No abstract

PurposePaternalism in labour relationships is characteristic of Chilean and Latin American firms. Despite its empirical and practical relevance it lacks adequate conceptual elaboration so that it remains an opaque real drive that cannot be managed. This paper seeks to propose some conceptual distinctions to help clarify its meaning.Design/methodology/approachUsing the social systems theory of Niklas Luhmann, paternalism is analysed as semantics which makes three main aspects visible: interests, autonomous decisions and responsibility that are seen as different sources of risk and danger for the workers. Paternalism is allegedly a protective device.FindingsPaternalism is reinforced and reproduced by distrust in the workers' capacities to make decisions on their own and it becomes a justification to keep wages low, hinder delegation and becomes an ideology that justifies gaps between productivity and compensation.Research limitations/implicationsPaternalism is difficult to operationalize in order to make empirical observations, but through qualitative analysis we were able to characterize it with two examples. This will help empirical research to continue on a more appropriate conceptual basis.Practical implicationsHRM practices should consider that paternalism is present as an expectation and that management should know that it can also pervade administration despite its modernized appearance.Originality/valueSince paternalism pervades expectations in opaque ways, it sets limits to management's capacities to administer human resources in a modern way. Awareness of this fact allows its comprehension and the ability to properly deal with it.

The purpose of this work is to contribute to understanding of the new scenario in the ubiquitous education, through the adoption of Persuasive Technology. In this study we discuss the potentiality of persuasive interfaces as a tool to ubiquitous learning. We present a proposal of persuasive interface that integrates a domestic management system for electrical equipments, called Sapiens. A preliminary case study was conducted to analyze the learning process of the logical-rational use of household electricity. A persuasive system was installed in a pilot house. In the study, the users can be control the equipament consuption through a mobile application. The results suggest that, through interaction with the system, a change in the behaviour of participants was produced, so they adopted a more efficient practices for the use of household electricity.Resumo. O proposito deste trabalhoé contribuir para a compreensão do novo cenário na educação ubíqua por meio da adoção de Tecnologias Persuasivas. Neste estudo discutimos o potencial da utilização de interfaces persuasivas como ferramenta de auxílio na aprendizagem ubíqua. Apresentamos uma proposta de interface persuasiva que integra um sistema de gestão de equipamentos elétricos domésticos, que nomeou-se Sapiens. Um estudo de caso foi realizado para análise do processo de aprendizado no uso lógico-racional de recursos da energia elétrica residencial. Foi instalado em uma residência piloto um sistema persuasivo no qual os usuários tinham controle do consumo de energia elétrica de seus eletrodomésticos por meio de um aplicativo móvel. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que, mediante a interação com o sistema, produziu-se uma mudança no comportamento dos sujeitos participantes para um uso mais eficiente da energia elétrica.

The Acordionero field is located in the Middle Magdalena basin of Colombia and produces from 2 main multilayered formations. Water injection is utilized to maintain reservoir pressures and improve recovery factors. API gravities vary between 14° and 24°. C&P vertical wells are drilled to access oil from several producing intervals. This inherently creates a challenging production environment, as injection water and/or formation gas can unpredictably breakthrough in any of the formation layers, impacting well performance and leading to well shut-ins and expensive workovers to re-establish production. Even though Inflow Control Devices (ICDs) and Autonomous Inflow Control Devices (AICDs) have been successfully deployed to control unwanted fluids in oil producer wells, its application in vertical wells have been limited. The challenging environment and the inability to identify the problematic intervals led to the selection of the AICD-Valve due to its ability to autonomously shut-off gas/water based on the fluid properties of each zone. This technology is sensitive to both fluid viscosity and density and can autonomously choke zones that have higher gas/water concentrations. A detailed study was conducted, including well simulations and analysis of production data, which determined the benefits of the technology, particularly to control gas breakthrough. A total of 6 wells have been retrofitted to date. Overall results have been positive with the AICD-Valves successfully restricting flow from intervals with unwanted fluids and applying a more effective drawdown to oil-rich zones. Gas production have been reduced to more than 50% in all wells and in some cases over 90%. ESPs have shown a more stable behavior in comparison to pre-AICD-Valve installations, reducing gas locking events, leading to less common failures and well interventions.