Apresentação

ID: 4264

Authors: Walter Bataglia.

Source: Revista de Administração Mackenzie, v. 12, n. 4, p. 12-14, July-August, 2011. 3 page(s).

Document type: Editorial (Portuguese)

Power strategies of industrial workers

ID: 4268

Authors: Luiz Alex Silva Saraiva, Alexandre Vitorino dos Santos.

Source: Revista de Administração Mackenzie, v. 12, n. 4, p. 15-43, July-August, 2011. 29 page(s).

Keyword: Ideology , Power strategies , Real power , Strategy as social practice , Symbolic power

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

The mainstream of discussions about power usually approaches only organizational actors who have resources to exercise it, as, for instance, ownership conditions of production means, of location, of class, or of technical knowledge, in the organization or the society. However, even with all managerial technology of dominance and exploration developed in the 20th century, workers use political strategies to resist and to influence the owners of resources, trying to reach their own objectives through these maneuvers. This paper aimed to deal with the analysis of power strategies of social actors without resources in organizations. Driven by a qualitative approach, it was based on eighteen interviews with workers of a company selected under the criteria of time working in the company and accessibility. The data were treated through discourse analysis, suggesting four power strategies used by the employees: 1. bargained experience based on knowledge from experience; 2. diversification of affective relations to groups with or without resources; 3. submissive obedience to get recognition, permanence, and/or future valorization; and 4. planned popularity as a self-protection means based on visibility and good relations. One concludes that, although formal elements exhibit the real power in the organization, to achieve their own goals the employees interpret the game’s rules and build dynamic strategies in the context where they operate, exercising, this way, power. The main contributions of this paper, in the macro level of analysis, refer to the discussion of implications of the idea of private property, which does not fulfill the political dynamics in organizations. In the meso-level, this study discusses the objectivity of knowledge produced in the area of Administration, which, as a science, rather than an applied is a social one and, because of that, it needs subjects to exist, and it cannot be built against their intents. In the micro level of analysis, the contributions highlight that the social aspects are as important as the economic ones in the organizational context. There are rationalities – in plural – coexisting and competing in organizations, something organizational theoreticians cannot neglect, under the penalty of reducing the organization to an empty fiction, different from an effective organizational dynamics.

The use of life history to understand management learning processes

ID: 4269

Authors: Lisiane Quadrado Closs, Claudia Simone Antonello.

Source: Revista de Administração Mackenzie, v. 12, n. 4, p. 44-74, July-August, 2011. 31 page(s).

Keyword: Learning processes , Life history , Management learning , Methodological procedures , Research approach

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This theoretical essay has as its main aim presenting and discussing the possibilities of using the life history method in studies of management learning processes. The distinctive character of this methodological approach is its personal, historical, social, institutional, and/or political narrative contextualization. Aiming to uncover the forces that shape, distort, and change lived experiences (HATCH; WISNIEWSKI, 1995; BERTAUX, 1980), the paper examines the potential for using this research strategy to explore the understanding of the complex and dynamic process of management learning. It is presented, in an illustrative character, the synthesis of the life history of a manager and the analysis of learning processes identified in his accounts. The procedures for the systematization of analyses of the learning processes of a group managers investigated, using this research approach, are described. The study suggests that the use of the life history method, in the investigation of management learning processes, besides allowing the deepening on the theme, can contribute to regain human valorization, revealing understandings of collective phenomena from accounts of personal background and experiences. The systematization of knowledge about this research method, scarce in the literature of Administration, and the exploration of application possibilities in this theoretical field can contribute to the development of future studies on other issues. One of the limitations associated to the use of the method is the time required to produce a series of interviews with each professional (ATKINSON, 2002). It also hinders the acceptance to participate in the research, especially in the case of managers, who usually have little time available, due to their accumulation of responsibilities in the organizations.

Ways of coping with violent death: the work of professionals of the Criminalistics Departament of the General Forensics Institute of Rio Grande do Sul

ID: 4270

Authors: Neusa Rolita Cavedon.

Source: Revista de Administração Mackenzie, v. 12, n. 4, p. 75-104, July-August, 2011. 30 page(s).

Keyword: Death , Ethnography , Fear , Forensics , Violence

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

Aiming to understand the ways of coping with a daily routine that involves the professional familiarity with violent death, I developed an ethnographic research, from 2007 to 2010, at the Criminalistics Department (CD) of the General Forensics Institute (GFI) of Rio Grande do Sul. Interviews and simple and participant observation were the techniques selected for data collection, as the analysis of field findings follows the guidelines of ethnographic studies approaching the interlocutions among the emic view, the etic view, and the theoreticians referred. The theoretical framework on death is supported by the studies of DaMatta (1987), Ariès (2000), Elias (2001), and Bauman (2008). Elias (2001) claims that death in contemporary times has been concealed in two spheres: the individual and the social ones. The individual concealment imposes a distancing from the dying people, as the social concealment deals with death as being part of the social life’s backstage. In the case of the CD professionals, coping with the conscience of death and violence involves an emphasis on the afterlife, the world of the souls; through deconstruction, uncovering the causes of violent death via the search for truth, using scientific methods and techniques; through trivialization, where the victim’s body is seen as an “object” or a “doll”; through laughter, black humour; coping with a violent death in the personal sphere through the professional performance that demands the person to be face to face with this reality. The works of Marta et al. (2009), Combinato and Queiroz (2006), and Brêtas, Oliveira, and Yanagutu (2006) show that the subjects they investigated have not been trained to deal with death in the work sphere, and the same situation has been found among the CD professionals, being Kovács’s educational proposition (2005) applicable to the case concerned. The contribution of this research to organizational studies consists in calling attention to a topic that is little discussed in the area, as well as emphasizing how important it is for the organizations to find supporting mechanisms for those who deal with violent death as a professional daily routine.

Flexibility and uncertainty in agribusiness projects: investing in a cogeneration plant

ID: 4265

Authors: Augusto Cesar Arenaro e Mello Dias, Carlos de Lamare Bastian-Pinto, Luiz Eduardo Teixeira Brandão, Leonardo Lima Gomes.

Source: Revista de Administração Mackenzie, v. 12, n. 4, p. 105-126, July-August, 2011. 22 page(s).

Keyword: Bioelectricity , Cogeneration , Flexibility , Mean reversion , Real options

Document type: Article (English) Show Abstract

Energy generation from biomass has become a source of increasing interest due to growing environmental concerns and the depletion of the world’s fossil fuel reserves. In this paper we analyze a sugar and ethanol producing plant in Brazil which has both the option to expand and to add a cogeneration unit to allow the sale of surplus energy, generated by burning sugar cane bagasse, where the existence of the second option is conditional to the exercise of the first option. We model sugar, ethanol, and electricity prices as geometric mean reverting processes and apply the real options approach to determine the value of these managerial flexibilities, considering that these options have three distinct underlying assets. The option to expand production is a function of the expected future prices of sugar and ethanol, while, on the other hand, the decision to invest in the cogenerationplant will depend on the future prices of energy. Both decisions are modeled as American Compound Options over their respective underlying assets. The model is then solved using the non-censored binomial mean reverting lattice proposed by Bastian-Pinto, Brandão, and Hahn (2010) using the software DPLTM. The results indicate that a significant value can be derived from the flexibility to choose the optimal timing of investment in both options: the investment in the cogeneration unit adds an amount equivalent to the value of the expanding sugar and ethanol production, and represents up to 44% of the project’s static NPV of R$ 195.9 million. We conclude that given that only half of the sugar cane crushing mills currently have cogeneration units installed and given the increasing demand for clean and renewable sources of energy, this may indicate there is a significant potential for investment and further development of bioelectricity cogeneration power plants, and even in the retrofit of older cogeneration units, and that government incentives have been effective in contributing to this development.

The impact of labor and tax regulations on investments in Brazil

ID: 4266

Authors: Renata Cardoso Ferretti, Bruno Funchal.

Source: Revista de Administração Mackenzie, v. 12, n. 4, p. 127-154, July-August, 2011. 28 page(s).

Keyword: Economic performance , GDP , Investments in Brazil , Labor and tax regulation , World Bank

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This study aims to assess the impact of the labor and tax regulations on the internal (gross formation of fixed capital) and external investment (direct foreign investment inward flow). Therefore, empirical evidences for the impacts of the labor and tax legislation on the investments and business strategies in Brazil were collected. Studies in this field are justified by the relevant effect of the regulation on the agents economic activities, since, despite the economic, social, and political reasons are used to justify the regulation, an empirical evidence is seldom applied as a basis or justification for the regulation (ALMEIDA; CARNEIRO, 2005). Focusing on Brazil is significant as it is one of the world’s most regulated countries in the labor and tax scope, with low enforcement (BOTERO et al., 2004), the strictness of such legislations may interfere in the companies’ poor performance and investments as well as in the country’s economic growth. In order to investigate the labor and tax regulation impact on the national and international investments, tests were applied under the Quantile Regression (QR) method. For comparative analysis purposes, the tests were also made under the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method. This is a cross-country study based on pooled cross-section data from 180 countries, gathered from 2003 to 2006 concerning the labor regulation and within the period from 2005 to 2006 concerning the tax regulation. The data with regard to the variables and the national and international investments (dependant variables), as well as the GDP, total inhabitants, and interests rate (control variables), are provided by the World Development Indicators updated in 2008. The results found suggest that the higher the labor regulation strictness, the lower the investment level regarding gross formation of fixed capital and direct foreign investment in Brazil. With regard to the effect of the tax regulation on investments, the results demonstrate that they are statistically relevant and that a reduction in the tax load, measured by the taxation over the business profit, could raise the investment level.

Strategy disclosure in annual reports: an analysis of cultural dimensions, legal system and corporate governance in companies of four countries

ID: 4267

Authors: Marcelo Sanches Pagliarussi, Giuliana Bronzoni Liberato.

Source: Revista de Administração Mackenzie, v. 12, n. 4, p. 155-181, July-August, 2011. 27 page(s).

Keyword: Corporate governance , Cultural dimensions , Disclosure , Legal system , Strategy

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

This study aimed at offering explanations for the differences observed in the level of disclosure of aspects related to the strategy identified in the annual reports of a sample of companies of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Brazil. Three core theoretical elements were connected to explain the variations in the level of disclosure within the sample: cultural dimensions, legal system, and corporate governance. We built a prediction matrix based on the theoretical assumptions and the strategy disclosure was approached in each report through the technique of thematic content analysis. The sample consisted of 73 annual reports of companies of four countries in 2006. The hypotheses were tested through linear regression analysis and non-parametric tests of mean equalities. The results partially supported the hypothesis presented, which states that there is a significant influence from the cultural variables, the legal system, and the corporate governance of each country on the levels of strategy disclosure observed in the annual reports. The most significant differences are related to each country’s legal system. The companies of the sample trading in the United States and the United Kingdom, countries that follow a consuetudinary law (Common Law), presented higher levels of strategy disclosure than those trading in France and Brazil, countries that follow the Roman law (Civil Law). This study contributes to the literature on strategy disclosure providing empirical evidence that the legal system does influence on the quantity of strategic information revealed by the open capital companies. However, the process of manual content analysisadopted here is a constraint regarding the sample size.

Trust and possibility of conflicts in hierarchical strategic networks

ID: 4271

Authors: Cristiano Oliveira Maciel, Maurício Reinert, Camila Camargo.

Source: Revista de Administração Mackenzie, v. 12, n. 4, p. 182-208, July-August, 2011. 27 page(s).

Keyword: Conflict , Mall , Strategic networks , Survey , Trust

Document type: Article (Portuguese) Show Abstract

It has become increasingly common for companies to participate in strategic networks as a means for obtaining the advantages associated to this kind of arrangement. However, another dimension of this arrangement has surfaced, i.e. the occurence of conflicts deriving from the close relationship in such networks. But trust emerges as a possible way of mitigating these conflicts. Thus, the aim of this research is to verify, according to the view of shopping center store owners, which are the most significant dimensions of trust in order to reduce the possibility of conflicts with the management of a strategic network. The theoretical references present the concepts of strategic networks, trust, and conflict, as well as their rapports. With regard to trust, its three dimensions are discussed: 1. trust in capacity; 2. trust in benevolence; and 3. trust in integrity. A survey with 79  store-owners was carried out, all of them participating in networks. This survey measured their perception of trust and possibility of conflict. The data analysis was done through a Factorial Exploratory The data analysis was performed through the Exploratory Factorial Analysis, in order to validate the constructs and their dimensions, as well as through a Multiple Regression Analysis to test the proposed hypotheses. Only the trust in benevolence presented statistical significance. Three findings are worth highlighting. The first refers to the validation of the three dimensional trust model proposed by Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman (1995). The second was the corroborated hypothesis that trust in benevolence contributes to the mitigation of possible conflicts. Thus, the store owners belief that the network management is interested in their well being decreases the possibility of conflicts. The third one indicates that other variables not included in this model are important for the mitigation of conflicts, since its explanatory power was about 15%. These findings are important to the understanding of the networks, because they point to the complexity of the concept trust, highlighting the importance of solving conflicts. Among the main constraints for this research are the sample size and the impossibility of generalization.