The systemic dimension of operational decision in complex systems work

This paper refers to some of my research findings on Decision Making processes in complex systems work. Starting as a complex cognitive process strongly contextualized in the operating environment, it ends up, in complex systems work, as an equally complex network of actors and systems (human and technological) that are confronted, in real time, with uncertainty , a large amount of information and feedback and with multiple standards and operating procedures...Complex systems work; Operational Decision; Mental Model; Situational awareness; Systemic decision

Unionism: the end of a balanced power?

Departing from a stable industrial relationship, supported by logic of economic massification and the correspondent legal framework, it is our objective to approach the new industrial relations environment, emerging from the modifications on the enterprise organisation models, towards the new challenges they are facing by the end of the 20th century, while unions have not been able to follow this evolution and maintain, in most of the cases, a tipical Wellfare State like behaviour. The paradigm of the enterprise as the labour conflict environment by excellence seems to be overshot and the moment has come to find new social understanding, based on a labour relationship more adequate to a changing society. In this paper, we deal with the factors we believe to be more significant for the understanding of new management concepts and of the subjacent labour relations, with particular emphasis to the new unionism opportunities.Unionism; Labour Relations; Labour law; Cooperative Management

Cognitive Automation, Operational Decision and Human Error

The new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) while allowing for real time data collection, distribution and processing, contribute to the establishment of new working environments, where the increasing automation of different tasks, ultimately become a determining factor in the development and implementation of highly flexible and dynamic production systems in terms of its adaptability to unstable and unpredictable environments. These structures have a high degree of systemic complexity, as opposed to traditional production systems, based on a deterministic logic of mass production that only require, in its modelling, the exact determination, evaluation and integration of their main parameters and variables. This flexible structures, may evolve from structurally complex systems to behavioury complex ones, showing a transition capability to evolve through different stages of evolution, as is often the case in multi-product multi-process production systems, whre many of phases and / or operations along with thousands of components, make it impossible to assess in a consistent manner at a certaim m moment, its dynamic at moment m+1. New paradigm is thus a paradigm of complexification, from strategic management and operational structure to the productive process, revealing decision-making equally as a complex process at different levels, where the learning component assumes an increasingly decisive role. In this essay, I discuss the decision-making process, proposing a reflection on the problem of automation and the resulting cognitive legitimacy of questioning the nature of the operational “Human Error” in complex environments.ICT, Cognitive Automation, Decision Making, Human Error, Human Factors

Is there a Technological Determinism in Complex Work Systems? The Air Traffic Control Case

This is a brief reflection on complex work systems automation, studying the Air Traffic Control Services. We study the compatibility of air traffic control systems automation against the necessary preservation of human nature complexity and the social integration of individuals, through a contribution to a less mechanical and more creative social work.complex systems automation; cognitive automation; human factors; technological factors;system design

Sindicalismo: o fim do contra poder?

Departing from a stable industrial relationship, supported by logic of economic massification and the correspondent legal framework, it is our objective to approach the new industrial relations environment, emerging from the modifications on the enterprise organisation models, towards the new challenges they are facing by the end of the 20th century, while unions have not been able to follow this evolution and maintain, in most of the cases, a tipical Wellfare State like behaviour. The paradigm of the enterprise as the labour conflict environment by excellence seems to be overshot and the moment has come to find new social understanding, based on a labour relationship more adequate to a changing society. In this paper, we deal with the factors we believe to be more significant for the understanding of new management concepts and of the subjacent labour relations, with particular emphasis to the new unionism opportunities

The systemic dimension of operational decision in complex systems work

This paper refers to some of my research findings on Decision Making processes in complex systems work. Starting as a complex cognitive process strongly contextualized in the operating environment, it ends up, in complex systems work, as an equally complex network of actors and systems (human and technological) that are confronted, in real time, with uncertainty , a large amount of information and feedback and with multiple standards and operating procedures..

Factor Humano ou Factor Tecnológico? O Caso dos Serviços de Controlo de Tráfego Aéreo

Desenvolvendo-se inicialmente como um serviço de apoio à navegação aérea, no alvorecer da aviação civil, os serviços de Controlo de Tráfego Aéreo passaram - no contexto do sistema operacional - por um período de dependência total da componente Humana , isto é, das capacidades cognitivas e de destreza dos controladores de tráfego aéreo (CTAs). Estes, eram então os únicos responsáveis pela interpretação do cenário operacional, a partir da informação disponibilizada quer exclusivamente através de comunicações rádio com as diferentes tripulações (controlo convencional) quer com o suporte da informação posicional de cada aeronave derivada do processamento radar (controlo radar). O final dos anos 1980 e toda a década de 1990 assistiu a um enorme desenvolvimento no campo das tecnologias de informação e comunicação (TIC) as quais se têm revelado, no sector aeronáutico, o suporte da implementação no solo e a bordo das aeronaves, de novos meios de apoio (facilidades) e de novas técnicas operacionais, tendentes ao estabelecimento de uma utilização cada vez mais racional do espaço aéreo. Esta comunicação focaliza-se na problemática da importância da componente Humana (cognitiva), nomeadamente no que se refere à tomada de decisão em sistemas complexos de produção. Estaremos em presença de uma nova era do relacionamento Homem/Máquina? Ou deveremos redefinir os objectivos dos serviços de controlo de tráfego aéreo, numa perspectiva de racionalidade tecnologicamente dependente? Será possível substituir tecnologicamente a cognição Humana? Podem os CTAs decidir livremente? Finalmente propõe-se uma reflexão relativamente aos dilemas e constrangimentos de natureza sócio-profissional, que emergem de uma evolução no sentido da automatização e consequente padronização global da organização e do ambiente de trabalho

Errar ainda é Humano?

The new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) while allowing for real time data collection, distribution and processing, contribute to the establishment of new working environments, where the increasing automation of different tasks, ultimately become a determining factor in the development and implementation of highly flexible and dynamic production systems in terms of its adaptability to unstable and unpredictable environments. These structures have a high degree of systemic complexity, as opposed to traditional production systems, based on a deterministic logic of mass production that only require, in its modelling, the exact determination, evaluation and integration of their main parameters and variables. This flexible structures, may evolve from structurally complex systems to behavioury complex ones, showing a transition capability to evolve through different stages of evolution, as is often the case in multi-product multi-process production systems, whre many of phases and / or operations along with thousands of components, make it impossible to assess in a consistent manner at a certaim m moment, its dynamic at moment m+1. New paradigm is thus a paradigm of complexification, from strategic management and operational structure to the productive process, revealing decision-making equally as a complex process at different levels, where the learning component assumes an increasingly decisive role. In this essay, I discuss the decision-making process, proposing a reflection on the problem of automation and the resulting cognitive legitimacy of questioning the nature of the operational “Human Error” in complex environments

Sindicalismo: o fim do contra poder?

Departing from a stable industrial relationship, supported by logic of economic massification and the correspondent legal framework, it is our objective to approach the new industrial relations environment, emerging from the modifications on the enterprise organisation models, towards the new challenges they are facing by the end of the 20th century, while unions have not been able to follow this evolution and maintain, in most of the cases, a tipical Wellfare State like behaviour. The paradigm of the enterprise as the labour conflict environment by excellence seems to be overshot and the moment has come to find new social understanding, based on a labour relationship more adequate to a changing society. In this paper, we deal with the factors we believe to be more significant for the understanding of new management concepts and of the subjacent labour relations, with particular emphasis to the new unionism opportunities

Controlo de Tráfego Aéreo. Existe um Determinismo Tecnológico?

This is a brief reflection on complex work systems automation, studying the Air Traffic Control Services. We study the compatibility of air traffic control systems automation against the necessary preservation of human nature complexity and the social integration of individuals, through a contribution to a less mechanical and more creative social work