Editorial

ID: 2315

Authors: Deborah Moraes Zoauin.

Source: Revista de Administração Pública, v. 43, n. 3, p. 539-540, May-June, 2009. 2 page(s).

Document type: Editorial (Portuguese)

The influence of the media and of the availability heuristic: an experimental study

ID: 2210

Authors: Gustavo Ciarelli, Marcos Avila.

Source: Revista de Administração Pública, v. 43, n. 3, p. 541-562, May-June, 2009. 22 page(s).

Keyword: judgment heuristics , media influence , risk perception

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

In our daily lives we use mental shortcuts — called heuristics — that help our decision-making process, making it easier and faster. In some cases, however, these same shortcuts can present a distorted view of reality. Foreign (non-Brazilian) empirical researches have shown that the media prefers to report on more dramatic and sensational events, and that this can have a decisive effect on the availability of certain events in our minds, twisting our perception of their probability and influencing our judgment. In spite of the importance of the matter, no study was found in Brazil trying to confirm the existence of influence of the news shown in the media, together with the judgment biases. The study presented in this article applied empirical tests in order to verify the hypothesis that the manner and frequency in which the media shows certain topics can influence the Brazilians’ perception of frequency and probability of some specific events. The results confirmed this hypothesis.

Mammograms in Mato Grosso do Sul: an analysis of coverage as an equity factor

ID: 2228

Authors: Emiliana Akiko Ko, Ana Rita Barbieri, Virginia Alonso Hortale.

Source: Revista de Administração Pública, v. 43, n. 3, p. 563-577, May-June, 2009. 15 page(s).

Keyword: access equity , health services coverage , mammogram

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This article analyzes mammogram coverage in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, in 2004, considering the differences between the regions and towns that prescribe and those that carry out the exam. The study used secondary data from all of the state’s 77 municipalities. Data collection and analysis had the following classification: towns that don’t have mammogram services and refer the women to another location to have their exams; towns that have mammogram services (reference towns) and carry out the exam. All three regions of the state were analyzed. The results show that: the offer is below the demand for the exam; the coverage is unequal for the different regions; the commitment to the terms of the Programmed and Integrated Pact fulfill the recommendations of the Breast Cancer Control Consensus. In only one region the exam coverage is uniform. The region with the highest concentration of mammogram machines has very unequal coverage.

The use of costs information in public health: a preliminary study in local health departments in the state of Santa Catarina

ID: 2245

Authors: André Graf de Almeida, José Alonso Borba, Luiz Carlos da Silva Flores.

Source: Revista de Administração Pública, v. 43, n. 3, p. 579-607, May-June, 2009. 29 page(s).

Keyword: cost accounting , public management , Unified Health System

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This article analyzes the use of costs information in decision-making by managers of the 20 local health departments in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Public managers profiles were assessed so as to verify whether they had the schooling and experience needed to produce ethical information on certain issues. The existence of costs systems in such departments was assessed through the managers’ perceptions of the use of costs information in the decision-making process, and which information is actually used. The methodology used was guided interviews, and the subjects were public employees withholding managing positions in local health departments. The goals of the study were reached as 18 local health departments in the state of Santa Catarina were assessed on their use of costs information. Results show that in spite of existing a legal requirement concerning the implementation of costs systems in public departments, only two local health departments actually have this advanced tool. In the remaining ones there are attempts to obtain more detailed costs data. However, according to the interviewees, costs information is definitely crucial when managing any department.

Organizational change in a Brazilian family business

ID: 2262

Authors: Mario Couto Soares Pinto, Cristina Lyra Couto-de-Souza.

Source: Revista de Administração Pública, v. 43, n. 3, p. 609-634, May-June, 2009. 26 page(s).

Keyword: change management , family business , organizational change

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This article assesses the effectiveness of management of the organizational change process and in a Brazilian family business in the healthcare sector. The business is undergoing a succession process and wants to improve its professional profile. The study consisted of a field research and a quality analysis that compared the data obtained and the concepts identified in a selected literature. Data was collected through informal interviews, analysis of the company’s documents and through participant observation, from July 2005 to January 2006. This article shows if the organizational change process has succeeded or not, also considering the model proposed by John P. Kotter for the efficient implementation of changes in organizations, comparing the eight-stage change process proposed by that author to what actually happened in the company. The analysis of the change process led to the conclusion that it was unsuccessful. It suggests that Kotter’s model is applicable to the situation studied since it shows that several stages mentioned by the author were not followed and this fact has caused problems in the organizational change process.

Public position filled by appointment in the Brazilian federal administration: an introduction to the study of public management organization from the organizational studies perspective

ID: 2279

Authors: Leonor Moreira Câmara.

Source: Revista de Administração Pública, v. 43, n. 3, p. 635-659, May-June, 2009. 25 page(s).

Keyword: organization , public administration , public position filled by appointment

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

The organization of the Brazilian federal public administration is seldom addressed by organizational studies (OS) research. The decision-making process is privileged, according to the tradition of functionalist operational research. However, managing is more complex than decision-making, which is included by it. Management level in Brazilian federal public administration is completely filled by appointment. This reality makes us understand management as an utterly political action, crystallized in the public administration organization. This article has a methodological perspective and demonstrates that public positions filled by appointment are central to the Brazilian federal public administration,. It also identifies practices and interactions of public management.

Institutional trajectory of a public research institute: the case of Ital after 1995

ID: 2296

Authors: Ana Elisa Brito Garcia, Sergio Luiz Monteiro Salles Filho.

Source: Revista de Administração Pública, v. 43, n. 3, p. 661-693, May-June, 2009. 33 page(s).

Keyword: institutional model , institutional trajectory , Ital , managerial model , organizational innovation , public research institute

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This article analyzes the organizational development of a public research institute, the Food Technology Institute (Ital), during a period of 10 years. It applies the case study methodology and, for the first time, the concepts of institutional and managerial models. The first concept emphasizes the evolution of the formal characteristics which allow any institution to carry out its social functions. On the other hand, the managerial model consists of two components, the mandatory one, which results from the institutional model, and the strategic one, which results from the methods developed to organize and to conduct the institutuion’s strategic decisions. The conclusion is that Ital’s main characteristic is to be a hybrid institution, because, although being a legal public institute of research, it has been managed as a highly innovative private enterprise in many aspects. In its institutional trajectory Ital has adopted a decentralized organization which has allowed it to deepen relations with the private sector and to increase the participation of non-government resources in its budget. The strategic component of its managerial model has greatly influenced Ital’s organizational development. However, its organizational model is beginning to show signs of fatigue, challengingr its continuity as a reference institution.

Statute of the City: epistemological, social political and legal aspects

ID: 2312

Authors: Sérgio Luís Boeira, Adriana Clara Bogo dos Santos, Alini Giseli dos Santos.

Source: Revista de Administração Pública, v. 43, n. 3, p. 695-712, May-June, 2009. 18 page(s).

Keyword: democratic-participative , paradigm of complexity , perspective , Statute of the City

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This article brings a contribution to the debate on the Statute of the City (SC), linking it to different approaches and underlying cleavages of the crisis of modernity. The article introduces relevant epistemological and theoretical aspects that have been neglected in this debate and briefly compares three specialized urban law approaches to articles of the SC, showing absence of consensus and the need for a comprehensive reflexion. To conclude, what is in dispute in the EC debate are the resources for the understanding of the challenges of its implementation, which involves especially three factors: the comparative approach to the views of urban law specialists; an inter and trans-disciplinary approach, with the contribution of the complexity paradigm; a democratic-participative perspective, with public policies oriented by the theories and experiences of the third way and the formation of social capital.

Crise e passivo institucional

ID: 2352

Authors: Jorge Vianna Monteiro.

Source: Revista de Administração Pública, v. 43, n. 3, p. 715-727, May-June, 2009. 13 page(s).

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract