Elaine Rabelo Neiva

Trabalho e riscos de adoecimento: um estudo entre policiais civis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perception of police officers in Brasilia regarding the context in which they work. Their demands and experiences, as well as physical, psychological and social disorders caused by their professional activities were analyzed. Inferences were made about mediation strategies used to prevent suffering and the risks of illnesses. The Inventory of Work and Illness Risks was answered by 160 police officers, both men and women, who recently joined the institution (average of eight months on the force). Results indicated that although serious damage to the health of new police officers was not evident, there are risks of flaws in mediation strategies regarding factors which lead to disorders.

Percepção de mudança organizacional: um estudo em uma organização pública brasileira

The organizational changes have been pointed out to be an imperative to the organizations nowadays, but its evaluation has been very complicated. The present study has the following objectives: a)measure organizational characteristics- organizational values and power considerations- before and after interventions accomplished in a Brazilian and public organization; investigate the organizational capacity for changes and attitudes towards the changes realized after the execution of interventions; investigate the individual and organizational changes realized after the interventions take place. The application of instruments has been carried out in two moments during a period of four years. According to data found, the organization passed through changes in its external image, in its outcomes and in its members professional competence development. The organization showed low capacity for changes and individual preponderance attitudes were accepted and feared when related to the changes. The cultural organizational characteristics such as organizational values and power relationships were kept stable.

Percepção dos funcionários sobre mudanças transacionais e transformacionais em uma organização pública

Transactional changes alter only certain aspects of the organization. Transformational changes are more radical, involving the organization as a whole. The existence of capacity factors for organizational change in an organization can influence the occurrence of these types of changes. Change occurrences can be hindered or enhanced due to some organizational capacity factors, including information flow, organizational strategy, coalition dynamics, turbulence in the external environment, group autonomy, bureaucracy and managerial practices. The present paper aims to appraise whether these factors influence or not the way individuals perceive transformational and transactional changes in an organization. The data (N=340) have been gathered from a number of questionnaires applied in a public organization that has undergone management changes and had some of its areas restructured. The Organizational Capacity Assessment Scales for Changes and the Change Perception Scale have also been used. The results point out that organizational strategy, coalition dynamics and communication flow (R2 = 0.35; p = 0.011) are predictors for Transformational Changes perception. As for Transactional Changes, group work (R = 0.16; p = 0.001) is barely considered a predictive factor. The relevance of this research is directed toward those who are responsible for the management process in public institutions.

Relação entre clima organizacional, percepção de mudança organizacional e satisfação do cliente

This study examines the relationships between organizational climate, perceptions of change and customer satisfaction in 170 units of a public service organization with operations throughout Brazil. Primary and secondary data were aggregated at the unit level using the technique of structural equation modeling. Models were tested with mediational and direct relationship between the variables. The results indicate that the perception of change mediates the relationship between organizational climate and customer satisfaction, the organizational climate has a direct relationship to customer satisfaction and employees perceive changes related to the organizational climate management.

Antecedentes de expectativas de carreira na organização

Considering the instability of the organizational world, the question of future career is increasingly attracting the attention of workers. This paper analyzed the infl uence of fi ve antecedent variables on the individuals’ expectations about their careers in the current organization. The antecedent variables were: gender, respondent’s organizational tenure, career position, obtainment of recent professional achievements and participation in career development programs. The study had three independent samples coming from a government agency (n=305), from a mixed-capital corporation (n=265) and from a set of organizations covering different sectors /segments of the economy (n=352). The career expectations were measured by the Career Expectations in the Organization Scale. The data indicated that individuals in managerial positions, participants of career development programs and professionals with recent professional achievements hold better career expectations. The effects of the other variables were small or nonexistent. In the discussion, the results were analyzed considering the contributions and limitations of the research.

Social networks of knowledge production in Brazilian psychology: comparing sub-areas

ABSTRACT The social processes underlying the production of scientific knowledge make it an inherently social endeavor. The interaction between systems of thought and affiliation has been subject of the sociology of science, with remarkable developments in studies on the structure of scientific fields based on social networks analysis. Although psychology is one of the pioneer fields investigated in this literature, there is scarcity of research on psychology. The objective of this paper is to describe the social networks’ dynamics of knowledge production in psychology in Brazil, comparing association patterns among its sub-areas. For this purpose, 395 researchers responded an electronic questionnaire about their relationships. Networks of nine psychology sub-areas were analyzed for structural properties (i.e. density, centrality) and relational exchanges (the connecting roles of boundary spanners and central connectors). Findings showed different structures and connectivity patterns between networks, but most of these areas configure as small worlds. Discussion explores implications of these findings for the production of knowledge within areas, and for the national production of psychological knowledge as a whole, with effects on the international projection of knowledge produced in Brazil.

ESCALA DE EXPECTATIVAS DE FUTURO ORGANIZACIONAL: DESENVOLVIMENTO E EVIDÊNCIAS DE VALIDADE

Em meio a um cenario de instabilidade na economia e no mundo organizacional, a relacao das organizacoes com o futuro ganhou especial atencao a partir das ultimas decadas do seculo XX. Tal atencao se reflete tanto no desenvolvimento de ferramentas/praticas de planejamento, estrategia e cenarios, quanto nas projecoes de futuro organizacional formuladas pelos profissionais (isto e, no nivel micro-organizacional). Partindo da literatura que aponta a importância dessas projecoes na relacao individuo-trabalho-organizacao, este estudo descreve o processo de desenvolvimento e fornece evidencias de validade da Escala de Expectativas de Futuro Organizacional (EEFO), instrumento que afere expectativas dos individuos sobre o futuro de suas respectivas organizacoes. Nesse sentido, tres estudos sao relatados. O primeiro estudo expoe uma pesquisa exploratoria ( n =75) com profissionais de varias organizacoes, cujos objetivos foram desvelar os atributos das expectativas de futuro organizacional e fundamentar a redacao dos itens. O segundo estudo descreve a analise fatorial exploratoria dos itens redigidos, utilizando nova amostra de profissionais de diversas organizacoes ( n =164). O terceiro estudo relata analise fatorial confirmatoria conduzida a partir de amostra independente em uma autarquia federal ( n =324). A versao final da EEFO contou com nove itens distribuidos em dois fatores: Efetividade Organizacional (cinco itens; ρ=0,92; α=0,92) e Gestao e Ambiente Organizacional (quatro itens; ρ=0,93; α=0,93), explicando mais de 70% da variância do construto. Na discussao, a estrutura fatorial da EEFO e analisada e ressalta-se seu papel como ferramenta de diagnostico para a gestao.

The Psychology of Entrepreneurship

The study of entrepreneurship is relevant because it is a core aspect to the development of a country. It could be considered the true propeller of economic development in a capitalist society. The various theoretical concepts about the entrepreneur have often generated different theoretical developments and empirical approaches. The constructs related to this topic can be investigated at the individual (entrepreneurial alertness, entrepreneurial intent) and organizational (entrepreneurial orientation) levels. Recently, the relevance of psychological contribution has been recognized considering that entrepreneurship is essentially personal and that is why this study focuses on the psychology of entrepreneurship. Some authors advocate that an entrepreneur is the person that starts a new organization and/or evaluates new opportunities to introduce new products, services, and processes. However, other academics consider this is a reductionist and limited concept because it does not reflect the broad meaning of the construct. In order to outline a national overview of studies on psychology of entrepreneurship, the main objectives of this work are to summarize the state-of-the-art regarding the construct, and to perform a bibliometric review comprising the empirical studies produced in first-line psychology journals (≥ Qualis CAPES B2) from 2006 to 2015, to highlight the Brazilian production and compare it with international literature on the subject. The analysis will allow the identification of the main advances in this field, the research gaps, and the proposition of a research agenda. Results are relevant because of their practical implications to managers and workers in general.

Social Network Analysis in Organizations as a Management Support Tool

The chapter will cover the intraorganizational network as a diagnostic to design interventions in the relationship, involving formal roles and exercised roles in the network of relationships, legitimate managers, reliable network, identification of actors who exert greater influence (power) on flow information, and paper central actors in organizational change processes (identification of key players as the core of influence to change). The chapter will also discuss the interdepartmental relations considering the flow of information between members, the flow of ideal versus actual work processes, and reference and counter-reference between departments. The formation of cohesive subgroups and the degree to which it generates confidence or cloistered in organizations whose parameters are relevant for comparison and diagnosis of intergroup relations. Regarding to interorganizational networks, the chapter discusses the degree of connection, the ability to respond to environmental changes, the partnerships in different sectors and the organization’s performance, and the nature of the organization and/or nature of the activity and its impact of interorganizational relations in performance. This chapter also discusses peers’ influence on management decisions within the corporate investment policies.

Innovation in Organizations: Main Research Results and Their Practical Implications

Innovation may refer to a new product or service, a new production process technology, a new structure or management system, or a new plan or program developed by the members of the organization. Among the various categories of innovation, three have drawn more attention from organizational scholars: managerial and technical, products and processes, and radical and incremental. This chapter aims to define innovation and discuss the key attributes associated with it, at the individual, group, and organizational levels. The association between culture and innovation is also discussed based on the results of major research in the field. Lastly, the chapter addresses the main drivers of innovation development and concludes with a discussion on the implications of such knowledge for the management of attributes associated with innovation. Implications for academics and managers are discussed, as well as directions on possible interventions.