A distribuição e redistribuição do livro escolar em Moçambique: Uma abordagem de investigaçao Operacional

Abstract

Mozambique has experienced significant economic growth, "Real GDP grew at a rate of 6.6% in 1996 and 14.1% in 1997" (Bank of Mozambique 1998). A determining factor in this growth has been the performance of the business community. The difference in the behaviour of the business community in the periods before and after the introduction of the Economic Rehabilitation Programme is striking. The aggressiveness with which some companies intervene in the market is also notorious. However, with the development of the companies and of the economy in general, the management problems become more complex and it is necessary to use quantitative methods to reach the optimum solution. Therefore, the manager must have the training to face this reality. The aim of this work is to highlight the role of the manager in the decision making process and to show that with the advance of science and technology, economic-administrative problems can be solved using Operations Research mathematical models. The case chosen for the study is the problem of the distribution and redistribution of school books in Mozambique. The impact of Education, at this stage of development, is so relevant that it deserves special attention; therefore, the Education Programme is committed to the expansion of educational services, having defined that textbooks for grades 1 to 7 should be distributed free of charge in public and community schools, in order to encourage the less well-off to send their children to school. The main actors in the schoolbook distribution process are Diname, E.E. (National School Material Distributor, State Company) and the School Box. Diname, E.E. is the company responsible for ordering the printing of the books and making them available to retailers and the public in its delegations or in provincial warehouses rented only for the distribution of the book. The School Box is an organ of the Ministry of Education and the company's biggest customer. Due to the extent of the country and the difficult access to certain localities where there are schools, the distribution circuit is extended to traders and transporters. The traders buy the books from Diname's warehouses for a fixed price and resell them to Caixa Escolar, obtaining a profit margin of 30% of the cost price, regardless of the quantity transported and the district where they have to deliver. The resale price of the normal marketing network is liberalised.