Managers can be seen as information workers who use the raw material of information. The amount of information available for them is for all practical purposes infinite. How can they make the best use of the information available? How can they create a line of action based on that information? These are challenges today's managers are facing. It is challenges like these that justify this study's starting point in the field of information management, in contrast to much previous research on managerial work. In order to create an in-depth understanding of processes in managerial work, this dissertation describes the work of a managing director and his management team over a five year period. The research presented in Management Processes – An Information Perspective on Managerial Work includes a description of the longitudinal case study and a thematic analysis of it. Theoretically the study presents a framework for management processes. The study challenges previous research on information requirements in managerial work and offers an analysis of the various roles information plays in managerial communication processes. The findings include frameworks for these roles and for the forces forming agendas in managerial work. The study suggests two layers of management processes: one execution-level and one development-level. The interplay between these layers is described as an important challenge in managerial work. Several practical implications arise from the study. One is the usefulness of searching for the triggers for managerial mindshifts, the information that helps reframe issues on the managerial agenda. Another implication is the importance of identifying driving forces for development-level issues. Identifying such driving forces can help managers to balance action and reflection. It can thus also help them to avoid the execution trap, a focus on execution at the expense of development efforts. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2001

Este estudo versa sobre a construção do saber gerencial e a conformação de competências gerenciais ao enfermeiro na formação acadêmica. Tem como objetivos: analisar as demandas gerenciais na práxis profissional do enfermeiro inserido no processo de organização do trabalho em saúde e em Enfermagem, determinadas pelas Políticas de Saúde, e analisar o processo de construção das competências gerenciais do acadêmico de Enfermagem, apreendendo as limitações e estratégias advindas do processo ensino-aprendizagem, em face das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais. Trata-se de uma pesquisa fundamentada na Hermenêutica-dialética. Utiliza na coleta de dados a técnica por grupo focal com o aluno, o docente e o enfermeiro de serviço, partícipes do processo ensino-aprendizagem do saber gerencial, no espaço intercessor, nos campos de prática e dos estágios curriculares, no ambiente hospitalar e nos serviços básicos de saúde. A análise de conteúdo aplicada sobre os resultados identifica duas grandes categorias empíricas. Na categoria formação, englobam-se as subcategorias: - construção das dimensões do saber gerencial: processo ensino-aprendizagem nos recortes da relação teoria e prática, das estratégias de ensino-aprendizagem e, das competências dos sujeitos neste processo; - conformação de competências gerenciais, em face das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais, abarcando o perfil do profissional: o exigido e o possível e, as parcerias ensino e serviço. Na categoria atuação profissional, identifica-se a subcategoria: organização do processo de trabalho em saúde e em Enfermagem, desmembrada no processo de trabalho gerencial do enfermeiro e nas políticas administrativas institucionais. As categorias analíticas estão fundamentadas nos três eixos teóricos, sendo que, na dimensão estrutural, consideram a proximidade dos dados empíricos ao contexto das transformações determinadas pelas Políticas de Saúde em relação à organização do trabalho em saúde e na Enfermagem e aos modelos assistenciais e gerenciais existentes. Na dimensão particular, a Política da Educação por meio das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais e do Projeto Pedagógico do curso, que delineiam a formação do enfermeiro, procurando ajustar a formação à práxis, numa perspectiva transformadora, atendendo às demandas sociais e da vida. Assim também, na dimensão singular, o Ensino da Administração em Enfermagem, nas competências técnico-científica, ético-política, comunicativa e de desenvolvimento da cidadania, em que se consideram as práticas e o Estágio Curricular Supervisionado como momentos intercessores entre a teoria e a prática para a conformação de novas competências gerenciais e a consolidação das adquiridas. Os resultados apontam que, na formação e na práxis do enfermeiro, coexistem os paradigmas antagônicos nas instituições de ensino e de serviço, que ainda atendem aos modelos hegemônicos, na saúde e na Educação. Apresentam alguns avanços para a integralidade na dimensão cuidadora, aplicando a estratégia pedagógica da problematização das situações vivenciadas no cotidiano, e para a integração ensino e serviço. Considera-se que, para a conformação de competências gerenciais, numa perspectiva transformadora, é necessário fortalecer a parceria ensino e serviço, no âmbito inter-institucional, aumentar a adesão entre os sujeitos deste estudo, e criar uma rede de sustentação, aproximando os demais profissionais, os usuários/clientes, construindo no coletivo a formação e a práxis, voltadas para as demandas sociais e da vida / This study is about the construction of managerial knowledge as well as the configuration of managerial competences for nurses during their academic graduation. It aims: to analyze the managerial demands of nurses? professional praxis involved in the process of organizing the health and Nursing work, determined by Health Policies, and to analyze the process of building managerial competences upon Nursing academicians, understanding the limitations and strategies occurred from the teaching and learning process. It is a research founded upon dialectic-Hermeneutics. The technique of the focal group is used in the data collection with, the student, the professor and the nurse on shift, participants on the teaching-learning process of the managerial knowledge, in the interceding space, in the fields of practice and curricular training, in the hospital environment and in the basic health-care services. The analysis of the contents applied to the results identifies two great empirical categories. Within the formation category the following subcategories are embodied: - building up the managerial knowledge dimensions: a teaching-learning process comprising the relation between theory and practice, the strategies of teaching-learning and the individuals? competences in this process; as well as the conformation of managerial competences, face the National Curricular Directives, comprehending the professional?s profile: the required and the possible, and the teaching and service partnerships. Within the professional performance category, it is identified the subcategory as follows: the organization of the working process in health and Nursing, dismembered in the nurse?s managerial work and in the institutional administrative policies. The analytic categories are founded on three main theoretic axis; so that, in the structural dimension it is considered the proximity of empirical data to the context of the transformations determined by the Health Policies regarding the work organization in health and Nursing, and also the present assistance and managerial models. In the private dimension, the Education Policy through the National Curricular Directives and the Pedagogical Project of the course, that outline the nurse?s graduation profile seeking to adjust education to praxis, under a transforming view, attending to social and life demands. And also, in the singular dimension, the Administration Teaching in Nursing, in the techno-scientific, the ethic-politics and the communicative competences as well as in citizenship development in which the Supervised Curricular Training Program is considered as an interceding space between theory and practice for the configuration of new managerial competences and the consolidation of those already acquired. The results point out that in the nurse?s background and praxis coexist the antagonistic paradigms in the teaching and service institutions, which still follow hegemonic models, in health and Education. They present some improvements towards integrality in the caring dimension applying the pedagogic strategy of shaping the problems from the daily situations, and towards the teaching-service integration. It?s considered that for the configuration of managerial competences, under a transforming perspective, it is necessary to strengthen the teaching and service partnership, within the inter-institutional ambit, to increase adhesion between the subjects to this study, and create a new supporting network, approximating the other professionals, and the customers, building up collectively the graduation and the praxis, turned toward social an life demands

Background: The middle managers’ managerial work is characterised by the absence of clarityand structure around the work practice and implies excessive responsibility on the individual toorganise the work. Self-leadership is a tool for individuals to become more effective in their work and can provide middle managers with guidance in their unstructured work. Research Question: How do middle managers apply behavioural-focused strategies for self-leadershipin relation to their managerial work? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to better understand and contribute with new theories about how middle managers apply self-leadership in relation to their managerial work. The study will depict how middle managers relate to the activity of self-leadership in their professional role. The research will focus on how middle managers apply behavioural-focused strategies for self-leadership, namely self-goal setting, self-reward, self-punishment, self-observation and self-cueing. Method: A qualitative study of observations and interviews were used. Three middle managers in the organisation have been observed and interviewed to identify their application and attitude about behavioural-focused strategies for self-leadership. The observations have been categorised according to Mintzberg’s and Choran’s managerial and operational roles (working roles). Theoretical framework: Theories of self-leadership and behavioural-focused strategies are combined with theories of managerial work and working roles. Bringing together the different theories, a comprehensive theoretical framework is formed to understand how middle managers apply behaviour-focused strategies. Findings: The findings suggest that middle managers’ application of behavioural-focused strategies is largely characterised by their working roles. Furthermore, middle managers associate behavioural-focused strategies primarily with other-orientated behaviours, includingthe co-workers and the organisation. At the same time, there is a distinct individual difference in how middle managers apply the behavioural-focused strategies for self-leadership.

For several years now, the healthcare service has been facing major recruitment challenges where the shortage of nurses is a reality. As time goes by and experienced employees leave the profession, managers are facing a transition to not only having a lack of resources but also a lack of competence. Insufficient staffing or competence can create negative consequences and further aggravate the basic problem of competence management. The overall purpose of this study is to create knowledge about the situation of unit managers regarding the competence management of nurses, by examining what conditions and tools   unit managers have in their leadership to handle this. The study examines the conditions and tools that unit managers describe that they have for managing competence and need thereof in the department. What tools regarding competence management / needs, how the tools look like and how they are used in relation to competence management, and whether the unit manager lacks any tools. Finally, the study describes how the unit manager handles the unit’s competence needs and competence management, through leadership. The study is based on theories in competence management, learning organizations, learning in the workplace and leadership. Specifically, four different departments are examined at an emergency hospital in central Sweden using a qualitative method. The empirical material comes from completed semi-structured interviews with a total of eight unit managers, which were analyzed based on a qualitative content analysis approach. The results of the study show how the unit managers have adopted different strategies for working with the prevailing competence management situation. Competence management is mostly described in terms of competence development. The unit managers describe limitations regarding the shortage of nurses and there are major challenges regarding the competence level of the department. The unit managers describe a need for a larger proportion of the group of nurses who have solid professional experience within the specialty of the   department. The results show different obstacles at different levels, where the goal to have a long-term and forward-looking focus, may stand aside. The unit managers describe that other things take up their time, where a large proportion of the worktime is spent on staffing, with the right competence. The study shows how the unit managers use or develop their own competence tools to facilitate competence management. Support from the organisation is in many issues lacking but demanded. About half of the unit managers use the region's competence tools. The unit manages describes some elements of a learning organization, but the holistic approach for the entire hospital is not in focus. Leadership is described as clear, present and that the goals of the unit are linked to the employees' motivation and development needs. The lack of nurses remaining, and the lack of experienced nurses in the unit affects the unit managers' daily work. A large part of the worktime is spent on recruitment, but also on constantly developing the competence of the employees in order to ensure good patient care.

<p>Project management used to be described as rational and well structured - a notion that builds on a traditional view that project management is about planning, budgeting and controlling. Nevertheless, it has been questioned if this is a full description. Even though project management techniques were developed for large projects, those techniques and models are used today in small projects of short duration - projects that are quite dissimilar to the large ones. The present study takes a practice perspective to investigate what project managers do when they lead such short projects. Its observations and interviews are used to analyze what happens in the everyday life of project managers. Using classical managerial behaviour studies as a foundation, seen through a practice perspective lens, the study finds that the work of project managers in a software development project is fragmented – their time is filled with formal and informal meetings of different kinds and efforts to resist disturbances in the project.</p><p>Three challenges were found in the project manager’s work. The first was to Understand: to create meaning. The plans were clearly defined at the start of the project but as the goals were later re-defined, it was scarcely possible to finalize them before delivery. Contrary to the traditional view that plans are inflexible, these plans were discussed, negotiated and interpreted throughout the project. This was the continuous work of creating both meaning in the plans and a common understanding of the project.</p><p>The second challenge was to Order/coordinate: to manage resources. The project manager reacted to emerging issues rather than acting to prevent things from happening. These reactions led to creative ways of managing and finding solutions to problems. One important way of managing new or changed conditions was to reorganize resources to cover the needs of different teams. The meetings played a central role in this work as arenas for negotiating resources, which became especially evident in times of stress or high workload.</p><p>The third challenge was to Make it in time: to manage time. Time is a central aspect of project management as projects are temporary organizations; they have a beginning and an end. Previous research has found a point in time, in the middle of a project, when the team starts to feel pressured and stressed about meeting their deadlines. For project managers there is always a struggle to manage time, as dates for delivery are one of the things in a project that are not negotiable. In short-duration projects where projects follow each other seriatim, there is an almost constant feeling of urgency; stress and pressure. The project manager used experiential data to determine and plan the amount of time that would be needed to manage changes in the project, intending that the slack created would enable the project to deliver on time. Although changes and deviations were expected, the project manager rarely knew beforehand what they were or when they would come.</p><p>The three challenges, previously described as separated from each other, were observed to be all managed simultaneously. The site, the practitioner and the practices influence daily work practice.</p>

This thesis concerns the leader as a facilitator of learning at work. More specifically, the aim of the study is to increase knowledge about leadership in relation to co-workers’ learning and development at the workplace. The focus is on the leaders’ notions of learning-oriented leadership, their actions in daily work and on the factors that may enable and constrain learning-oriented leadership. The theoretical framework is structured around a review and analysis of three leadership research traditions: studies of effective leadership, studies of managerial work, and critical studies of leadership. The research reported in the thesis is based on an interactive research approach comprising case studies of two industrial firms. The main empirical data have been collected in interviews with leaders. In addition, the empirical material includes observations of leaders and studies of documents. The results indicate that the leaders view learning and the development of their co-workers as important issues and that they use a number of different activities to facilitate learning. Based on the degree of formalization these activities can be characterized as planned, partially planned and spontaneous. When working with the co-workers’ learning the leaders alternate between acting as supporters, educators and confronters. Furthermore, learning-oriented leadership is influenced by factors such as the co-workers’ attitudes and motivation, the leaders’ views of learning and development, the presence of learning issues on the organizational agenda and the design of the organizations’ production systems. To conclude, the leaders in both companies can be seen as facilitators of learning. However, their leadership is mainly performance-oriented and focused on adaptive learning. There are traces of development-oriented leadership as well, but these patterns are not as apparent. For instance, the facilitation of critical reflection associated with developmental learning is not very common for the leaders in either of the cases. / Denna avhandling handlar om hur ledare främjar lärande i dagligt arbete. Mer specifikt är syftet med studien att bidra med ökade kunskaper om ledarskap i relation till medarbetares lärande och utveckling på arbetsplatsen. I avhandlingen studeras vad som karaktäriserar ledarnas arbete och deras syn på sitt ledarskap, vad ledarna gör för att främja medarbetarnas lärande, samt vilka faktorer som hindrar och möjliggör ett ledarskap för lärande. Den teoretiska referensramen är baserad på tidigare forskning om ledarskap och lärande. Mer specifikt granskas och analyseras tre forskningstraditioner: studier av effektivt ledarskap, studier av ledares arbete och kritiska ledarskapsstudier. Studien utgår från en interaktiv forskningsansats och det empiriska materialet består av fallstudier av två svenska industriföretag. Data har huvudsakligen insamlats genom intervjuer med ledare. Därtill omfattar det empiriska underlaget även observationer av ledare och studier av dokument. Resultaten visar att ledarna uppfattar det som mycket viktigt att främja sina medarbetares lärande och utveckling. När de arbetar med dessa frågor använder de sig av en rad olika aktiviteter, vilka skiljer sig åt med avseende på grad av formalisering. Aktiviteterna kan kategoriseras som planerade, delvis planerade och spontana. Vidare visar resultaten att ledarna i interaktionen med medarbetarna agerar stödjande, utbildande och konfronterande. I studien framkommer även faktorer som hindrar och möjliggör ett ledarskap för lärande. Dessa omfattar exempelvis medarbetarnas inställning till lärande, ledarnas syn på lärande, ekonomiska resurser för lärande, samt arbetsorganisationens och produktionssystemets utformning. Avslutningsvis pekar denna studie på att ledarna i företagen uppvisar ett ledarskap för lärande, men att detta i huvudsak orienteras mot lärande för daglig drift och anpassning, snarare än mot lärande för utveckling. Det finns också spår av ett mer utvecklingsstödjande ledarskap, men dessa är inte tydligt framträdande i resultaten. Exempelvis arbetar ledarna i begränsad utsträckning med att främja kritisk reflektion, vilket kan ses som en förutsättning för ett utvecklingsinriktat lärande.

Project management used to be described as rational and well structured - a notion that builds on a traditional view that project management is about planning, budgeting and controlling. Nevertheless, it has been questioned if this is a full description. Even though project management techniques were developed for large projects, those techniques and models are used today in small projects of short duration - projects that are quite dissimilar to the large ones. The present study takes a practice perspective to investigate what project managers do when they lead such short projects. Its observations and interviews are used to analyze what happens in the everyday life of project managers. Using classical managerial behaviour studies as a foundation, seen through a practice perspective lens, the study finds that the work of project managers in a software development project is fragmented – their time is filled with formal and informal meetings of different kinds and efforts to resist disturbances in the project. Three challenges were found in the project manager’s work. The first was to Understand: to create meaning. The plans were clearly defined at the start of the project but as the goals were later re-defined, it was scarcely possible to finalize them before delivery. Contrary to the traditional view that plans are inflexible, these plans were discussed, negotiated and interpreted throughout the project. This was the continuous work of creating both meaning in the plans and a common understanding of the project. The second challenge was to Order/coordinate: to manage resources. The project manager reacted to emerging issues rather than acting to prevent things from happening. These reactions led to creative ways of managing and finding solutions to problems. One important way of managing new or changed conditions was to reorganize resources to cover the needs of different teams. The meetings played a central role in this work as arenas for negotiating resources, which became especially evident in times of stress or high workload. The third challenge was to Make it in time: to manage time. Time is a central aspect of project management as projects are temporary organizations; they have a beginning and an end. Previous research has found a point in time, in the middle of a project, when the team starts to feel pressured and stressed about meeting their deadlines. For project managers there is always a struggle to manage time, as dates for delivery are one of the things in a project that are not negotiable. In short-duration projects where projects follow each other seriatim, there is an almost constant feeling of urgency; stress and pressure. The project manager used experiential data to determine and plan the amount of time that would be needed to manage changes in the project, intending that the slack created would enable the project to deliver on time. Although changes and deviations were expected, the project manager rarely knew beforehand what they were or when they would come. The three challenges, previously described as separated from each other, were observed to be all managed simultaneously. The site, the practitioner and the practices influence daily work practice.

As the world of business changes at a pace higher than ever before, there is an increased need for organizations to rapidly adapt and respond to these internal and external changes, whether they are technological, political, social or environmental. In management, agility is a term frequently used today in response to this new business environment, which often includes the use of agile methodologies for product development. As organizations adopt agile methodologies, old traditional management and leadership models fade. This void is being filled by new and emerging agile leadership models. Additionally, self-organizing and cross-functional teams become key concepts. All these transformations are bound to culminate in a considerable alteration in the role of the manager. This study examines the new role of the manager in an organization transitioning to agile. To answer the research questions, changes in the key work activities of the manager were evaluated, as well as how changes in interplay and interaction between the manager and the group could affect the role. Furthermore, the aim was also to identify some of the main challenges and barriers that arise. This was studied qualitatively through a literature review. Also, a case study was conducted at the software development department at Scania AB, where ten managers and one employee was interviewed. A survey was also sent out to the group members at this department, with 150 respondents. Findings indicated that most work activities did not change. Some of them changed in character due to introducing an agile method and due to internal, structural changes. In one case, the work focus shifted from one activity to another. In the interplay with the group, the manager now has new roles to consider, while his role becomes more of an empowerer and meets new leadership models. With this organizational change, there are also new opportunities of delegating work activities to a higher extent. The main challenges that were identified regarded communication and coordination, control, and mastering agile methods. / Affärsvärlden möter förändringar i en allt snabbare takt än tidigare, varför organisationer måste bemöta och förhålla sig till både de interna och externa förändringar som sker, vare sig dessa är teknologiska, politiska, sociala eller miljömässiga. Inom ledarskap används idag termen agilt allt mer, som svar på detta nya affärsklimat, vilket ofta inkluderar användandet av agila metoder inom produktutveckling. Då allt fler organisationer inför användandet av agila metoder, tappar också de traditionella ledarskapsmodellerna sin roll. Detta gap som uppstår har kommit att fyllas av nya agila ledarskapsmodeller. Vidare blir också självstyrande och tvärfunktionella grupper viktiga koncept. Dessa förändringar medför en avsevärd förändring av chefsrollen. Denna studie undersöker hur chefsrollen förändras i en organisationen som blir allt mer agil. För att svara på forskningsfrågorna undersöktes hur huvudarbetsuppgifterna förändrats, men också hur förändringar i samspelet och interaktionen mellan chefen och gruppen kan komma att påverka chefsrollen. Vidare undersöktes också vilka huvudsakliga utmaningar och hinder som uppstod. En kvalitativ litteraturstudie utfördes i studien. Också en fallstudie på avdelningen för mjukvaruutveckling på Scania AB utfördes, där tio gruppchefer och en annan anställd intervjuades. En undersöknings skickades också ut till gruppmedlemmar på denna avdelningar, med totalt 150 svar.Resultatet påvisade att de flesta arbetsuppgifter inte förändrades. Vissa av dessa förändrades i karaktär och i utförandet, till följd av införandet av en agil metod och strukturella förändringar i företaget. I ett fall skiftade arbetsfokus från en arbetsuppgift till en annan. I samspelet mellan chef och grupp har nu chefen nya roller att ta hänsyn till. Chefens roll blir mer av en facilitator, där nya ledarskapsmodeller också står till mötes. Chefen har också större möjligheter till delegering av arbetsuppgifter än tidigare. De utmaningar som identifierades rörde kommunikation och koordination, kontroll, och hanteringen av agila metoder.

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Analisou-se na tese o deslizamento discursivo em direção ao uso do vocábulo gestão e as mudanças recentemente operadas no trabalho gerencial. Com a suposição de que se apreciado enquanto atividade humana este trabalho não é simples e exclusivamente heterodeterminado pelo modelo de gerenciamento segundo os interesses do capital, a proposta foi colocar ênfase nos debates de normas e nas possíveis reservas de alternativas nas atividades de profissionais que gerenciam, assim como nas possibilidades de seu desenvolvimento em direção a um gerenciamento ergológico. Visando a contribuir para a discussão sobre se no interior da própria produção material poderiam coexistir formas de construção de uma sociabilidade efetivamente humana, analisa-se em que medida os profissionais que gerenciam fazem cotidianamente uma gestão (não apenas do outro, também de si próprio) na qual são convocados valores outros que os exclusivamente mercantis e econômicos. Adotando-se um olhar para o objeto de pesquisa informado por uma Psicologia Social do Trabalho que privilegia o ponto de vista da atividade, se pretendeu a uma sucessiva aproximação das atividades de supervisão do trabalho. Trabalho este que, em tendência, tem se ampliado no sentido de incluir o gerenciamento da produção, de aproximação com os serviços de apoio à produção e de incentivo à participação dos operadores. A pesquisa de campo foi realizada em uma unidade industrial de uma empresa multinacional privada que fabrica e comercializa produtos pneumáticos. No delineamento metodológico privilegiou-se um enquadramento clínico por meio de método indireto de investigação, com base no princípio de (auto)confrontação, e de uma abordagem dialógica de análise, fazendo-se uso do dispositivo de Encontros sobre o Trabalho e da técnica de Instrução ao Sósia. Os resultados indicam que o trabalho de supervisão envolve uma integração de múltiplas determinações, exigências e valores. Ressalta-se a existência de dimensões sociais no trabalho gerencial efetuado pelos supervisores. No processo de análise de suas atividades de trabalho, realizada por eles próprios, apontam-se indícios de que, mobilizando-se intelectual, cognitiva, afetiva e corporalmente nos debates de normas em suas atividades, buscam por meio de renormatizações também fazer valer suas próprias normas de vida, onde valores relativos ao viver em conjunto e à saúde estão presentes. Colocando-se em questão as condições para o pôr o trabalho em debate na perspectiva da atividade, discute-se a relação entre o potencial de produção de novas normas nas atividades de supervisão e o suposto de um modo ergológico de gerenciar, reforçando-se a posição de que as propostas de gestão participativa não se apresentam por si só como uma abertura para um modo de gerenciamento que dê visibilidade à gestão cotidiana do trabalho, que é sempre, em algum nível, formulada e operada coletivamente / The present work has analysed the discursive sliding towards the use of the word gestão (management) and the recent changes effected on managerial work. With the assumption that if looked upon as human activity this is not a simple job and exclusively heterodetermined by the management model according to the interests of capital, the idea was to emphasise the debates of norms and the possible reserves of alternatives on the activities of management professionals, as well as the possibilities for their development torwards an ergologic management. Aiming at contributing to the discussion of whether there could on the core of material production itself coexist ways of construction of an effectively human sociability it is analysed to which extent management professionals perform daily a management (not only of others but also of themselves) in which values other than the exclusively mercantile and economic ones are summoned. Looking into the research object informed by a Social Psychology of Work who favours the activity standpoint, it was intended to take a successive approximation to the work supervision activities, which tend to be amplified towards including production management, to get closer to production support services and encouragement of operators participation. The field research was carried out on an industrial unit of a private multinational company which manufactures and trades pneumatic products. The methodological design privileged a clinical framing through an indirect investigation method based on the (self)confrontation principle and on a dialogic analyses approach with the use of the Work Meetings&#8223; device and the Instruction for de Double&#8223; technique. The results suggest that supervision work involves integration of multiple determinations, demands and values. The existence of social dimensions on managerial work performed by supervisors is emphasised. On the self-assessment process of their work activities, there is evidence that by applying themselves intellectually, cognitively, affectively and bodily on the standard discussions in their activities they seek through normalization to reinforce their own life standards where values of group life and health are also present. Focusing on the conditions to put the work in debate in the light of the activity itself, the present work discusses the relationship between the production potential of new standards of supervision activities and the assumption of an ergologic managerial way, emphasising the standpoint that participative management&#8223; proposals do not present themselves in their own right as an opening to a management way which gives visibility to the day to day management of work which is always, at some level, formulated and operated collectively

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Analisou-se na tese o deslizamento discursivo em direção ao uso do vocábulo gestão e as mudanças recentemente operadas no trabalho gerencial. Com a suposição de que se apreciado enquanto atividade humana este trabalho não é simples e exclusivamente heterodeterminado pelo modelo de gerenciamento segundo os interesses do capital, a proposta foi colocar ênfase nos debates de normas e nas possíveis reservas de alternativas nas atividades de profissionais que gerenciam, assim como nas possibilidades de seu desenvolvimento em direção a um gerenciamento ergológico. Visando a contribuir para a discussão sobre se no interior da própria produção material poderiam coexistir formas de construção de uma sociabilidade efetivamente humana, analisa-se em que medida os profissionais que gerenciam fazem cotidianamente uma gestão (não apenas do outro, também de si próprio) na qual são convocados valores outros que os exclusivamente mercantis e econômicos. Adotando-se um olhar para o objeto de pesquisa informado por uma Psicologia Social do Trabalho que privilegia o ponto de vista da atividade, se pretendeu a uma sucessiva aproximação das atividades de supervisão do trabalho. Trabalho este que, em tendência, tem se ampliado no sentido de incluir o gerenciamento da produção, de aproximação com os serviços de apoio à produção e de incentivo à participação dos operadores. A pesquisa de campo foi realizada em uma unidade industrial de uma empresa multinacional privada que fabrica e comercializa produtos pneumáticos. No delineamento metodológico privilegiou-se um enquadramento clínico por meio de método indireto de investigação, com base no princípio de (auto)confrontação, e de uma abordagem dialógica de análise, fazendo-se uso do dispositivo de Encontros sobre o Trabalho e da técnica de Instrução ao Sósia. Os resultados indicam que o trabalho de supervisão envolve uma integração de múltiplas determinações, exigências e valores. Ressalta-se a existência de dimensões sociais no trabalho gerencial efetuado pelos supervisores. No processo de análise de suas atividades de trabalho, realizada por eles próprios, apontam-se indícios de que, mobilizando-se intelectual, cognitiva, afetiva e corporalmente nos debates de normas em suas atividades, buscam por meio de renormatizações também fazer valer suas próprias normas de vida, onde valores relativos ao viver em conjunto e à saúde estão presentes. Colocando-se em questão as condições para o pôr o trabalho em debate na perspectiva da atividade, discute-se a relação entre o potencial de produção de novas normas nas atividades de supervisão e o suposto de um modo ergológico de gerenciar, reforçando-se a posição de que as propostas de gestão participativa não se apresentam por si só como uma abertura para um modo de gerenciamento que dê visibilidade à gestão cotidiana do trabalho, que é sempre, em algum nível, formulada e operada coletivamente / The present work has analysed the discursive sliding towards the use of the word gestão (management) and the recent changes effected on managerial work. With the assumption that if looked upon as human activity this is not a simple job and exclusively heterodetermined by the management model according to the interests of capital, the idea was to emphasise the debates of norms and the possible reserves of alternatives on the activities of management professionals, as well as the possibilities for their development torwards an ergologic management. Aiming at contributing to the discussion of whether there could on the core of material production itself coexist ways of construction of an effectively human sociability it is analysed to which extent management professionals perform daily a management (not only of others but also of themselves) in which values other than the exclusively mercantile and economic ones are summoned. Looking into the research object informed by a Social Psychology of Work who favours the activity standpoint, it was intended to take a successive approximation to the work supervision activities, which tend to be amplified towards including production management, to get closer to production support services and encouragement of operators participation. The field research was carried out on an industrial unit of a private multinational company which manufactures and trades pneumatic products. The methodological design privileged a clinical framing through an indirect investigation method based on the (self)confrontation principle and on a dialogic analyses approach with the use of the Work Meetings&#8223; device and the Instruction for de Double&#8223; technique. The results suggest that supervision work involves integration of multiple determinations, demands and values. The existence of social dimensions on managerial work performed by supervisors is emphasised. On the self-assessment process of their work activities, there is evidence that by applying themselves intellectually, cognitively, affectively and bodily on the standard discussions in their activities they seek through normalization to reinforce their own life standards where values of group life and health are also present. Focusing on the conditions to put the work in debate in the light of the activity itself, the present work discusses the relationship between the production potential of new standards of supervision activities and the assumption of an ergologic managerial way, emphasising the standpoint that participative management&#8223; proposals do not present themselves in their own right as an opening to a management way which gives visibility to the day to day management of work which is always, at some level, formulated and operated collectively