Robson Quinello

Exogenous Factors in the Development of Flexible Fuel Cars as a Local Dominant Technology

With flexible fuel technology, customers can choose among gasoline, ethanol, or any mix thereof at the fuel station pump. This paper presents the endogenous and exogenous factors that influnced the development of a flexible fuel electronic injection system by Magneti Marelli Automotive Systems Brazil – the first to the market. This software-based technological architecture, launched commercially in 2003, is now the dominant flexfuel design in the Brazilian market. This article documents the emergence of a local dominant technology (design) in a specific car sub-system. It is shown how exogenous institutional factors played the major role in this process. The paper describes how this local dominant technological design emerged through the sharing of capabilities and interaction among the key market players, in the absence of a strong appropriability regime. All the main market pioneers were multinational affiliates, inviting questions concerning this technology diffusion outside Brazil.

Inteligência competitiva nos departamentos de manutenção industrial no Brasil

As atividades de manutencao industrial, geralmente, eram consideradas como um mal necessario as organizacoes. Esta imagem necessita mudar no Brasil, pois o setor faz parte da cadeia de valores das empresas, e responsavel pela manutencao da confiabilidade e disponibilidade dos equipamentos e e o gerador de parte expressiva dos custos das empresas. Essa responsabilidade aumenta num pais onde a capacidade produtiva esta no limite, exigindo esforcos extras e onde as crescentes pressoes por reducoes dos custos e restricoes tecnicas e humanas, nas organizacoes, pedem mudancas de paradigmas. O presente estudo teve por finalidade mapear os principais canais de captacao da informacao utilizados pelos profissionais da manutencao industrial brasileira, demonstrando que o uso sistematico da Inteligencia Competitiva pode trazer saltos tecnologicos e ganho de vantagem competitiva. Para isso, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa exploratoria, utilizando como instrumentos de pesquisa o metodo Delphi, entrevistas com profissionais da area e delineamento experimental de sistematizacao da I.C- Inteligencia Competitiva em um departamento-piloto do setor automotivo. Os resultados mostraram a utilizacao de fontes formais e informais em diferentes frequencias de acesso e a fragilidade destes departamentos no uso nao-sistematico de I.C, comprometendo os desafios supracitados.

PROPOSTA DE ANÁLISE DAS RESTRIÇÕES E DAS OPORTUNIDADES LOGÍSTICAS EM PORTO LOCALIZADO NO LESTE DA ÁFRICA: NOTAS DE MISSÃO TÉCNICA

The logistics went over the century, as noted by Goncalves (2007), from a fragmented and diluted within and value of organizations profile to a critical role in the strategy of the networks and chains of international business. For the twenty-first century, as will be seen in this article, logistics goes beyond these functions going to represent a social and political role in international relations between countries. The installation of a port located in East Africa near the Red Sea, the critical incident will be reviewed during a technical mission undertaken by a researcher in 2009. This research field, in the form of checklist, appoint the main barriers in infrastructure, information, rules and norms. The results indicate critical constraints of infrastructure and institutional opportunities that impact the implementation of new developments there. We will show that the progressive development of organizational arrangement to a complex undertaking, such as ports, can be key role in reversing the condition of misery and poverty in African countries. Key-words: Logistics. Ports. Supply Chain. Global Operations. Africa. Proposal for review of restrictions and logistic opportunities in an east African Port Proposta de analise das restricoes e das oportunidades logisticas em porto localizado no leste da Africa Future Studies Research Journal ISSN 2175-5825 Sao Paulo, v. 2, n. 1, pp. 156 174, Jan./jun. 2010

The case of Magneti Marelli Brasil: Endogenous and exogenous factors in local dominant technology development

Countries and automotive companies are searching for ways to reduce vehicle dependence on oil and its environmental impacts. Hybrid engines, as well as hydrogen, natural gas, alcohol, and other fuels, have been proposed and tested as options to the currently dominant gasoline paradigm. Through a case study, this paper presents the endogenous and exogenous factors that allowed Magneti Marelli Sistemas Automotivos (Brasil) to develop a flexfuel technology architecture, launched commercially in 2003, with which customers can choose gasoline, alcohol, or any mix thereof. This software-based technological architecture is now the dominant flexfuel design in the Brazilian auto market. The main contribution of this article is thus to document the emergence of a local dominant design in a specific car sub-system. The paper describes how a local dominant technological design emerges through the sharing of capabilities and interaction among the key market players (suppliers of flexfuel technology, automakers, and alcohol producers) and the Brazilian governments Pró-Álcool program. Another contribution is the tentative idea of a local dominant design/technology.