Evaluation of the customer relationship quality and propensity to change mobile telephone operators

ID: 8035

Autoria: Eliane Cristine Francisco Maffezzolli, Paulo Henrique Müller Prado, Wesley Vieira da Silva, Renato Zancan Marchetti.

Fonte: Brazilian Business Review, v. 8, n. 4, p. 1-22, Outubro-Dezembro, 2011. 22 página(s).

Tipo de documento: Artigo (Inglês) Ver Resumo

The objective of this article is to shed light on the possible relations between previous events and the customer relationship quality and loyalty and a financial result indicator (lifetime revenue) on the predisposition to change mobile telephone operators. The study was carried out with a non-probabilistic quantitative framework and relied on the hypotheticaldeductive method. The data were obtained from a survey of 493 mobile phone users and were analyzed through a structural equation and logistic regression. The results partially proved the model proposed, because of the particularities of the groups analyzed. We confirmed (directly and indirectly) the premises of a positive and significant effect between Satisfaction, Trust and Commitment and their antecedents. Satisfaction and Loyalty were distinctive elements among the groups with lower propensity to change operators. These results demonstrate some particularities of this market, where consumers perceive supply as being homogeneous, a fact that stimulates the churn rate in Brazil.

Editorial

ID: 8034

Autoria: Antonio Lopo Martinez.

Fonte: Brazilian Business Review, v. 8, n. 4, p. 1-2, Outubro-Dezembro, 2011. 2 página(s).

Tipo de documento: Editorial (Inglês)

Uma análise sobre a internacionalização de pequenas empresas brasileiras da indústria de software

ID: 8036

Autoria: Sandro Luís Diesel Cortezia, Yeda Swirski de Souza.

Fonte: Brazilian Business Review, v. 8, n. 4, p. 23-43, Outubro-Dezembro, 2011. 21 página(s).

Tipo de documento: Artigo (Inglês) Ver Resumo

This article analyzes the internationalization process of small Brazilian software firms from the theoretical basis of a model that synthesizes the perspectives ofexperiential learning, systematic planning and the contingency approach applied to the internationalization of firms. The empirical base is a sample of firms in the software sector located in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The first step of the study entailed gathering data on a sample of 29 firms with international presence. From this sample, five cases were selected for a qualitative analysis from a multiple-case study approach. The results indicate that the  internationalization of small firms is not a consequence of long-range planning, but rather of opportunities perceived by entrepreneurs in their relationships. Besides this, the study reveals that organizational capabilities are a key factor in this process and that the lack of knowledge about the external market is the main obstacle to the internationalization of the software firms investigated.

Reasons for outsourcing services in medium and large companies

ID: 8037

Autoria: Marcos Antonio Ferruzzi, Mário Sacomano Neto, Eduardo Eugênio Spers, Mateus Canniatti Ponchio.

Fonte: Brazilian Business Review, v. 8, n. 4, p. 44-66, Outubro-Dezembro, 2011. 23 página(s).

Tipo de documento: Artigo (Inglês) Ver Resumo

This study identifies the reasons firms decide to outsource activities instead of performing them internally. The study is restricted to the logistics, information technology, gate-keeping and/or reception and cleaning services as well as part of the production activities. The research was carried out in two steps. The first one consisted of interviews with four executives of large companies and the second one consisted of a survey of executives of 80 industrial companies and more than 100 direct employees. From the quantitative date we prepared contingency tables, cross-referencing the frequencies of the main factors given as leading the firms to outsource services with the corresponding activities, using Pearson’s Chisquare test. The results show that the option for outsourcing is the result of a combination of factors, mainly involving the service to be contracted out and the firm’s economic segment. Specialization of services and reduction and control of operating costs were the reasons given most often for outsourcing. This study contributes to the debate over the reasons companies outsource their activities and can serve as a reference for firms involved in the outsourcing processes.

Analysis of the use of a four-factor model as a tool to help manage portfolios based on the IBrX

ID: 8038

Autoria: Luiz Eduardo Carvalho Terra de Faria, Walter Lee Ness Jr., Marcelo Cabus Klotzle, Antonio Carlos Figueiredo Pinto.

Fonte: Brazilian Business Review, v. 8, n. 4, p. 67-88, Outubro-Dezembro, 2011. 22 página(s).

Tipo de documento: Artigo (Inglês) Ver Resumo

Using the price series of the assets that compose the IBrX in the period from May 2002 to December 2007, this article examines the influence of the variables beta, market value, price-earnings ratio and book-to-market ratio on the behavior of the Brazilian stock market, comparing the results with those of other studies carried out in Brazil. On investigating the influence of beta, we sought to verify if the premises of the CAPM are valid in the model proposed. We used the SUR and TSCS techniques to estimate the influence of the variables. The results indicate the significance of price-earnings and market value, but the book-to-market ratio presented the greatest stability and was significant in all the proposed models. In relation to the CAPM, the study shows that all the variables analyzed had some degree of influence on the cross-sectional variations of the average stock returns, indicating that other factors besides beta can be associated with the behavior of the assets.

Regulation, diversification and investments abroad – impacts on the efficiency of investment management by Brazilian pension funds in light of portfolio theory

ID: 8039

Autoria: Luiz da Penha Souza da Silva, Marcos Roberto Gois de Oliveira.

Fonte: Brazilian Business Review, v. 8, n. 4, p. 89-117, Outubro-Dezembro, 2011. 29 página(s).

Tipo de documento: Artigo (Inglês) Ver Resumo

This article investigates, under the prism of portfolio theory, the effects of diversification of assets by Brazilian pension funds under four possible interest rate scenarios as well as identifies the implications for more efficient allocation of assets, including through possible investment abroad, of the limitations imposed by current regulations. The results of the simulations show that the imposition of allocation limits not only restricts the efficient frontier but also shifts it to the right. Therefore, diversification beyond the regulatory limits would improve the efficiency of asset allocation (reducing the risk), an effect that would be accentuated with the inclusion of foreign investments. Finally, the article provides evidence, from a technical standpoint, that Brazilian pension funds can increase their efficiency in allocating resources under any scenario, especially one of stability, and that with a real interest rate of around 4% a year it is essential to allow more investment flexibility, including investment in foreign assets.

Analysis of co-movements between the capital markets in Brazil and the United States

ID: 8040

Autoria: Daniel Reed Bergmann, José Roberto Ferreira Savoia, Wesley Mendes-da-Silva, Mauri Aparecido de Oliveira, Wilson Toshiro Nakamura.

Fonte: Brazilian Business Review, v. 8, n. 4, p. 118-132, Outubro-Dezembro, 2011. 15 página(s).

Tipo de documento: Artigo (Inglês) Ver Resumo

In this article copula theory is used to analyze the co-movements between the Brazilian and American capital markets. To formulate an effective asset allocation strategy, it is important to understand extreme events – both positive (booms) and negative (crashes) – and their effects on markets. The market indexes used are the Ibovespa and the S&P 500, covering the period from March 2001 to April 2007. We tested the adherence to the log-returns of the main copulas found in the financial literature, using the following criteria: log-likelihood, Akaike information criterion and Bayesian information criterion. The results show that the symmetrized Joe-Clayton copula is most suitable to model the dependence structure between the log-returns of the Ibovespa and the S&P500. This work differs from some previous ones (e.g., Mendes & Moretti, 2005 and Canela & Collazo, 2005) because we take into account the modeling of dynamic copulas, as introduced by Patton (2006). Finally, from the tail-dependence indexes over time, it can be concluded that the occurrence of crashes in the American market tends to affect the Brazilian market more than does the occurrence of booms.