Fixing the Payment System at Alvalade XXI

In August 2003, while many Europeans were heading to the beaches to mitigate the effects of the worst heat wave on record, José Eduardo Sampaio, the CEO of Casa XXI, was faced with another kind of heat. Cartão 21, the innovative payment system of Casa XXI that he had personally conceived and subcontracted, had dramatically failed on August 6th during the high-visibility inauguration of Alvalade XXI, the newly built football stadium of the Sporting Club of Portugal. Casa XXI had been granted the rights to exploit all the bars and restaurants in the stadium. Based on pre-paid cards, the new payment system was supposed to make bar operations more efficient by eliminating the use of cash. In addition, the system was supposed to give Casa XXI an image of innovation and modernity enhanced also by all the free publicity it received in recent newspapers articles covering the inauguration. The failure of the system represented not only a significant financial loss for Casa XXI but also an embarrassment for the Sporting Football Club as well as a major blow to the reputation of Casa XXI and to the credibility of José Eduardo, himself a former football player. José Eduardo was quick to point the finger at Meag, the company with whom he had contracted to design and implement the system. But José Almeida, Meag’s manager, claimed that the system worked fine. In his opinion, the nature of the problem was organizational. He believed the mishap had to with the late activation and distribution of the cards, as well as the lack of training of the bar staff; and these were responsibilities of Casa XXI, not his. But it was difficult to know what went wrong and whom to blame. In reality, the system had never been fully deployed and tested before the event. The construction of the stadium had been completed just a few days before the inauguration, and neither Casa XXI nor Meag had prior access to the stadium. Thus, nobody knew whether the installed configuration actually worked. With such uncertainty and the next match just days away, José Eduardo demanded a comprehensive system test. By the end of August, Meag conducted such a test in the presence of Casa XXI’s management team. The results were discouraging: the system failed to operate properly. Casa XXI lost faith in both the system and the supplier

Dangerous Champions of IT Innovation

We define dangerous IT innovation champions, and explore evidence of their dangerous behavior, answering calls for studies of dysfunctional or ineffective innovation champions. An IT innovation champion – whether from the middle or high ranks of an organization -- is a self-appointed advocate of an emerging hardware, software or data innovation. The champion promotes their views both vertically and horizontally. In most prior studies, champions are seen as heroes who drive projects forward through strong advocacy and by marshaling resources. Yet, IT champions can also put projects or their organizations at financial, reputational or other risk. We reflect on dangerous high-level IT innovation champions revealed in field-based case studies, and discuss implications for research and practice

Conceptualizing Workarounds: Meanings and Manifestations in Information Systems Research

We reviewed papers in core IS outlets that defined the term workaround or presented an example of a workaround. In the analysis, we used Ogden and Richard’s triangle of reference as a theoretical framework to analyze the relationship between 1) the term workaround; 2) theories, definitions, and use of the term; and 3) their empirical basis and empirical workaround behavior that the papers describe. First, we summarize the existing theoretical insights regarding workarounds and investigate their validity. Second, we show that studies have defined and used the term workaround differently to the extent that they have not always applied it to the same empirical phenomena, which raises questions about some theoretical insights’ validity. Third, we suggest a definition for workarounds that we inductively derived from empirical accounts of workaround behavior and, therefore, that adequately describes how researchers commonly use the term and makes it possible to distinguish workarounds from other similar phenomena

A look into the Past, Embracing the Future

UID/HIS/04209/2019The International Multidisciplinary Congress - Web of Knowledge: A look into the Past, embracing the Future was held by IHC-CEHFCi, HERCULES Laboratory and CIDEHUS, University of Évora and took place in Évora, Portugal, from 17 to 19 May 2018.1 The Congress brought together researchers and scientists from different backgrounds intersecting the Exact Sciences with the Social Sciences revealing the visible and invisible networks. By fostering the exchange of knowledge and experiences in the study of the past, the Congress laid the framework for the present day science on which to map the future Web of Knowledge. A high-quality scientific programme was prepared, joining together experts from different fields covering a wide range of topics from Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities to Science and Technology. As a result of the quality of the panels and debates, the Organizing Committee decided to publish a digital and open access volume with blind peer-reviewed papers. This volume publishes a total of thirty-five contributions which reflect the innovative and multidisciplinary research occurring at the moment in different fields of knowledge, promoting visibility and networks of knowledge.publishersversionpublishe

Web of Knowledge: A look into the Past, Embracing the Future

The International Multidisciplinary Congress - Web of Knowledge: A look into the Past, embracing the Future was held by IHC-CEHFCi, HERCULES Laboratory and CIDEHUS, University of Évora and took place in Évora, Portugal, from 17 to 19 May 2018.1 The Congress brought together researchers and scientists from different backgrounds intersecting the Exact Sciences with the Social Sciences revealing the visible and invisible networks. By fostering the exchange of knowledge and experiences in the study of the past, the Congress laid the framework for the present day science on which to map the future Web of Knowledge. A high-quality scientific programme was prepared, joining together experts from different fields covering a wide range of topics from Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities to Science and Technology. As a result of the quality of the panels and debates, the Organizing Committee decided to publish a digital and open access volume with blind peer-reviewed papers. This volume publishes a total of thirty-five contributions which reflect the innovative and multidisciplinary research occurring at the moment in different fields of knowledge, promoting visibility and networks of knowledge.Câmara Municipal de Évora, FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologi

Refracted Governmentality: Space, Politics and Social Structure in Contemporary Luanda

My thesis argues that political authority produces very particular regimes of informality. The description of the city of Luanda that I undertake is concerned with explaining the process of political transformation. The city of Luanda was mostly built during colonialism to spatially accommodate extant race and class divisions. The million or more Angolans who occupied those differentiated spaces in the aftermath of independence challenged the colonial distribution of space. I explain the recent transformation that the city has undergone by focusing less on the theory and practice of urban planning, and more on the inscription and influence of political patronage onto space. Political power, then, has been a force in the spatial transformation of Luanda. These developments have taken place against backdrop of a very particular politico-economic structure, which has two consequences that I explore in the remainder of the dissertation. The first one concerns the disjuncture in formal terms of the relationship between the state and society. As one of the second largest oil producing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria, the Angolan government is not dependent on the population for the extraction of tax resources. Consequently, the government is not only unaccountable to the population and civil society, but by being out of joints with large swaths of the population forces most Angolans to reproduce themselves beyond any formal intervention of the state. The second consequence can be seen in the informal links between rulers and the ruled which are sustained by other institutions of intermediation, such as the ruling party, but even more importantly the family. In post-socialist and neo-liberal Angola, family is no longer the domain of private relationships. Family has come to signify the intermediation between the state and society. For affluent Angolans, family ties to the political elite allow them to share the distribution of national resources. For poor Angolans, family is the unit of production by means of which ends can be met

The aesthetic of Lisbon: Writing and practices during the early 20th century

[eng] This study tries to tackle the notion of “urban aesthetics” as it was articulated throughout the first three decades of the 20th century in Portuguese writing on the city, and practised in different forms of spatial production. A diffuse vocabulary – estética urbana, estética citadina, estética da cidade, das edificações, da rua… – signals a persistent understanding of the city as a work of art, both in the way it was experienced – an “urban aesthetic” – and contrived – an “urban aesthetics.” The general ambition of this study is to give visibility to and to reconstruct the conditions of legibility of this set of writings and practices which responded to the once alluring call of the aesthetic. The territory elected to trace the conceptual and practical unravelling of these ideas – so intricately linked to the particularities of place – is Lisbon. In this city, the topic becomes almost unavoidable in writings on urban presents and futures after 1900. Aesthetic arguments were consistently and insistently employed to critically describe urban beauty or, more frequently, urban ugliness, to advocate aesthetic improvement and to justify or criticize concrete ideas and projects. This phenomenon is studied against a background of intense international exchange during this formative phase of the modern planning disciplines, from Town and City Planning to Städtebau and Urbanisme. Aesthetic considerations were manifestly present, and it is argued that aesthetic discourse in Lisbon signals the reception of internationally circulating ideas, words, images and people. More precisely, this study proceeds to a kind of archaeology of the gaze and discourse of “urban aesthetics,” studying the functions it performed within different social, cultural and political contexts and the relations and tensions with relevant urban realities which pervaded it. One conclusion is that the notion of an “urban aesthetics” remained ill-defined, a common place relying on shared adversity to the modern urban landscape rather than any explicit program or solution. Subsequently, the assimilation by municipal regulation and institutions of public demands of “aesthetic supervision” is reconstructed. The four years of municipal council activity of the architect Miguel Ventura Terra, from 1908 to 1913, were crucial in this tentative articulation of actual practices of aesthetic control and urban design, even if along the subsequent decades they were never given the desired legal and institutional breath. Finally, during the 1930s the vocabulary of “urban aesthetics” was appropriated by a new generation of architects, urban planners and politicians and put at the service of the urban ideals of a dictatorial New State, signalling the persistence of aesthetic considerations in the local institution of the discipline of planning. An epilogue proposes that the viewpoint of urban aesthetics can contribute to new perspectives over the production and experience of Lisbon during the first decades of the 20th century.[spa] ciudad y los diferentes modos de hacer cuidad durante las primeras tres décadas del siglo XX. Un copioso vocabulario – estética urbana, estética citadina, estética da cidade, das edificações, da rua… – señala un entendimiento persistente de la ciudad experimentada y deseada como obra de arte. La aspiración global de la investigación es dar visibilidad y reconstruir las condiciones de legibilidad a este conjunto de escritos y prácticas que respondían a la llamada antes atractiva del estético. Lisboa es el territorio elegido para rastrear su enredo conceptual y material. Sobre todo a partir de 1900 el tema se http://diposit.ub.edu/dspace/password-loginvuelve una parada casi obligatoria en escritos sobre el presente y futuro de la ciudad. El uso de argumentos de carácter estético para describir críticamente la belleza o, más comúnmente, la fealdad urbana, para promover mejoras estéticas o para justificar o criticar ideas y proyectos concretos era consistente e insistente. En el trasfondo se apunta el cerrado intercambio internacional durante la formación de las modernas disciplinas urbanísticas, de la Town and City Planning a la Städtebau y el Urbanisme. Dentro del horizonte disciplinar, las consideraciones estéticas tenían lugar relevante, y el desarrollo de la “estética urbana” en Lisboa es interpretado como manifestación de la recepción de ideas, palabras, imágenes y personas que circulaban internacionalmente. Asimismo, se propone una especie de arqueología de la mirada y del discurso de la “estética urbana,” estudiando las funciones que la noción ejercía en distintos contextos sociales, culturales y políticos y las relaciones y tensiones que nacían del embate con realidades urbanas relevantes. Una de las conclusiones es que la noción de “estética urbana” apenas se definía; era un lugar común que se alimentaba más de la hostilidad compartida ante el moderno paisaje urbano que de un programa o solución explícito. Por otro lado, se indaga como las exigencias de la opinión pública de “supervisión estética” eran asimiladas o no en ordenanzas e instituciones municipales o nacionales. Los cuatro años en los que el arquitecto Miguel Ventura Terra integró el ayuntamiento de la ciudad, de 1908 a 1913, resultan decisivos en el pretendido despliegue de prácticas eficaces de controlo estético y diseño urbano, incluso cuando no recibieron la deseada amplitud legal e institucional durante las dos décadas siguientes. Después de 1926 el vocabulario de la “estética urbana” fue, por ende, apropiado por una nueva generación de arquitectos, urbanistas y políticos y puesta al servicio de los ideales urbanos de la dictadura del Estado Novo, sugiriendo que motivos estéticos persistan en la constitución de la moderna disciplina urbanística. Un epílogo propone que la mirada hacia y desde la estética urbana puede contribuir a esbozar nuevas perspectivas sobre la producción y experiencia de la ciudad de Lisboa durante las primeras décadas del siglo XX.[por] Este estudo aborda a noção de “estética urbana” ou “da cidade,” tal como foi formulada durante as primeiras três décadas do século XX em escritos sobre a cidade, e praticada em diferentes formas de produção de espaço. Um profuso vocabulário – estética urbana, estética citadina, estética da cidade, das edificações, da rua… – assinala um entendimento persistente da cidade experimentada e desejada como obra de arte. A ambição global deste estudo é a de dar visibilidade a e reconstruir as condições de legibilidade deste conjunto de escritos e práticas que respondiam ao apelo outrora tentador do estético. O território elegido para rastrear a trama conceptual e prática destas ideias – tão intrincadamente ligadas às especificidades do lugar – é Lisboa. Sobretudo a partir de 1900 o tema torna-se passagem quase obrigatória em escritos sobre o presente e o futuro da cidade. Argumentos de carácter estético eram mobilizados de forma consistente e insistente para descrever criticamente a beleza e, mais comummente, a fealdade urbanas, para promover “embelezamentos” e para justificar ou criticar ideias e projectos concretos. Este fenómeno é visto contra o fundo de um denso intercâmbio internacional durante a formação das modernas disciplinas urbanísticas, da Town and City Planning à Städtebau e ao Urbanisme. Neste panorama, considerações estéticas marcavam presença, e o florescimento da “estética urbana” em Lisboa é entendida como sintoma da recepção desta circulação internacional de ideias, palavras, imagens e pessoas. Mais especificamente, este estudo propõe uma espécie de arqueologia do olhar e do discurso da “estética urbana,” estudando as funções desempenhadas por este termo em diferentes contextos sociais, culturais e políticos e as relações e tensões que nasciam do seu confronto com realidades urbanas relevantes. Uma conclusão é que a noção de “estética urbana” ficou por definir; era um lugar comum que dependia mais de uma animosidade partilhada perante a moderna paisagem urbana do que um programa ou solução explícita. De seguida, a assimilação (e não-assimilação) das exigências públicas de “supervisão estética” em regulamentos e instituições municipais ou nacionais é rastreada. Os quatro anos em que o arquitecto Miguel Ventura Terra foi vereador da cidade, entre 1908 e 1913, revelam-se cruciais nesta tentativa de articular práticas efectivas de controlo estético e desenho urbano, mesmo se durante as duas décadas subsequentes estas nunca receberam a desejada abrangência legal e institucional. A partir de 1926 o vocabulário da “estética urbana” foi apropriado por uma nova geração de arquitectos, urbanistas e políticos, e posto ao serviço dos ideais urbanos da ditadura do Estado Novo, sinalizando a persistência de motivos estéticos na constituição da moderna disciplina urbanística. Um epílogo propõe que o olhar para e desde a estética urbana pode contribuir a trazer novas perspectivas sobre a produção e experiência da cidade de Lisboa durante as primeiras décadas do século XX

History of Construction Cultures Volume 1

History of Construction Cultures Volume 1 contains papers presented at the 7ICCH – Seventh International Congress on Construction History, held at the Lisbon School of Architecture, Portugal, from 12 to 16 July, 2021. The conference has been organized by the Lisbon School of Architecture (FAUL), NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities, the Portuguese Society for Construction History Studies and the University of the Azores. The contributions cover the wide interdisciplinary spectrum of Construction History and consist on the most recent advances in theory and practical case studies analysis, following themes such as: - epistemological issues; - building actors; - building materials; - building machines, tools and equipment; - construction processes; - building services and techniques ; -structural theory and analysis ; - political, social and economic aspects; - knowledge transfer and cultural translation of construction cultures. Furthermore, papers presented at thematic sessions aim at covering important problematics, historical periods and different regions of the globe, opening new directions for Construction History research. We are what we build and how we build; thus, the study of Construction History is now more than ever at the centre of current debates as to the shape of a sustainable future for humankind. Therefore, History of Construction Cultures is a critical and indispensable work to expand our understanding of the ways in which everyday building activities have been perceived and experienced in different cultures, from ancient times to our century and all over the world

Integration(s) and resistance : governments, capital, social organisations and movements, and the arrival of 'foreign immigrants' in Barcelona and Lisbon

In a context characterised by the shift from fordism to post-fordism in the Iberian peninsula, this thesis addresses the following question how are capital, governments and social movements organised in the processes of integration and resistance that affect foreign immigration' in Barcelona and Lisbon? Thus, in the first chapter, an analysis of the concept of "integration" is undertaken in order to understand the complexities and elusiveness that hide behind it, giving special attention to immigrants' integration literature. A distinction between systemic integration and social integration is adopted, and thus in the second chapter recent theorisation on capital and the state (i. e. systemic institutions) is approached, while in the third chapter social movements and organisations are taken into account. In chapter four epistemological and methodological elements are noted. The last three chapters are devoted to analyse original fieldwork data (mainly qualitative interviews): chapter 6 analyses immigration governmental policies at European, 'national-state', 'national-regional', and local levels; chapter 7 studies social and capital organisations in Barcelona in relation to 'foreign immigration'; and in chapter 8 social and capital organisations are studied in relation to 'foreign immigration' in Lisbon. Finally, some conclusions are revealed whilst other questions are posed