Information Technologies (ICT), Network Organizations, and Information Systems for Business Cooperation

Information Technologies (ICT) have developed systems and network organizations that foster the creation of resources for company management. The establishment of strategic alliances and business cooperation systems has been encouraged by ICT and information systems management. This focus on organization and strategic knowledge management shows the capabilities they provide in managing organizations’ intangible assets, information and knowledge, since they are a competitive advantage. Network organizations, intercompany systems, cooperation, and alliances with the support of ICT are the paths to enterprises growth and development.

Interactive Generation Brazil Research

The contemporary hybridism has led new generations to a connected-based society in which relations among individuals are even more mediated by the arising Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Some aspects of these mediations need to be deeply understood since new and different usages, habits, and practices with media are being observed among those born since the nineties – the digital natives. Aiming to investigate this context, a study was carried out to better understand how children and teenagers interact with four screens: computers, TV, games, and mobile phones. From a quantitative methodological approach, data was collected using a survey applied in Brazilian schools. A theoretical framework on digital literacy concepts was used as base for two-layer of data analysis on these four media, and the results were organized in five topics that show the main outcomes. They can be the basis of further educational policies grounded in real diagnosis.

The Contribution of Information Science through Intellectual Property to Innovation in the Brazilian Health Sector

In response to the challenges of the 21st century, emerging countries have played an increasingly leading role in the global economy, and public health has been a notable feature of the government agendas in these countries. According to the IMF, Brazil is one of the countries with the greatest potential to stand out in this context. The quantity of research and development into technologies for drugs and medications is important for supporting innovation in the health sector. Information science can therefore help considerably in the analysis of patents, indicating trends, revealing opportunities for investors, and assisting the decision-taking process by private sector managers and government agents. This study is based on the extraction of valuable information contained in the hidden Web through technology foresight of products deemed strategic by the Brazilian Ministry of Heath, which are the target of public policies and investments by the state for domestic production.

Why Quality? Why Value? Is it Information Related to These Aspects?

Writing about information quality and value will always be challenging: how does one combine such concepts, so classically applied, debated, defined, and also related to a dynamic, fast-changing world? In this chapter, a first call for the study developed along this book is made. An initial approach about quality, value, and information is conducted in order to show the already defined conceptual bases and the possible relationship among them. Along with this discussion based on traditional approaches, a discussion is introduced motivating the reader to think about how this concept and its relationship perform today. It is the “rethinking” of the conceptual base, which is the final goal of this book that is initially provoked in the present chapter. To do so, first the traditional concept view is approached and some of the criticism and motivations to change its understanding is presented. In the end, with case studies, this new relationship is debated, opening the book development of the desired rethinking process.

Maintaining Organizational Viability and Performance

A certain state of an organization, in its strategic, tactical, and operational components results from a combination of elements that makes it a very complex entity. Its components should co-exist in a dynamic and constant balance, whose configuration must have flexible and adaptable reaction mechanisms. As processes increase in complexity, it becomes more difficult to manage an organization, almost in real time, in its many dimensions and configurations. It is therefore essential to identify, given its current complexity, how to guarantee holistic organizational adaptation, agent roles in configuration change, and also, how to design, organize, and manage an organization, in the resource domain, considering: 1) multiple restrictions, 2) critical needs of real time, and 3) various configurations. Using design and action research, this chapter proposes the concept of organizational configuration that, based on a macrogenesis capability, allows the creation and adaptation of transversal transformation mechanisms that, harnessing complexity, are able to maintain the necessary balance to guarantee viability and performance.

Actor Network Theory Applied to Organizational Change

There are various models proposed in the literature to analyze trajectories of enterprise change projects in terms of success and failure. Yet, only the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) perspective considers the interaction factors among network actors and actants. In 2009, with an initiative started in 2007, the Portuguese Air Force developed and carried on a Change project. The aim of this project was to obtain better information to support decision processes. This chapter proposes the ANT for approaching the Portuguese Air Force change process initiative as a case study. In doing so, it provides valuable insight in terms of both local and global actor networks, which surround the initiative.

The Value of Information and Information Services in Knowledge Society

The objective of this chapter is to analyze the concept of information value in terms of quality indicators of services and organizations in the 21st century. Based on the analysis of the evolution of the concept of inherent quality (internal, objective, or absolute) into perceived quality (external, subjective, or contingent), the authors argue that the quality of information depends very much on the concept of value, while individual judgment is analyzed in relation with use. They move from a system-oriented approach to a user-oriented approach and develop an analysis of the concept of value from a revisitation of Adam Smith's economic theory. Thus, the authors conclude that the bad or the good quality of information will be determined on the basis of its (in)ability to support useful decisions for the development of human beings and social organizations.

Information Value and Quality for the Health Sector

The approaches of information value and quality can be discussed in any area of activity. The health sector is one of them, and the scientific literature has always been seen as a valuable tool in patient care. A number of studies highlight the impact of scientific literature on clinical decision-making and patient care costs. An important part of the literature in question is a result of online literature searching. The PubMed database contains over 22 million citations for biomedical literature and is widely used. The author, therefore, present its main features and review the leading studies developed to evaluate the retrieved information and to find optimal search strategies. Finally, she presents a study in the specific area of critical care, describing the strategies used by a group of doctors and the retrieval results achieved on two different occasions.

Change and Information Value in Military Organizations’ Transformation Processes

The external environment to organizations is constantly changing; it is important that organizations adapt to the demands of the present day in order to get the best performance and benefit of their available resources. For this purpose there is the need to begin a process of change in the Portuguese Air Force. The aim of this project was to obtain better information to support decision processes aiming to increase self-awareness, agility, and flexibility of the organization by adapting information systems to strategy. The comparison of the methodology for its implementation on the ground with consolidated and verified theories of change is very important to analyze, in a systematic way, including all the relevant factors to its understanding, and it is also imperative to take into account success or failure issues. This chapter describes the change process, its contributions to improve the value of information, and the role of Academia through conceptual thinking reflected on the work done in master theses.

The Communication and Information Role on the Innovation Process Performance in the Collaborative Context

Services are at the center of economic activity, and the New Service Development (NSD) process has gained increased attention. Given the complexity involved in this NSD process, it can be carried out by the collaboration of a network of partner companies. In this way, it becomes increasingly relevant to understand the complex NSD process and how this process happens in the Collaborative Network context, contributing to understand how CNs can potentiate NSD process as well as which CN quality factors influence NSD success. This chapter was developed based on a literature review and case studies of four complex New Service Development (NSD) processes. The main objective of this chapter is to emphasize the importance that some CN quality factors, such as information and communication management quality, have along different process stages of innovation services and by consequence the final service success.