This study examines the evolution of the Common European Security and Defence Policy (CESDP) of the European Union before and after the Saint Malo Declaration of December 1998. The co-operation in foreign policy and security matters has always been a corollary element to the economic co-operation since the beginning of the European Integration process. Within this context this study argues that the conducting of co-operation in this field within the framework of European Community/European Union (EC/EU) was dependent on the national actors, the internal community/union factors, and the external dynamics. It is also asserted that, the European political co-operation is based on, on the one hand, the intergovernmentalist method of decision-making and implementation process, and on the other to the incrementalism through which the Member States could reconcile their diverging interests, which represent continuity within the EC/EU. The Saint Malo constitutes one of the momentous events in the trajectory of European foreign policy, security and defence co-operation, which launched the essentials of the CESDP. Within this framework, this study will analyse how a legally unbinding document has been incorporated into the legal framework of the European Union and consequently became the part of the acquis. Furthermore, the policies of France, Britain, and the United States within the process of establishment of the CESDP will be examined. Then, this thesis argues that, Saint Malo has initiated a ground for renegotiation of the terms of transatlantic relationship, which culminated in the redefinition of global roles and responsibilities of Americans and Europeans.

Hedge funds and China’s stock market: a study on factors influencing investment decisions by fund managersThe research was conducted using a web-based questionnaire sent to all Asia-related hedge funds, worldwide. Analysis of the collected data revealed that the factors influencing the portfolio investments made in China by fund managers differed from the factors which influence investment in global and emerging markets. While market conditions, market timing and changes in earning estimates are the top three influencing factors on investment decisions on global stock exchanges, fund managers are more influenced by global trend, potential growth and company size when dealing with China’s stock market. Research results also support the hypotheses that there are relationships between size of fund, trading style and personal expertise of managers and the factors influencing investment decisions.The international hedge fund industry and China’s stock market are two fast-growing entities of global capital markets. Stronger interaction between these two institutions in the future would create important implications for the financial world. The objective of this research is to identify factors that influence investment decisions by hedge fund managers in relation to China’s stock market.The following implications can be extracted from this research:(1) If China’s stock market is classified within the Emerging Markets Index, adjustments are necessary and provision should be made reflecting investor criteria for China.(2) Global trends and the potential growth of China were the two most attractive factors influencing investment decisions, suggesting a ‘herding’ tendency and ‘attention-grabbing’ bias of hedge fund managers.(3) Company evaluation remains important to hedge fund managers, suggesting that Chinese government regulators should implement reforms to improve quality of listed firms.(4) Gaps in the research on China’s stock market as well as the outcomes of this research indicate that further studies on the international hedge fund industry and China’s stock market could reveal new perspectives and enhancements to the current body of knowledge on these subjects. This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the research context and research justification. The research problem and questions are identified, and the theoretical framework and hypotheses are constructed. Chapter 2 presents an overview of the hedge fund industry and China’s stock market. Chapter 3 examines the literature: factors that influence investment decisions in global, emerging markets and in particular, China’s stock market. A framework of an 8-step decision-making process was developed. Chapter 4 researches alternative methodologies and presents a justification for the selection of the research methodology. Chapter 5 summarises the results of the data analysis and interpretation. Chapter 6 discusses the conclusions, implications, contributions and limitations of the research. Recommendations for further research are also included.The outcomes of this research are expected to benefit all participants of the global financial industry, including institutional and individual investors; executives in banking, insurance and securities businesses; financiers of listed firms and multinational corporations; government regulators and independent research analysts. Other beneficiaries will be academics and the media.

Hedge funds and China’s stock market: a study on factors influencing investment decisions by fund managersThe research was conducted using a web-based questionnaire sent to all Asia-related hedge funds, worldwide. Analysis of the collected data revealed that the factors influencing the portfolio investments made in China by fund managers differed from the factors which influence investment in global and emerging markets. While market conditions, market timing and changes in earning estimates are the top three influencing factors on investment decisions on global stock exchanges, fund managers are more influenced by global trend, potential growth and company size when dealing with China’s stock market. Research results also support the hypotheses that there are relationships between size of fund, trading style and personal expertise of managers and the factors influencing investment decisions.The international hedge fund industry and China’s stock market are two fast-growing entities of global capital markets. Stronger interaction between these two institutions in the future would create important implications for the financial world. The objective of this research is to identify factors that influence investment decisions by hedge fund managers in relation to China’s stock market.The following implications can be extracted from this research:(1) If China’s stock market is classified within the Emerging Markets Index, adjustments are necessary and provision should be made reflecting investor criteria for China.(2) Global trends and the potential growth of China were the two most attractive factors influencing investment decisions, suggesting a ‘herding’ tendency and ‘attention-grabbing’ bias of hedge fund managers.(3) Company evaluation remains important to hedge fund managers, suggesting that Chinese government regulators should implement reforms to improve quality of listed firms.(4) Gaps in the research on China’s stock market as well as the outcomes of this research indicate that further studies on the international hedge fund industry and China’s stock market could reveal new perspectives and enhancements to the current body of knowledge on these subjects. This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the research context and research justification. The research problem and questions are identified, and the theoretical framework and hypotheses are constructed. Chapter 2 presents an overview of the hedge fund industry and China’s stock market. Chapter 3 examines the literature: factors that influence investment decisions in global, emerging markets and in particular, China’s stock market. A framework of an 8-step decision-making process was developed. Chapter 4 researches alternative methodologies and presents a justification for the selection of the research methodology. Chapter 5 summarises the results of the data analysis and interpretation. Chapter 6 discusses the conclusions, implications, contributions and limitations of the research. Recommendations for further research are also included.The outcomes of this research are expected to benefit all participants of the global financial industry, including institutional and individual investors; executives in banking, insurance and securities businesses; financiers of listed firms and multinational corporations; government regulators and independent research analysts. Other beneficiaries will be academics and the media.

Social media are increasingly becoming platforms of choice for communication among individuals and groups of the public, and hence organisations are interested in engaging with communities and the public through this form of media to gain intelligence from such engagements to support their decision making processes. Yet, organisations are missing on realising the potential value from using social media for this type of interaction and engagement, while paucity in research addressing practical ways to use social media communication in supporting decision making still persists. This research investigates and proposes a practical framework for using social media – specifically Twitter – as a communications instrument to support the decision making process in police organisations. The research design is based on developing and evaluating a proof of concept representing engagements between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) police as a case study of police organisations with communities and members of the public in the UAE. The proof of concept is designed based on comparing and contrasting current practices by the UAE police with models, trends, and practices discussed in related literature. The research uses the Grounded Theory methodology to guide sampling, data collection, and analysis. The contribution of the research is to both theory and practice. The research addresses a gap in the body of knowledge for a framework that guides the development of models, policies, and practices for the use of social media as a communication instrument to support decision making in governmental organisations, specifically the police. In addition, the framework offers practical insights to policy makers into using different social media to engage with the public in communication, interactions, and knowledge sharing, with the aim of supporting decision making.

O mercado concorrencial vivido atualmente, principalmente após a abertura do mercado às importações tanto de bens de consumo, quanto de bens de capital, tem exigido das empresas nele estabelecidas a modernização de suas práticas de gestão. Percebe-se que existem esforços por parte destas empresas para a adoção de sistemas de produção mais modernos, tais como Sistema Toyota de Produção (STP), Planejamento dos Recursos de Manufatura (MRP II), Teoria das Restrições (TOC), que objetivam a melhoria de suas condições industriais nos quesitos qualidade, flexibilidade, custos, entrega e confiabilidade. Além disso, a dinâmica vivenciada atualmente, na qual o grau de exigência de inovação de produto e de processo são uma constante, tem tornado a gestão das empresas multiprodutoras mais complexa. Nota-se também que as informações necessárias para a gestão dos ambientes de manufatura têm se tornado peça-chave no sucesso ou fracasso das empresas inseridas neste contexto. Não há mais espaço para a tomada de decisões que não estejam embasadas nas melhores práticas administrativas. Percebe-se que tanto os sistemas de produção e suas práticas de gestão com seu enfoque voltado à parte operacional, quanto os sistemas de contabilidade de custos tradicional com seus objetivos fiscais, não satisfazem as necessidades inerentes à gestão econômica dos ambientes produtivos e das informações necessárias à tomada de decisão gerencial. Une-se a este fato a complexidade que os arranjos produtivos vêm adquirindo em função da diversidade de produtos exigida pelo mercado. Estes fatores criam um terreno fértil para a pesquisa de modelos de gestão econômica da produção voltados à simplificação destes modelos ao mesmo tempo que conferem aos gerentes decisões mais acuradas. O presente trabalho têm como objetivo modelar um sistema de gestão econômica de custos que permita o preenchimento da lacuna observada tanto nos sistemas de produção quanto nos sistemas de contabilidade de custos gerencial, através da adoção do método da Unidade de Esforço de Produção (UEP) aplicado a uma empresa do ramo metalúrgico de Caxias do Sul. Salienta-se que este modelo deve trabalhar em conjunto aos sistemas de produção e contabilidade, visando obter as medidas de desempenho tão necessárias à administração da produção e ao processo decisório. / The current competitive environment, mainly after the opening of Brazilian market to the importations of technology and manufactured products, has demanded the companies established on it, the modernization of management models. There are efforts by those companies to adopt modern production systems like Toyota Production System, Manufacturing Resources Planning and Theory of Constraints to improve the industrials conditions in the following items: quality, flexibility, costs, deliver and reliability. Moreover, the dynamics lived currently, in which the degree of process and product innovation is a constant, has become management of the multiproducing companies more complex. Also the necessary information for the management of manufacture environments have become part-key in the success or failure of the inserted companies in this context. There are no more chance for the decision making that are not based in best administrative practicals. Notice that as much as the systems of production and its management’s praticals with its approach directed to the operational view, how much as the tradicional systems of accounting with its fiscal objectives, do not satisfy the inherent necessities to the economic management of productive environments and the necessary information to taking managemental decisions. It is joined this fact that the complexity that the productive arrangements come acquiring in function of the diversity of products demanded by the market. These factors create a fertile land for the research of models of economic management of the production with the objective of simplyfing these models and, at the same time they confer more accurate decisions. The present work intend to model an economic costs management’s system that allows the fulfilling of the gap observed in the production systems as much in the accounting systems, through the adoption of the method of the of Production Effort Unit (UEP) applied to a company of the metallurgic activity in Caxias do Sul. This model must to work together with the production and accounting systems, aiming to get the so necessary measures of performance to the administration of the production and the decision-making process.

A inserção do biodiesel na matriz energética brasileira está viabilizando a emergência de uma nova base produtiva. O estado do Rio Grande do Sul (RS) está na vanguarda da implantação da produção de biodiesel a partir de óleo de soja e de oleaginosas alternativas (mamona, girassol, canola). As primeiras evidências empíricas revelam que a cadeia do biodiesel é ampla e complexa. A diversidade de agentes, de fatores e de variáveis envolvidos nas decisões tecnológicas, de investimento, de localização e de configuração produtiva torna complexa a tomada de decisão dos atores pertencentes a essa cadeia. Nesse contexto de diversidade, estariam ocorrendo conflitos de interesses e de motivações entre os agentes envolvidos na cadeia? Por outro lado, pesquisas recentes identificam a relevância de se ter alinhamento nas estratégias, objetivos e práticas gerenciais das diferentes empresas que participam dos diferentes estágios de uma cadeia produtiva, para que esta seja eficiente e competitiva. Diante dessa problemática, propôs-se para a presente pesquisa o objetivo de identificar, caracterizar e analisar quais são os fatores, motivações e critérios que estão sendo considerados no processo de tomada de decisão dos atores pertencentes à cadeia produtiva do biodiesel no RS, e verificar se há, ou não, alinhamento nos processos decisórios. A estrutura analítica da pesquisa foi construída a partir dos pressupostos de Teoria da Decisão, da Economia dos Custos de Transação e do Gerenciamento da Cadeia de Suprimentos. Foram entrevistados executivos dos principais agentes/empresas dos elos que compõem as cadeias de biodiesel no RS: 11 cooperativas agrícolas, 03 usinas de produção de biodiesel e a Petrobrás- REFAP (empresa estatal processadora e distribuidora de diesel/biodiesel). A análise estatística dos dados permitiu identificar correlações entre as variáveis e validar um construto do processo decisório nas cadeias de suprimento estudadas. No que concerne ao processo decisório das cooperativas, este centra-se na decisão de ofertar, ou não, oleaginosas para fins de produção de biodiesel. Suas decisões privilegiam aspectos operacionais e de curto prazo. Já nas empresas produtoras do biodiesel, sua decisão de produzir este combustível está associada à adição de mais um produto em seu portfólio comercial, e estão correlacionadas com uma visão de longo prazo e busca de eficiência econômica. Nestas empresas, os benefícios dos incentivos fiscais oferecidos pelas políticas públicas têm forte importância na decisão de escolha das alternativas de oleaginosas usadas para produzir o biodiesel. Na refinaria/distribuidora de diesel/biodiesel, percebe-se um processo decisório guiado por estratégicas e orientação de longo prazo, estando a decisão de misturar o biodiesel ao óleo diesel relacionada ao aspecto institucional, qual seja, a obrigatoriedade por lei da mistura entre os combustíveis. Em suma, os resultados revelam a existência de diferentes características ligadas ao processo de decisão e significativas dessincronias nos objetivos e motivações das decisões. Este estado de desalinhamento decisório, associado às fragilidades das políticas públicas, faz com que se acentue a incerteza sobre a sustentabilidade do programa brasileiro de produção de biodiesel. Os resultados desta pesquisa poderão servir de apoio ao processo decisório dos investidores e formuladores de políticas para esse setor da economia. / The insertion of biodiesel in the Brazilian energy matrix is permitting the emergence of a new productive base. The State of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) is leading the way in the implantation of the production of biodiesel from soy oil and other oil-bearing crops (castor bean, sunflower, rapeseed). The initial empirical evidence shows that the biodiesel chain is wide and complex. The diversity of the agents, factors and variables involved in decisions regarding technological, investment, location and productive configuration makes decision making a complex process for the actors belonging to this chain. Within the context of this diversity, would there be conflicts of interest and of motivation between the agents involved in the chain? On the other hand, recent research has identified the importance of having alignment in the strategies, objectives and managerial practices of the different firms participating in the different stages of a production chain, in order for it to be efficient and competitive. Given this issue, the aim of the present study is to identify and analyze the factors, motivations and criteria being considered in the decision-making processes of the actors belonging to the biodiesel production chain in RS, and confirm or otherwise, the existence of alignment in the decision-making process. The analytical structure of the study was built from the assumptions of Decision Theory, Transaction Cost Economics and of Supply Chain Management. Interviews were carried out with the main agents/firms of the links that comprise the biodiesel chains in RS: 11 agricultural co-operatives, 3 biodiesel production plants and Petrobrás-REFAP (a state firm that processes and distributes diesel/biodiesel). The statistical analysis of the data made it possible to identify correlations between the variables and validate a construct of the decision-making process in biodiesel supply chains. With regard the decision-making process of the cooperatives, it is centered on the decision to offer, or otherwise, oil-bearing crops for the production of biodiesel. Their decisions emphasize operational and short-term aspects. In contrast, in the firms producing biodiesel, their decision to produce this fuel is associated with addition of one more product to their market portfolio, and is correlated with a long-term view and the search for economic efficiency. In these firms, the benefits of the tax incentives offered by the public policies strongly influence the decision regarding the alternative oil-bearing crops used in the production of biodiesel. In the diesel/biodiesel refinery/distributor, it was seen that the decision-making process was guided by long-term strategies. The decision to mix biodiesel with diesel oil being related to the institutional aspect, whatever the legal obligation to mix the fuels may be. In summary, the results show the existence of different characteristics linked to the decision-making process and a significant lack of synchronicity in the aims and motivations of the agents decisions. This state of decisional mis-alignment, associated with the fragilities of public policy, leads to heightened uncertainty regarding the sustainability of the Brazilian biodiesel production program. The results of this study may be of use in supporting the decision-making process of investors and public policy makers within this sector of the economy.

A tomada de decisão caracteriza-se como ponto básico da atividade administrativa e de gestão de toda e qualquer organização, uma vez que esta atividade acontece todo o tempo, em todos os níveis e influencia diretamente o desempenho das organizações. No ambiente dos agronegócios o panorama observado não parece ser diferente. A gestão dos agentes inseridos em cadeias produtivas que tenham por base commodities agrícolas envolve uma série de decisões específicas a este segmento, o que decorre de uma crescente complexidade de elementos envolvidos nessas atividades. Neste contexto, verifica-se no agronegócio brasileiro representativos aumentos de produção e produtividade nas lavouras dos grãos produzidos no país, especialmente a soja, principal item na pauta de exportações deste segmento da economia. Entretanto, somente ganhos de produtividade nas lavouras não garantem competitividade no mercado, pelo contrário, estes necessitam ser acompanhados por melhorias em infra-estrutura e logística que dêem suporte à comercialização de safras cada vez maiores. Considerando-se que existe um déficit na capacidade estática de armazenamento de grãos no Brasil, aliado a baixa margem de rentabilidade auferida pelos produtores de commodities agrícolas, notadamente a soja, bem como o fato de que a armazenagem em nível de propriedade rural pode vir a se constituir em um diferencial positivo ao produtor no momento da comercialização desta oleaginosa, buscou-se responder ao seguinte questionamento: quais são os fatores influentes e como se dá o processo de tomada de decisão do produtor rural, no que tange à instalação de uma estrutura para a armazenagem de soja em sua propriedade? Diante dessa problemática, propôs-se para a presente pesquisa o objetivo de identificar e caracterizar os fatores influentes, bem como o processo decisório do produtor rural, em relação à instalação de estrutura para armazenagem de soja em nível de propriedade. Para o atingimento desse objetivo, elaborou-se uma estrutura analítica a partir dos pressupostos de Teoria da Decisão e das Especificidades na Produção e Comercialização de Produtos Agroalimentares, da qual originou-se o instrumento de pesquisa, composto por questões abertas e fechadas. Foram entrevistados dois grupos de produtores rurais da região de Santo Ângelo/RS, sendo 08 produtores cujas propriedades possuem estrutura para armazenagem de soja (grupo A) e 08 produtores com escalas de produção semelhantes, cujas propriedades não possuem tal estrutura (grupo B). A análise qualitativa dos dados permitiu identificar que existem diferenças entre os grupos A e B, relacionadas às estruturas de exploração agropecuária, características socio-econômicas e de experiência decisória, nível e fontes de informação, estilos decisórios e orientação de valores. Em relação ao processo decisório dos produtores do grupo A, identificou-se certa fragilidade na fase da concepção ou desenho, sendo que a maioria dos cálculos e análises de resultado do referido investimento são transferidas desta fase para a fase do monitoramento, o que pode vir a acarretar em prejuízos pelo fato de a escolha ser realizada a partir de uma análise superficial de todas as informações disponíveis / The decision making is characterized as basic point of the administrative activity and of administration of all and any organization, once this activity happens the whole time, in all levels and it influences the results of the organizations directly. In the agribusiness sector the observed context doesn't seem to be different. The agents' administration inserted in productive chains that have for agricultural commodities as basis involves a series of specific decisions to this segment, what elapses of a growing complexity of elements involved in those activities. In this context, it´s verified in the brazilian agribusiness representative production increases and productivity in the harvests of the grains produced at the country, especially the soybean, main item in the line of exports. However, only productivity gains in the farmings don't guarantee competitiveness in the market, on the contrary, these need to be accompanied by improvements in infrastructure and logistics that give support to the commercialization of harvests every time larger. With regard that exists a deficit in the static starage capacity of grains in Brazil, ally the low profitability margin gained by the agricultural commodities producers, especially the soybean, as well as the fact that the storage in level of rural property the can come if it constitutes in a differential one positive to the producer in the moment of the commercialization of this oleaginous one, it was looked for to answer to the question: which are the influential factors and as it feels the process of the rural producer decision-making, with respect to the installation of a structure for the soybean storage in your property? Given this issue, the aim of the present study is to identify and analyze the influential factors, as well as the rural producer decision-making process, in relation to the structure installation for soybean storage in property level. The analytical structure of the study was built from the assumptions of the Decision Theory and the Specificities in the Production and Commercialization of Agri-food Products, of which built the research instrument, composed by open and closed questions. Interviews were carried out with two groups of rural producers of Santo Ângelo/RS: 08 producers whose have soybean storage structure (group A) and 08 producers with scales of similar production, whose haven't such structure (group B). The qualitative analysis allowed to identify that differences exist among at the groups A and B, related to the structures of agricultural exploration, socioeconomic characteristics, decision-making experience, level and information sources, decisionmaking styles and the values orientation. With regat to the decision-making process of the group A producers, identified certain fragility in the the conception or drawing phase, and most of the calculations and analyses of result of the referred investment are transferred of this phase for the monitory phase, what can come to unprofitability for the fact of the choice to be accomplished from a superficial analysis of all available information.

105f. / Submitted by Oliveira Santos Dilzaná (dilznana@yahoo.com.br) on 2013-07-08T12:06:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 _Dissertação.pdf_ Lidiane Freitas Costa.pdf: 782754 bytes, checksum: b5e921bfea773cd2b5baf8db239acedd (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Portela(anapoli@ufba.br) on 2013-07-09T16:37:30Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 _Dissertação.pdf_ Lidiane Freitas Costa.pdf: 782754 bytes, checksum: b5e921bfea773cd2b5baf8db239acedd (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-07-09T16:37:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 _Dissertação.pdf_ Lidiane Freitas Costa.pdf: 782754 bytes, checksum: b5e921bfea773cd2b5baf8db239acedd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / CAPES / O principal objetivo deste trabalho é investigar quais são os limites e possibilidades dos agentes coletivos serem bem sucedidos em suas reivindicações políticas. Examinaremos como as organizações negras baianas constroem suas ações coletivas, bem como, buscaremos apreender a dinâmica interna das organizações, como os agentes constroem a ação organizada e quais são os principais problemas enfrentados por estes na construção da ação política. A pesquisa testou a hipótese de que as clivagens raciais, religiosas e político-partidárias constituem entraves para consolidação de alianças políticas entre as organizações dos movimentos negros estudadas. Para fundamentar os achados da pesquisa, nos apoiamos nas considerações de Olson (1965), notadamente sua análise sobre o comportamento dos indivíduos racionais nas modernas organizações, e Sartori (1987), a respeito das decisões políticas, de como elas são eleitas e impostas a todos independentemente de quem toma as decisões. As entrevistas semi-estruturadas, a análise documental e a observação participante forneceram o material de análise necessário para elaboração desta dissertação. Os resultados encontrados sugerem que o arranjo organizativo deficiente das organizações cria obstáculos para a construção da ação coletiva mesmo em grupos pequenos; a dificuldade de mobilização dos membros é um problema que atinge todas as entidades estudadas e cria um importante impasse para o sucesso da ação organizada; as convicções políticas, ideológicas e religiosas dos membros restringem as entidades a pequenos círculos de solidariedade. Por conseguinte, constituem entraves significativos para consolidação de alianças que aumentariam as possibilidades de obtenção de benefícios coletivos, razão de existência destas organizações. The main purpose of this work is to investigate what are the limits and possibilities of collective agents succeed in their political claims. We will examine how Bahia’s black organizations build their collective actions as well as we seek to learn the internal dynamics of the organizations, how the agents build the organized action and figure the main problems faced by them in the construction of political action. The research tested the hypotheses that racial, religious and electoral alliance cleavages constitute obstacles to the consolidation of political alliances among the organizations of the black movements that were studied. In order to substantiate the findings of the research, we rely on considerations of Olson (1965), especially his analysis about the behavior of rational individuals in modern organizations, and Sartori (1987), about political decisions, how they are chosen and imposed to everyone regardless of who makes the decisions. The semi –structured interviews, the documental analysis and the active observation provided the necessary analysis material to elaborate this Master’s thesis. The results obtained suggest that the deficient organizational arrangement of the organizations creates barriers to the building of the collective action even in small groups; the difficulty of mobilizing members is a problem that affects all the studied organizations and creates a significant obstacle for the success of the organized action; the political, ideological and religious convictions of the members restrain the entities to small groups of sympathy. Therefore, they constitute major problems to the consolidation of alliances that would increase the possibilities of obtaining collective benefits, reason of existence for these organizations. / Salvador

Lung cancer has become the most lethal malignancy in the world in recent decades. And despite advances in medicine, there has been little progress regarding the cure of the disease. According to the National Cancer Institute in the last global estimate of the incidence of lung cancer in 2012, there were 1.82 million cases of cancer, with 1.24 million among men and 583 thusand among women. The main cause of lung cancer is smoking that is responsible for 90 % of diagnosed cases. The diagnosis of lung cancer is done mainly based on CT images, and today it is considered the main visualization technique for detecting pulmonary nodules. However, the process of identifying and classi cation of nodules are complex and involves subjective and qualitative factors that lead experts to error. This scenario requires the use of computational techniques to e ectively manipulate the data and provide the means for more accurate diagnoses. Computer systems have been developed in order to search and retrieve imaging exams already diagnosed which are similar to a new case with unknown pathology according to the similarity between their characteristics. This property is intrinsic to Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR). Diagnosed exams retrieved can be used as a second opinion to guide those specialists in the diagnosis, providing more information. However, CBIR presents some limitations regarding to the process of segmentation and representation of image characteristics through of attributes, as well as determine an appropriate similarity metric. This paper presents a local update weighing algorithm applied to the Weighted Euclidean Distance (WED) in a CBIR architecture in order to verify if the WED with adjusted weights is more accurate than the Euclidean Distance in image retrieval of pulmonary nodules. For this, the 3D Texture Attributes (3D AT) and 3D Margin Sharpness Attributes (3D MSA) were used to represent nodules. Presente process consists of two phases that are performed sequentially and cyclically being an Assessment Phase and Training Phase. At each iteration the weights are adjusted according to the retrieved nodules. At the end of cycles execution, it is obtained a set of attribute weights that optimize the recovery of similar nodes. The results achieved by updating the weights were promising and increase precision by 10% to 6% on mean for recovery of benign and malignant nodules respectively with recall 25%. In the best case, the 3D MSA provided 100% of precision for the two classes with recall 90%. This proves the e ectiveness of the algorithm achieving the goals to this work and con rms the hypothesis that the DEP, with adjusted weights, provides greater precision than DE as a similarity metric in CBIR systems. / Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Alagoas / O câncer de pulmão se tornou a neoplasia maligna mais letal do mundo nas últimas décadas. E, apesar dos avanços na medicina, houve pouco progresso com relação à cura da doença. Segundo o INCA, na última estimativa mundial sobre a incidência de câncer pulmonar, em 2012, foram registrados 1,82 milhão de casos de câncer, sendo 1,24 milhão entre os homens e 583 mil entre as mulheres. O principal causador do câncer pulmonar é o tabagismo sendo responsável por 90% dos casos diagnosticados. O diagnóstico do câncer pulmonar é feito, principalmente, com base em imagens de TC e, hoje, é considerada a principal técnica de visualização para detecção de nódulos pulmonares. Entretanto, o processo de identi cação e classi cação de nódulos é complexo e envolve fatores subjetivos e qualitativos que acabam induzindo os especialistas ao erro. Este panorama exige o emprego de técnicas computacionais que permitam efetivamente manipular os dados e proporcionar meios para diagnósticos mais precisos. Sistemas computacionais têm sido desenvolvidos com o objetivo de buscar e recuperar imagens de exames já diagnosticados, que são similares a um novo caso com patologia ainda desconhecida segundo a similaridade entre as suas características. Essa propriedade é intrínseca aos sistemas CBIR. Os exames diagnosticados recuperados podem ser utilizados como uma segunda opinião para guiar os especialistas no momento do diagnóstico, fornecendo informações adicionais. Contudo, CBIR apresenta algumas limitações referentes ao processo de extração e representação de características das imagens, por meio de atributos, e a determinação de uma métrica de similaridade adequada. Este trabalho apresenta um algoritmo de ajuste local de pesos aplicado à DEP em uma arquitetura CBIR com o objetivo de veri car se a DEP com os pesos ajustados é mais precisa do que a DE na recuperação de imagens contendo nódulos de câncer pulmonar. Para isso, foram utilizados os AT 3D e os ANB 3D para representar os nódulos. O processo apresentado é composto por duas fases que são executadas de forma sequencial e cíclica sendo uma Fase de Avaliação e uma de Fase de Treinamento. A cada iteração os pesos são ajustados segundo os nódulos recuperados. Ao término do ciclo de execuções das fases, obtém-se um conjunto de pesos de atributos que otimizam a recuperação de nódulos semelhantes. Os resultados alcançados pela atualização dos pesos foram promissores aumentando a precisão em 10% e 6% em média para recuperação de nódulos benignos e malignos, respectivamente, com revocação de 25%. No melhor caso, o ANB 3D proporcionou 100% para recuperação das duas classes com revocação de 90%. Isso comprova a e cácia do algoritmo alcançando os objetivos almejados para o trabalho e con rmando a hipótese de que a DEP com os pesos ajustados proporciona maior precisão do que DE como métrica de similaridade em sistemas CBIR.

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.