. Como estudo de caso foram selecionados nove relatórios de AAE realizados para ações associadas ao planejamento estratégico de transporte do Brasil e do Reino Unido. Entre os principais resultados foi observado que, ao contrário do Reino Unido, nenhum dos relatórios de AAE brasileiros definiu objetos de avaliação que fossem relevantes para o timing das decisões estratégicas de transporte analisadas. Os resultados encontrados sugerem a existência de três questões principais que influenciam diretamente a prática de AAE brasileira e estão associadas à necessidade de capacitação por parte dos praticantes deste contexto: a falta de entendimento sobre as diferenças que definem o que é uma ação estratégica e o que é um projeto; a falta de entendimento sobre qual é o objeto de uma AAE; e a falta de entendimento sobre quais são as questões que auxiliam a definir o objeto de uma AAE relevante para as tomadas de decisões estratégicas de desenvolvimento. / Relevant options at opportune timing to influence the strategic decision making have been a great and arduous challenge to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) practice. The proper understanding of issues that account for the real causes of decision problems suggests an opportunity to reach all the strategic role potential of SEA and influence decisions made for formation of a strategic action. This work seeks to understand and discuss how to operationalize a more strategic perspective of SEA, examining the role of procedures and mechanisms that comply with the timing of strategic decisions problems. To achieve this goal were analyzed AAE development processes, considering the influence of the decision problem that motivates strategic actions formulation. As case studies were selected nine SEA reports prepared for actions associated with transport strategic planning in Brazil and the United Kingdom. Among the key findings was observed that, unlike the UK, none of the Brazilian SEA reports has defined objects of assessment that were relevant to the timing of transport strategic decisions analyzed. Among the key findings was observed that, unlike the UK, none of the Brazilian SEA reports has defined relevant objects of assessment to the timing of transport strategic decisions analyzed. The results suggest three main issues that directly influence Brazilian SEA practice and are linked with the need for building capacity of practitioners: the lack of understanding of the differences that defines what is a strategic action and what a project; the lack of understanding of what is the object of an SEA; and the lack of understanding of what are issues that help define the relevant object of an SEA to development strategic decision-making.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2018-04-20T13:21:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Isabel Wolf Motta Morandi_.pdf: 9044635 bytes, checksum: cf16499a76fe7570811dcc0ffce81e36 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-20T13:21:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Isabel Wolf Motta Morandi_.pdf: 9044635 bytes, checksum: cf16499a76fe7570811dcc0ffce81e36 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-10-30 / UNISINOS - Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos / As decisões estratégicas visam a operacionalizar a estratégia da empresa a fim de alcançar as metas traçadas, as quais, embora possam ser de múltiplas naturezas, têm como fim maior ampliar os retornos de acionistas e o valor da própria empresa. O processo de orçamentação de capital, mais especificamente a etapa de avaliação e seleção de projetos, fornece bases para escolher as opções de maior retorno. No entanto, os métodos tradicionais apresentam lacunas, em especial no que tange à consideração dos impactos sistêmicos provocados pelo exercício de uma opção estratégica e das incertezas presentes no processo de decisão estratégica. Nesse sentido, o objetivo desta pesquisa é a proposição de um método de avaliação de opções estratégicas de investimento que funcione de maneira sistêmica e dinâmica, ou seja, que considere como as reações dos atores e as incertezas impactam no resultado da opção escolhida. Para tanto, a Design Science Research foi o método selecionado para conduzir esta pesquisa, cujo resultado principal é a proposição e avaliação do método de avaliação das opções estratégicas do NPV sistêmico e dinâmico, ou seja, do NPV resultante da avaliação da opção estratégica considerando a reação dos atores nos diversos cenários futuros. O método desenvolvido foi aplicado em uma empresa do ramo de mineração que atende tanto as heurísticas de construção como as heurísticas contingenciais identificadas no processo de construção do artefato. A aplicação permite avaliar satisfatoriamente o método proposto, bem como identificar possíveis refinamentos. Os resultados obtidos evidenciam que o método proposto traz contribuições teóricas e gerenciais. Do ponto de vista da teoria, aponta-se a proposição do conceito e o construto do NPV sistêmico e dinâmico, bem como a possibilidade de avaliar quantitativamente a significância das incertezas críticas na formulação dos cenários. Do ponto de vista gerencial, a possibilidade de avaliar sistêmica e dinamicamente as opções estratégicas, verificando os efeitos sinérgicos entre elas e a sua robustez frente a diferentes cenários, constitui-se em uma contribuição ao processo de tomada de decisão. / Strategic decisions aim to operationalize the company's strategy in order to reach its goals, which, although it may be of multiple natures, seek to increase the returns for the shareholders and the value of the company itself. The capital budgeting process, more specifically the project evaluation and selection stages, provides the basis for selecting the highest return options. However, the traditional methods present gaps, especially regarding the consideration of the systemic impacts caused by the exercise of a strategic option, and the uncertainties present in the strategic decision process. In this sense, the objective of this research is the proposition of a method to evaluate the strategic options in a systemic and dynamic way, that is, that considers how the reactions of the actors and the uncertainties impact on the result of the chosen option. Design Science Research was the method selected to conduct this research. The artifact is the strategic options evaluation method, which aims to calculate the systemic and dynamic NPV, that is, the taking into account the reaction of the actors in the various future scenarios. The developed method was applied in a mining company that satisfy both the construction heuristics and the contingency heuristics identified in the artifact construction process. This application allowed to satisfactorily evaluate the proposed method, as well as to identify possible refinements. From the results, it was possible to verify both the theoretical and the managerial contributions. From the theoretical point of view, the main contribution is the concept and the construct of the systemic and dynamic NPV. A secondary contribution is a toll to evaluate, in a quantitative way, the significance of the critical uncertainties in the formulation of the scenarios. From the managerial point of view, the possibility of systematically and dynamically evaluating the strategic options, evaluating the synergistic effects between them and their robustness in the different scenarios, constitutes a contribution to the decision-making process.

Este trabalho propõe o uso de Sistemas de Informação e Inteligência Empresarial visando a Análise Inteligente de Falhas para Apoiar Decisões Estratégicas em Projetos de Sistemas Críticos. Tal proposta estabelece uma correlação entre a dinâmica proveniente de recursos e ferramentas de Sistemas de Informação e Inteligência Empresarial, e a necessidade de se obter informações precisas, em intervalos de tempo aceitáveis para agregar valores tangíveis na segurança, confiabilidade, disponibilidade e mantenabilidade de Sistemas Críticos. A proposta aqui apresentada vem ao encontro da necessidade premente de disponibilizar, com maior eficácia, informações precisas para a aferição de indicadores importantes ao Projeto de Sistemas Críticos, e favorecer a implementação de ações mitigadoras de falhas que possam vir a comprometer o funcionamento desses sistemas. De forma a completar e consolidar a proposta em questão desenvolveu-se um ambiente computacional, utilizando-se dos fundamentos teóricos e das melhores práticas de Sistemas de Informação e Inteligência Empresarial, com as especificidades inerentes a Sistemas Críticos. Avaliou-se tal ambiente em um estudo de caso desenvolvido no Sistema Metroviário de São Paulo. Esse estudo de caso contribuiu, no aspecto conceitual, com a realização de ensaios de análises qualitativas e quantitativas de falhas, fornecendo informações relevantes para apoiar possíveis decisões estratégicas no sistema estudado. / This work proposes the use of Information Systems and Business Intelligence aiming an Intelligent Analysis of Failure that supports Strategic Decision Making in Critical Systems Projects. This proposition establishes a correlation between the dynamics of resources and tools from Information Systems and Business Intelligence, and the need to obtain accurate information within an acceptable time interval to add tangible value in security, reliability, availability and maintainability of Critical Systems. The proposition presented here meets the need to provide, more efficiently, accurate information to measure relevant indicators of the projects in Critical Systems, and favor the implementation of failure mitigating actions that could come to compromise the functioning of these systems. In order to complete and consolidate the proposition in question, a computational environment was developed, making use of the theoretical bases and of the best practices of Systems of Information and Business Intelligence, with the peculiarities inherent to Critical Systems. Such environment was evaluated in a case study in the Metrorail Company of São Paulo State, in which qualitative and quantitative analysis of failures were tested, providing relevant information to support possible strategic decisions in the system studied.

In the United States, rural hospital closures increased 34% since 2015 due to financial reasons, affecting access to healthcare services in rural communities. For rural hospital leaders, improving the hospital's financial performance is a valuable strategic goal. This multiple case study was designed to explore strategies that rural hospital leaders implement to improve their hospital's financial performance in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and the United States Virgin Islands. The strategic decision-making framework supported the study because top leaders make decisions that affect the organization's health and survival. Fifteen rural hospital leaders who maintain their hospital's financial stability provided hospital documentation and pertinent strategic information from their respective semistructured interviews. Sections of text signifying concepts from collected documentation and transcribed interviews were organized and coded according to research question and interview questions to explore strategies rural hospital leaders implemented to improve their hospital's financial performance. The methods triangulation process encompassed comparing findings from the interview themes and hospital strategic documentation analysis. The key themes that emerged from coded data were rural hospital leaders' decision-making when addressing rural hospital financial performance, developing synergies with external providers and hospitals, creating effective short-term and long-term strategies, and translating success to the entire organization. Implications for social change include the potential to prevent rural hospital closure and ensure access to healthcare services for the communities rural hospitals serve.

本研究旨於探討政策研究社群(STI policy research communities)在政策實務中所扮演的角色、與政策實務間的關係及互動，以及該社群隨著不同政策情境其所累積的知識結構。本文以英國科技政策研究社群SPRU及MIoIR為例，首先以Top-down的方式從整體制度及機構面進行探討，第二部份則進一步描述及探討SPRU及MIoIR這兩個研究社群在英國政策實務中所扮演的角色及定位。第三部份旨於探討在英國的政策研究及決策支援制度情境下，政策研究社群與政策實務間的互動關係，以及影響兩者關係的關鍵因素。第四部份則進一步探討如何橋接政策與研究之間的缺口，以及研究社群如何透過不同的研究成果擴散模式，進而政策產生影響與效益。第五部份，本文綜合英國科技政策社群所處之制度及機構情境、政策研究社群之知識產出、政策與研究之間的缺口、以及兩者間的互動關係，從Bottom-Up的角度提出一全面性的理論架構，填補過去文獻在探討政策與研究兩者間關係時，僅探討部份、或分析特定議題之理論缺口。 / The importance of scientific research which positively motivates economic growth has been widely recognised by governments of most countries in the world. A government needs to formulate policies for sustaining national developments, but a sound policy usually has to be evident by academic findings provided by academic researcher. On the opposite, an academic researcher can conduct research needed by the government only if they can be funded by the government. The mutual reliance on each other for academic researchers and the government as well as the relationship between them have been investigated previously in literature. The complex relationship between the government and researcher is modelled as “principal-agent relationship” (Pratt & Zeckhauser, 1985). The interdisciplinary STI (Science, Technology and Innovation) policy research, which seeks to solve socioeconomic problem at national level, creates knowledge much closer to what the government needs and can be used directly to inform policy formulation. The relationship between the government and STI policy research community is therefore much stronger and more sensitive than that between the government and other research communities. In the process of delivering research to policymakers, the agenda and concern underlying different interacting scenarios between actors are varied from academia, funding agency, governmental organisation and policy makers. Therefore, changing the way of communication is becoming important for academic researchers to make the whole process more smoothly or effectively. However, in this interacting process research actors not only need to turn around the language, but also change the perspective they view from different scenarios especially when there is conflicting interest or view exited between academia and politics. The purpose of this study aims to investigate in what way can STI policy research community influence policy as well as interaction between STI policy research community and the government by bottom-up approach, i.e. from STI policy researcher to the government and three different perspectives proposed by Allison (1971), i.e. 1) Bounded Rational Perspective, 2) Organisational Behaviour Perspective, and 3) Governmental Politics Perspective. This study selects the two prestigious research organisations in the UK- SPRU and MIoIR (formerly PREST) as the case study and a total of sixteen renown interviewees are interviewed, since the UK is the leading country in STI policy research and the most outstanding research organisations in the UK STI policy research community are SPRU and MIoIR which have contributed to STI policymaking since 1970s, interaction between the UK government and this research community are analysed. Further, the UK Technology Foresight programme undertaken jointly by SPRU and MIoIR is used as a representative event to demonstrate the responding strategy of STI policy research community to the UK government. It is found in this study that a successful contribution from STI policy research community to the government critically relies on appropriate responding strategies which are dependent on whom (on the government side) exactly the researcher is interacting with. A successfully interaction between researcher and the government takes a sound strategy which eventually lead to contribution of research to policy practice. Finally, this study develops several propositions for suggesting how to sustain effective policy contribution from STI policy researcher and sound interaction between STI policy research community and the government.

The strategic decision making process (SDMP) is a major issue in organisations. It is part of the larger topic of strategic management and related to strategic planning. Achievement of strategic objectives outlined in the strategic plan of an organisation depends on the decisions taken through the process. Yet the literature shows that the concept of SDMP is not well understood and organisations find it difficult to develop and implement an SDMP, particularly Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The literature indicates that decisions are taken in organizations in different ways for example using intuition, data, collaboration and ad-hoc considerations. In addition contextual factors are argued to affect the SDMP although very little research has been conducted to explain how contextual factors affect SDMP they do in HEIs. Some examples of contextual factors namely decision process characteristics have been identified and discussed as part of the SDMP literature in industry. However, lack of knowledge about SDMP and how contextual factors influence SDMP is regarded as to be a major obstacle for HEIs in taking decisions and choosing the best alternative amongst available decisions. This research seeks to contribute to address this important issue. Whilst there are many strategic decision characteristics (contextual factors) identified in the literature, this research focuses on decision importance. The rationale for choosing decision importance was that there is always some concern in the minds of the decision makers in the HEIs on what constitutes an important decision. What is considered as important decision while the decision is being taken may prove to be less important after implementation if there is no clear understanding of how to assign importance to a decision. Even in the industrial sector, Elbanna and Child (2007) it has been argued that decision importance has not been studied well. Relying upon the theoretical model developed by Elbanna and Child and other arguments found in the literatue, this research argued that the SDMP is a combination of relationships between decision characteristics, SDMP characteristics and decision outcomes that are influenced by environmental factors. As far as environmental factors were concerned environmental uncertainty was chosen as an external environment factor while organisational performance was chosen as the internal contextual factor. These two factors were argued to moderate the relationship between SDMP characteristics and SDMP outcomes and theoretical support for this conceptualisation was taken from the model developed by Elbanna and Child. A research model was developed to address the research questions, and the aim of the study was “to examine the different decision specific characteristic, SDMP characteristic and SDMP process outcome variables and develop a relationship amongst them in the context of HEIs in a changing environment”. The research was conducted in the United States of America and data was gathered from faculty members involved in decision making at the department level and higher. A positivist epistemological and objective ontological stance was adopted and a deductive approach was used. The research model was tested using the data collected from 485 valid responses to a survey questionnaire. Linear regression was the primary analysis approach and supplemented by path analysis. Results from the regression analysis showed that decision importance exerts influence on decision effectiveness through the mediators, rationality in decision making, intuition and decentralization in decision making. However, the outcome of path analysis showed that only rationality in decision making and intuition are important while decentalisation was not found to be statistically significant. Similarly environmental factors exerted pressure only on the relationship between rationality in decision making and decision effectiveness. The contradicting SDMP factors rationality in decision making and intuition were both found to be necessary to SDMP in the HEI context. This research has contributed to knowledge in terms of establishing a relationship between decision importance and decision process effectiveness mediated by rationality in decision making and intuition and development of the model. Theoretically the findings of this research show that the modification imposed on the model developed by Elbanna and Child was found to be statistically significant and found support from the literature. Environmental factors affected the relationship between rationality in decision making and decision effectiveness. This research has provided a model that can be used to help decision makers in HEIs to implement SDMP practically in the organization, to guide the process towards more robust decisions. The findings of this research find application in supporting policy makers to increase the likelihood of more effective decisions so that the decisions taken more effective.

Uma questão central no estudo da estratégia é a tomada de decisão estratégica ou TDE (Eisenhardt e Zbaracki,1992; Papadakis e Barwise, 2002; Furrer et al, 2008; Ribeiro et al, 2016). Estudos anteriores demonstraram que, em setores mais dinâmicos de atividade, é melhor tomar decisões estratégicas mais rapidamente - já que processos estratégicos tradicionais e demasiadamente estruturados podem fazer com que empresas inseridas em ambientes de alta velocidade se tornem menos competitivas (Eisenhardt e Bourgeois, 1988; Judge e Miller, 1991). Mas e quanto aos ambientes de velocidade moderada, como os hospitais? Será que estes ambientes requerem uma TDE tão veloz quanto a prescrita pela literatura para as empresas, por exemplo, de Tecnologia? A resposta para esta pergunta pode ser útil a decisores atuando em ambientes menos velozes. Com o propósito maior de contribuir para sua obtenção, a pesquisa aqui apresentada teve como objetivo a análise dos processos decisórios estratégicos de três hospitais, através de entrevistas retroativas e semi-estruturadas realizadas com os diretores destas organizações. Para isso, foi utilizada a abordagem metodológica do tipo estudo de caso exploratório de casos múltiplos (Martins, 2008; Zainal, 2007). Foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas com 15 executivos de três hospitais, num intervalo de 6 meses. As entrevistas foram analisadas em seu conteúdo e trianguladas com dados provenientes da análise documental (Yin, 1999). Os casos foram então comparados com os da literatura pré-existente. Resultados: (a) os processos decisórios estratégicos avaliados nesta pesquisa se revelaram estruturados e seguiram um padrão de ordenação de fases (Mintzberg, 1976), tendo durado mais tempo do que o prescrito pela literatura de TDE para empresas em ambientes rápidos (Eisenhardt e Bourgeois, 1988). Seus tempos de duração, porém, se mostraram adequados às dinâmicas de mercado em que as organizações estudadas estão inseridas e ao caráter estratégico das decisões; (b) os estilos de TDE foram predominantemente racionais, embora tenham sido evidenciados comportamentos políticos. Através de informações provenientes tanto de documentos quanto das entrevistas, foi possível observar variações no estilo de TDE nestas organizações, ao longo do tempo. Estes foram se tornando cada vez menos centralizados e menos políticos; (c) cinco das seis decisões estudadas estavam completamente alinhadas a objetivos estratégicos claros e bem comunicados, obtidos através de processos de planejamento estratégico abrangentes e estruturados, feitos com a ajuda de consultorias especializadas. Estas características parecem ter relação direta com o sucesso da implementação da decisão estratégica e (d) a análise dos resultados evidenciou, ainda, que a experiência e o perfil de liderança dos decisores foram determinantes da forma como os processos de TDE ocorreram e do sucesso de sua implementação. Em todos os casos estudados, os superintendentes gerais trouxeram para a organização atual executivos que fizeram parte de suas equipes em outros hospitais, tendo este fato por si só contribuído para o consenso nas decisões e para a presença de um certo nível de comportamento político. Limitações: A aparente estruturação dos processos decisórios pode ser fruto da racionalização a posteriori dos entrevistados ou da seleção de casos menos conflituosos pelos líderes dos hospitais estudados. Estudos futuros em que os pesquisadores presenciem as reuniões de TDE podem reduzir estas limitações. / A central issue in the study of Strategy is Strategic Decision Making or SDM (Eisenhardt and Zbaracki, 1992; Papadakis and Barwise, 2002; Furrer et al., 2008; Ribeiro et al., 2016). Previous studies have shown that, in more dynamic industries, it is better to make strategic decisions more quickly, since traditional strategic and structured processes can cause companies in highly accelerated environments to be less competitive (Eisenhardt and Bourgeois, 1988; Judge and Miller, 1991). But what about organizations operating in moderate velocity environments, such as hospitals? Do they require such fast-paced decision-making processes, as the ones prescribed by SDM authors for Technology companies? The answer to that question may be of interest for decisors in moderate paced environments. With the main purpose of trying to answer it, we have analized SDM processes in three hospitals, by means of semi-structured and retroactive interviews with top level executives at these organizations. A methodological multiple case study approach was used (Martins, 2008; Zainal, 2007). 15 executives in three hospitals have been interviewed for this study, in a six-month interval. The data was triangulated with document analysis (Yin, 1999), and compared to the existing literature. Results: (a) the strategic decision-making processes evaluated in this research have proved to be well structured, following a pattern of stage sequencing (Mintzberg, 1976), having lasted longer than what is prescribed for fast paced industries in the literature (Eisenhardt e Bourgeois, 1988). The duration of these processes, however, suits the dynamics of the industry and the strategic character of the decisions in the examined cases; (b) a predominantly rational decision-making approach was observed, even if a certain degree of political behavior has been observed. Document and interview content analysis have revealed changes in SDM style, over time. SDM seems to be less politic and centralized nowadays than it was 20 years ago; (c) five of the six decisions studied were completely aligned to clear and well communicated goals, which were obtained through comprehensive and structured strategic planning processes that were implemented with the help of specialized consultancies. This fact seems to have direct relation with the rationality of the decision and the success of its implementation and (d) the analysis of the results demonstrated that decision-makers\' characteristics, such as educational background, previous experience, and leadership skills were instrumental in the way the strategic decision-making processes occurred in the cases studied in this research. However, in all cases studied, the general managers have invited former team members with whom they had worked in other organizations, and that fact alone could have contributed to the level of consensus observed and to the presence of a certain degree of political behavior. Limitations: the apparently structured nature of these SDM processes may be due to some form of retrograde rationalization made by the interviewees and/or a biased selection of cases by the hospital general managers. Future studies where researchers can witness ongoing SDM processes may produce cleaner data.

O fornecimento de informações relevantes em momentos que sejam oportunos para influenciar decisões estratégicas de desenvolvimento tem representado, há muito tempo, um grande e árduo desafio para a prática de Avaliação Ambiental Estratégica (AAE). O entendimento apropriado das questões que respondem pelas causas reais de problemas decisórios sugere uma oportunidade para alcançar o papel estratégico potencial da AAE e influenciar as decisões tomadas para a formação de uma ação estratégica. Este trabalho procura entender e discutir como se operacionaliza uma perspectiva mais estratégica de AAE, questionando o papel de procedimentos e mecanismos que observam o timing dos problemas de decisões estratégicos. Para alcançar este objetivo foram analisados processos de AAE, considerando a influencia do problema de decisão que motiva a formulação de ações estratégicas. Como estudo de caso foram selecionados nove relatórios de AAE realizados para ações associadas ao planejamento estratégico de transporte do Brasil e do Reino Unido. Entre os principais resultados foi observado que, ao contrário do Reino Unido, nenhum dos relatórios de AAE brasileiros definiu objetos de avaliação que fossem relevantes para o timing das decisões estratégicas de transporte analisadas. Os resultados encontrados sugerem a existência de três questões principais que influenciam diretamente a prática de AAE brasileira e estão associadas à necessidade de capacitação por parte dos praticantes deste contexto: a falta de entendimento sobre as diferenças que definem o que é uma ação estratégica e o que é um projeto; a falta de entendimento sobre qual é o objeto de uma AAE; e a falta de entendimento sobre quais são as questões que auxiliam a definir o objeto de uma AAE relevante para as tomadas de decisões estratégicas de desenvolvimento. / Relevant options at opportune timing to influence the strategic decision making have been a great and arduous challenge to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) practice. The proper understanding of issues that account for the real causes of decision problems suggests an opportunity to reach all the strategic role potential of SEA and influence decisions made for formation of a strategic action. This work seeks to understand and discuss how to operationalize a more strategic perspective of SEA, examining the role of procedures and mechanisms that comply with the timing of strategic decisions problems. To achieve this goal were analyzed AAE development processes, considering the influence of the decision problem that motivates strategic actions formulation. As case studies were selected nine SEA reports prepared for actions associated with transport strategic planning in Brazil and the United Kingdom. Among the key findings was observed that, unlike the UK, none of the Brazilian SEA reports has defined objects of assessment that were relevant to the timing of transport strategic decisions analyzed. Among the key findings was observed that, unlike the UK, none of the Brazilian SEA reports has defined relevant objects of assessment to the timing of transport strategic decisions analyzed. The results suggest three main issues that directly influence Brazilian SEA practice and are linked with the need for building capacity of practitioners: the lack of understanding of the differences that defines what is a strategic action and what a project; the lack of understanding of what is the object of an SEA; and the lack of understanding of what are issues that help define the relevant object of an SEA to development strategic decision-making.

A presente pesquisa visou levantar dados que permitissem aprofundar o entendimento sobre as habilidades organizacionais de resolução de conflitos e sua relação com o consenso entre os gestores no processo decisório estratégico de organizações inseridas em ambientes organizacionais dinâmicos, complexos e não munificentes (DCM-). Desenvolveu-se, para tanto, um conjunto de hipóteses relacionando esses construtos, que foram testadas com dados sobre o processo decisório estratégico de organizações do segmento de Telefonia Fixa do setor de Telecomunicações da economia brasileira. Os dados foram coletados pela aplicação de 39 questionários em gestores selecionados, via amostragem aleatória simples, de uma população alvo de 55 gestores. As hipóteses foram testadas usando-se as técnicas estatísticas de análise de significância univariada e de análise de regressão bivariada e multivariada. Os resultados mostraram que as características do ambiente organizacional DCM- influenciam o desenvolvimento de competências organizacionais de resolução de conflitos nas organizações nele inseridas, gerando duas possíveis abordagens para a solução dos conflitos que emergem entre os gestores no processo decisório estratégico. Na primeira, os conflitos são resolvidos em conjunto pelas partes opositoras, a partir de uma postura cooperativa. Eventuais impasses são resolvidos por mediação e/ou por um terceiro com autoridade legítima, com base na cooperação das partes. Essa abordagem está associada com um maior nível de racionalidade e compreensão da decisão pelos gestores e com um maior nível de consenso no processo decisório estratégico. Além disso, vincula-se a menores níveis de atividade política e ao maior comprometimento dos gestores. Na segunda, os conflitos são resolvidos por atividades políticas e eventuais impasses por mediação. Essa abordagem vincula-se a um menor nível de comprometimento dos gestores. Esses resultados levam a duas implicações. A primeira é que as competências organizacionais de resolução de conflitos determinam padrões interativos recorrentes entre executivos que influenciam o processo decisório estratégico tanto quanto as características da decisão. Isso contrasta com abordagens anteriores que colocam as características da decisão como soberanas. A segunda é que a alta administração deve estar atenta ao balanceamento do uso das abordagens cooperativa e competitiva na resolução dos conflitos no processo decisório estratégico, de forma a dosar os níveis de atividade política, cooperação, inação, e consenso que se deseja manter na organização. / The present research aimed lifting data that could permit to deepen the comprehension about organizational abilities of conflict resolution and its relationship to the consensus among managers on the strategic decision-making process of organizations inserted in dynamic, complex and few-munificent organizational environments (DCM-). Thus, it was developed a set of hypotheses relating these constructs, that were tested with data about strategic decisionmaking processes of organizations from the Fixed-Voice segment of the Telecommunications industry of the Brazilian economy. Data were collected by applying 39 questionnaires to managers selected, via simple random sampling, from a target population of 55 managers. Hypotheses were tested using the statistical techniques of univariate significance analysis and of bivariate and multivariate regression analysis. The results showed that the characteristics of the DCM- organizational environment influence the development of conflict-resolution organizational competences in the organizations inserted in it, generating two possible approaches for solving conflicts that emerge among managers on the strategic decision? making process. In the first approach, opposite parties, upon a cooperative posture, solve conflicts jointly. Eventual impasses are solved by mediation and/or by a third party with legitimate authority, with cooperative support from parties. This approach is associated with a higher level of rationality and comprehension of the decision by managers and with a higher level of consensus among managers on the strategic decision-making process. Besides, it is bound to lower levels of political activity and higher commitment of managers. In the second approach, conflicts are solved via political activities and eventual impasses are solved by mediation. This approach is associated with a lower level of commitment of managers. These results lead to two implications. The first implication is that conflict-resolution organizational competences determine recurrent interactive patterns among executives that influence the decision-making process as much as the decision characteristics. This contrasts with previous approaches that argument that decision characteristics are sovereign. The second implication is that top management should be attempted to the tradeoff between the use of the cooperative and competitive approaches for conflict resolving, so that it be possible to dose the levels of political activity, cooperation, inaction and consensus that are desired in the organization.