Antonio Rafael Namur Muscat

Seleção e alocação de recursos em portfólio de projetos: estudo de caso no setor químico

Among dozens or hundreds of alternatives, choosing those which should make up the projects portfolio of an organization and which priority level is a complex multi-criteria decision matter. This work aims to apply a management model of projects portfolio, using the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) method and an integrated integer program. Another purpose is to validate and evaluate the importance and use of the model to help the decision-making related to the selection, prioritization and balance of projects. Thus, such a model was applied to select and prioritize the projects of a company in the chemical sector, chosen as the unit of analysis. The different scenarios obtained from the decision-making model proposed were compared to the real scenario of the company. Since the author interacted in the companys decision-making not just as an observer, to carry out the study the research-action method was chosen, since it is the most suitable for the case. It could be noticed that the use of the model contributed first, to the strategic alignment of the projects, enabling the exchange of knowledge between the company representatives; secondly, it allows the simulation of strategic scenarios in real time, as well as verifying the impact of the projects portfolio; thirdly, it prioritizes the projects in a justifiable and structural manner through an established mathematical model; finally, it enables to allocate the resources based on priorities.

Modelo de aperfeiçoamento de processos em instituições públicas de ensino superior

Abstract: For the past two decades, the public sector has been under pressure for improving its performance and showing more transparency and assessment results. Historically, the Brazilian public sector has developed a departmental and bureaucratic structure, which makes it difficult to coordinate activities and reduces the efficiency and effectiveness of its services. In face of this reality, some institutions in the Brazilian public sector have searched for improvements in their modus operandi. In this context, the objective of the present paper is to propose a process improvement model for Brazilian Public Institutions of Undergraduate Education (PIUE) based on a multiple case study. Data were collected through direct observation, documental analysis, and semi-structured interviews. Considering that there are few academic studies on process improvement in the Brazilian public sector, the results obtained in this work bring contribution to theory since they enclose specific aspects of the public sector and their influence on improvement programs. Moreover, given the major need for improvement of the processes in this sector, the cases description and results analysis present practical application since they provide a base for future research.

Critical Gaps in Portfolio Management Implementation: A Brazilian Case Study

In the existing literature on portfolio one meets diverse approaches, referred to the techniques of classification, selection, prioritization and projects management. The main objective of this article is to investigate the practice of portfolio management in a Brazilian company, and to identify gaps and opportunities of improvement. The empiric research carried out for this work is of qualitative nature and it was conducted by the case study method. The case choice criteria have been the following ones: Brazilian Company with intensive capital and, nationally and internationally remarkable for its revenues, investment policies and its portfolio of projects. The selected company acts in the chemical and petrochemical segments with private and national capital. It has been collected 5 years data on the portfolio of projects of the referred organization, getting a picture of the sorts of the developed projects and their numbers, their characteristic results in terms of fulfilling their datelines and their budgets. The period of analyses was set so that it would allow a valuation of the outcome resulted from the decisions. It was possible to verify the practical application of the techniques proposed in the literature for the classification, the selection of the projects and the portfolio management. It was also possible to identify some critical variables for the implementation of the projects of the company in study, signaling that they are critical factors of success for implementations of projects in Brazil. For the found problems, the present work proposes solutions to be confirmed in future studies

Ajuste e balanceamento do portfólio de projetos: o caso de uma empresa do setor químico

Abstract This article aims to understand the adjustment stage of project portfolio management, highlighting its relationship with the processes of categorization and balancing. It is a qualitative research. The longitudinal case study approach was adopted. The research was carried out in a Brazilian chemical company. Several sources of evidence were collected through interviews, documents and data from the enterprise’s systems. Data from 1,000 projects between 2001 and 2005 were collected and analyzed in order to understand the project portfolio. The results indicated that more attention is given to the selection stage, neglecting the adjustment stage. The adoption of balancing tools showed gaps and sources of imbalance in the project portfolio, promoting discussion among decision makers regarding the bias introduced by the criteria in the selection stage and raising the need to introduce systematic adjustment and balance. It was possible to observe that without a proper project categorization, it would be difficult to promote the balancing analysis.

Process management in the public sector: A Brazilian case study

In the last decades, the public sector has been under pressure for improving its performance and showing more transparency and assessment of results. Historically, the Brazilian public sector has developed a departmental and bureaucratic structure, which makes difficult the activity coordination and service efficiency and efficacy. In this scenario, process management provides an alternative to the static and fragmented structure of organization, with a systemic vision, focused on the customer or citizen. Additionally, process management emphasizes process improvement, reached by information technology implementation and technology changes. Thus, process management and technology management are interdependent. In this context, the objective of this work is to present the adoption of process management and expose the usefulness of information technology to support operations and measure performance indicators, in a centenary Public Institution of Undergraduate Education (PIUE), during a project of administrative process improvement. The methodology used was the case study, with qualitative and quantitative approach. The results obtained, measured by performance indicators, were very satisfactory, since the studied process has reached significant improvement with respect to throughput time and quality of output. Moreover, given the major need for improvement of the processes of the public sector, the case description and the analysis of the results present evident practical application, providing a base for future work.

O impacto de fatores críticos de sucesso e da maturidade em gerenciamento de projetos no desempenho: um levantamento com empresas brasileiras

This paper analyzes the relationships of two critical success factors (top management support and the presence of the project manager) to the success of executed projects as well the relationship between organizational maturity in project management and project success. These relationships were tested using a set of success indicators known as the “iron triangle” that involve compliance with budgeting, scheduling and quality (product/service requirements and customer needs). To test the hypotheses, this research adopted a quantitative approach with a survey of 336 project management professionals in metropolitan Sao Paulo. Statistically significant relationships were identified between project success and critical success factors and between project success and project management maturity. Project management maturity was the variable that was most related to project success.

Revisando a logística de distribuição de álcool etílico

Este estudo mostra a vantagem economica da distribuicao descentralizada de alcool etilico, diretamente a partir das usinas produtoras, contra a politica usualmente utilizada de distribuicao de varios produtos (alcool, gasolina e oleo diesel) com o intermedio de bases de distribuicao. A analise de investimentos utilizou um modelo de distribuicao baseado em programacao linear para avaliar os custos logisticos. Os resultados quantitativos do estudo influenciaram o cliente do estudo (um dos produtores de alcool) a iniciar esforcos para que o governo brasileiro alterasse as regulamentacoes restritivas, o que foi feito em julho de 1993.