Editorial

ID: 1297

Authors: Rogério H. Quintella.

Source: Revista de Administração Contemporânea, v. 14, n. 6, p. 1-2, November-December, 2010. 2 page(s).

Document type: Editorial (Portuguese)

Subjetive Uncertainty in the Strategic Decision Process: a Measurement Proposal

ID: 1276

Authors: Marta Fabiano Sambiase Lombardi, Eliane Pereira Zamith Brito.

Source: Revista de Administração Contemporânea, v. 14, n. 6, p. 990-1010, November-December, 2010. 21 page(s).

Keyword: business strategy , scale of measurement , subjective uncertainty

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

Uncertainty has often been cited to justify difficulties in decision making in business and is associated with differences in the performance of competing firms because in a world of certainty, resource allocation would be optimized and there would not be rents variation among competing economic actors. Thus, understanding uncertainty and how it can be measured is relevant to management theory, and this is our purpose in this study. The definition of uncertainty used herein was derived from the non-ergotic world perspective presented by Keynes and Knight in the 1920s. It is understood as a perceptual phenomenon and described as the individual’s perceived ability to predict future events based on the study of past occurrences. The research we conducted to develop and test the scale of measurement occurred in two phases. First we discussed the concept with four directors of the IT industry sector. Based on the results of this phase and previous studies, we proposed a measurement scale in three dimensions: state, effect and response, as suggested by Milliken (1987). The scale was tested by confirmatory factor analysis with data from a sample of 243 managers from different economic sectors. The results of the statistical test of the scale were satisfactory.

Links between career and academic performance: comparing teachers at private and public higher education establishments in Brazil

ID: 1755

Authors: Diva Ester Okazaki Rowe, Antonio Virgílio Bittencourt Bastos.

Source: Revista de Administração Contemporânea, v. 14, n. 6, p. 1011-1030, November-December, 2010. 20 page(s).

Keyword: career commitment , career entrenchment , higher education teaching staff , links with career , performance

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

Research into the relationship between work and career involves two constructs - commitment and entrenchment, whose influence on performance have yet to be fully understood. The main goal of this study is to analyze the influences of the dimensions of links with the academic career of teaching in the contexts of public and private higher education in Brazil. This research is extensive in nature and cross-sectional. For data collection, a questionnaire which had previously been validated for the Brazilian context was applied containing a set of scales to measure career commitment and entrenchment. The links with the careers were measured by the scales proposed and validated by Carson and Bedeian (1994) and Carson, Carson and Bedeian (1995), while the performance of teachers includes points taken from their Curriculum Vitae of the Lattes Database, in accordance with the practice used by Oliveira (1998). We surveyed 635 teachers, whose data were submitted to descriptive analysis, factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The best fit model reveals that the more time and money teachers invest in their careers, the greater their academic performance will be. We also found differences in the influences of the two links to career in academic performance between private and public higher education establishments.

Human resource management policies and practices for repatriation processes of Brazilian executives

ID: 1279

Authors: Mariana Barbosa Lima, Beatriz Maria Braga Lacombe.

Source: Revista de Administração Contemporânea, v. 14, n. 6, p. 1031-1053, November-December, 2010. 23 page(s).

Keyword: expatriation , human resource management , human resource management policies and practices on repatriation , international human resource management , repatriation

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

Repatriation of executives is a process of strategic relevance for international companies and, therefore, managing these executives requires innovative policies and practices, given the complexity of the challenges they face in developing international careers. In general, research on the theme has been conducted from the viewpoint of the repatriates themselves rather than that of the organizations, and there is no record of such a study conducted in the Brazilian context. In order to contribute to this field of study, the main objective of the research presented in this article was to investigate the policies and practices of the repatriation process of Brazilian executives adopted by 20 Brazilian and foreign multinational companies installed in Brazil, as reported by the person in charge of the repatriation process. The results showed that the adopted policies and practices are more focused on offering operational support than directed to attend a clear strategic action plan that utilizes the competencies and experiences acquired by the repatriate during the expatriation period. The results also showed that whether executives remain in the company and how well they adapt to the country and to social and family life seems to depend more on their own perseverance and the country’s labor market condition than on organizational practices.

Happiness at work: relations with organizational support and social support

ID: 1763

Authors: Tatiane Paschoal, Cláudio V. Torres, Juliana Barreiros Porto.

Source: Revista de Administração Contemporânea, v. 14, n. 6, p. 1054-1072, November-December, 2010. 19 page(s).

Keyword: affect at work , eudaimonia , organizational support , work well-being

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

The objective of the present study was to test the impact of organizational and social support on well-being at work. To achieve this, the well-being construct included the concepts of affect, accomplishment experience and work-related personal experience. A total of 403 employees of a public organization in the Brazilian Federal District responded to the Work Well-Being Scale, and to the Perceived Organizational Support Scale. The former evaluates the positive and negative emotions towards at work, as well as the personal accomplishment at work. The latter includes a social support factor and four other factors relating to organizational support: performance management, workload, material support, and work growth, promotion and salary. Data were analyzed with the use of multiple regression, and the results indicated that organizational support and social support have a direct impact on well-being. Performance management was the main predictor for positive affect, and for accomplishment at work. Workload was the main predictor of negative work affect. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

Organizational architectures for R&D in Brazilian electrical companies

ID: 1281

Authors: Jaelton Avelar Fernandino, Janete Lara de Oliveira.

Source: Revista de Administração Contemporânea, v. 14, n. 6, p. 1073-1093, November-December, 2010. 21 page(s).

Keyword: management of R&D , organizational architecture , research and development program

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This article aims to evaluate the organizational architecture models currently being adopted by the Brazilian electrical energy companies to properly manage the Program of Research and Development [R&D], instituted by Law 9.991 (2000) and made operational by the Brazilian Electrical Energy Agency [ANEEL]. As a conceptual research model, the five dimensions proposed by Galbratih’s Star Model (1995) were used: strategy, structure, processes, people and reward systems. The research was conducted with four concessionaries of electrical energy through interviews and documental analysis, and the results indicate the existence, basically, of two models of architecture for the structuring of the R&D area. The first model is found in companies that use a more structured planning of R&D, even though they manage it through an informal and small organizational structure. The investments made in training are relatively few, as are incentives for participation. In the second group, there is an indication of the existence of formal areas for the management of the program, even though the strategies for investing in R&D have yet to be well defined. New studies that allow for the evaluation of effectiveness of organizational architectures concerning the performance of the projects portfolio are pertinent and necessary.

Entrepreneurship, competitiveness and economic growth: empirical evidence

ID: 1282

Authors: Raimundo Eduardo Silveira Fontenele.

Source: Revista de Administração Contemporânea, v. 14, n. 6, p. 1094-1112, November-December, 2010. 19 page(s).

Keyword: competitiveness , economic growth , entrepreneurship , GEM

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

Despite the growing interest in developing research on entrepreneurship, the relationship between competitiveness and economic growth has been little explored. This paper shows the relationship between entrepreneurship and competitiveness. The aim of this study is to analyze total entrepreneurial activity - TEA, measured by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor [GEM], evaluating the variables that have significant relevance in explaining entrepreneurship. The data were collected in 64 countries for the year 2007. This paper considers two econometric models obtained by the least-squares method. The results suggest that the relationship between entrepreneurship and levels of income follow the pattern of a U-shaped curve. Although several studies generally have demonstrated a positive relationship between factors of competitiveness and the development of entrepreneurship, the present study shows that the effects follow the opposite direction in developing countries. However, the empirical analysis confirms that factors of competitiveness have had a significant impact on development of entrepreneurship in more affluent economies.

Management accounting research in Brazil: analyses and reflections on theory, methodology and paradigms

ID: 1775

Authors: Artur Roberto Nascimento, Emanuel Junqueira, Gilberto de Andrade Martins.

Source: Revista de Administração Contemporânea, v. 14, n. 6, p. 1113-1133, November-December, 2010. 21 page(s).

Keyword: epistemology of management accounting , management accounting research , management accounting theory

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This aim of this study is to examine and analyse the epistemological characteristics of the academic research on management accounting in Brazil. It is based on bibliometric and content analyses of 287 papers presented at the Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Accounting [ANPCONT] Conferences in 2007 and 2008, University of São Paulo [USP] Accounting and Control Conferences and the National Association of Graduate Studies and Research in Administration [ANPAD] Meetings from 2005 to 2008. The results include the following points: (a) few references dealing with the theories of management accounting, few references to articles published in international journals and a high average age (10 years) of the works that were cited; (b) the research strategies concentrated in field studies (38%), descriptive studies (16%) and documental works (9%), without generating substantive theoretical contributions or explanatory analyses; (c) in relation to the theories used, 83% of the works drew upon accounting concepts or legislation, while 17% used theories from Economics, Sociology or Psychology; and (d) with respect to paradigms, most are compatible with the functionalist paradigm (97%), while only 3% with the critical/interpretive models.

Empirical evidence of the influence of family, media, school and peers in the separation of materials for recycling

ID: 1785

Authors: Carolina Fabris, Pedro José Steiner Neto, Ana Maria Machado Toaldo.

Source: Revista de Administração Contemporânea, v. 14, n. 6, p. 1134-1157, November-December, 2010. 24 page(s).

Keyword: agents of socialization , decision making of consumers , recycling behavior

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This article analyzes the influence of family, school, media and peers on knowledge, in the sense of separation and the behavior of separation of materials for recycling by university students. To this end, the review makes a theoretical connection between the last stage of consumer behavior, which includes the separation of materials for recycling, and the agents of socialization that have been studied as influences on other types of behavior. A model and seven hypotheses were proposed by the authors. The research was divided into two stages. The first is characterized as a qualitative exploratory stage. The second, quantitative stage, was conducted with 351 university students. The quantitative analysis used the structural equation modeling to verify the proposed model. The results show that the four agents influence behavior during separation of materials for recycling either directly or indirectly. The behavior is influenced directly by personal contact (family and peers). But indirectly, the school, the media and peers impinge on feelings, serving as an antecedent of behavior.

Ivia: internationalization and growth

ID: 2033

Authors: Angela da Rocha, Renato Cotta de Mello, Anne-Marie Delaunay Maculan, Henrique Fernandes Pacheco.

Source: Revista de Administração Contemporânea, v. 14, n. 6, p. 1158-1170, November-December, 2010. 13 page(s).

Keyword: exports , internationalization , services , software

Document type: Teaching Case (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This teaching case presents the internationalization process of a firm that distinguishes itself in three aspects: it is part of the services industry, sells software (an atypical product in Brazilian exports), and has its headquarters in the Northeast of Brazil. Founded in 1996 in the city of Fortaleza, Ivia was the first  company to launch an Internet Banking service in the Northeast of Brazil and the first Internet access provider targeting the corporate market of Fortaleza. Ten years later, the company had developed business tools for web applications, aiming to optimize management processes based on Internet technology. It had customers in Brazil and Portugal. The case describes Ivia’s trajectory in its first decade, as well as the beginning of the firm’s  internationalization process. The central issue to be discussed is how the firm can keep up with its internationalization process and at the same time broaden its scope of activities in the domestic market. In addition, the case offers the opportunity to debate how government agencies can support the international development of small software firms, a priority of the current national industrial policy.

Resenha: - Comunicação e inovação: reflexões contemporâneas - (Mônica Pegurer Caprino (Org.) - 2008)

ID: 1310

Authors: Péricles Fontanella.

Source: Revista de Administração Contemporânea, v. 14, n. 6, p. 1171-1173, November-December, 2010. 3 page(s).

Document type: Book Review (Portuguese)

Resenha: - Responsabilidade social empresarial e empresa sustentável – da teoria à prática - (José Carlos Barbieri, Jorge Emanuel Reis Cajazeira - 2009)

ID: 1312

Authors: Raquel da Silva Pereira.

Source: Revista de Administração Contemporânea, v. 14, n. 6, p. 1174-1176, November-December, 2010. 3 page(s).

Document type: Book Review (Portuguese)

Inovação em serviços intensivos em conhecimento

ID: 1308

Authors: Maria Isabel da Silva Teles.

Source: Revista de Administração Contemporânea, v. 14, n. 6, p. 1177-1177, November-December, 2010. 1 page(s).

Document type: Bibliographical Note (Portuguese)

Desigualdades sociais, redes de sociabilidade e participação política

ID: 1305

Authors: Magnus Luiz Emmendoerfer.

Source: Revista de Administração Contemporânea, v. 14, n. 6, p. 1177-1177, November-December, 2010. 1 page(s).

Document type: Bibliographical Note (Portuguese)