EDITORIAL

Dear BAR readers,

Greetings!

Among the six papers of the present issue, it is worth noting that the first two ran through the fast track process. As you will recall, fast track is a benefit offered by ANPAD by which the best-assessed papers of ANPAD's sponsored conferences are assigned to top Brazilian journals and given priority treatment, that is:

- they skip the desk review stage and enter directly in the double blind review phase; and - if and when they are eventually accepted for publication, they get published in the next issue of the journal without delay, regardless of how many papers are waiting in line.

This does not mean that papers pre-selected under the fast track process will have an automatic guarantee of publication. In fact, they undergo a review process which is as rigorous as the one applied to regularly-submitted papers. But, of course, the fast track feature is one more incentive for researchers to send good papers to ANPAD's conferences (including the thematic ones).

As regards the papers in the present issue, the first one (Stock Market Development: an Analysis from a Multilevel and Multi-country Perspective, by Cristiano Forti, Chen Yen-Tsang and Fernanda Peixoto) explores the determinants of stock market development by bringing to the analyses some variables that have seldom been employed in Finance literature – thus shedding new light onto the phenomenon.

The second paper (The Relationship between Manufacturing Integration and Performance from an Activity-Oriented Perspective, by Ely Laureano Paiva, Iuri Gavronski and Livia Castro D'Avila) addresses the profit and growth impact of the integration between manufacturing and some other players and activities (suppliers, marketing, and R&D).

Performance outcomes also underscore the third paper (Operational Practices and Financial Performance: an Empirical Analysis of Brazilian Manufacturing Companies, by André Moura Duarte, Luiz Artur Brito, Luiz Carlos Di Serio and Guilherme Silveira Martins). This study's empirical results question the usually accepted (although also often controversial) contention that certain operational practices (e.g., quality management, just in time, ISO certification, and services outsourcing) enhance financial performance.

The fourth manuscript (Fair Trade Practices in the Northwest Brazilian Amazon, by Rafael D'Almeida Martins) presents in-depth research of a particular example of a sustainable development project (related to the sale of Amazonian Indians' craftwork). The study reveals evidence about the relationship between fair trade initiatives and (local) sustainable development.

The next paper (IHRM in Developing Countries: does the Functionalist vs. Critical Debate Make Sense South of the Equator?, by Miguel Pinto Caldas, Maria José Tonelli and Beatriz Maria Braga) discusses the applicability of mainstream functionalist IRHM (international human resource management) and critical approaches to the context of emerging markets, in particular Latin American countries.

Another theoretical discussion underlies the sixth paper (Eight Propositions Towards New Possibilities of Studying Organizing and Organizations, by Marcelo Vieira and Rosimeri Carvalho da Silva). The authors advance eight propositions related to new ways of "organizing", which venture beyond the traditional market-based "enterprise".

All in all, these six contributions encompass a diversity of themes and research design approaches, thus manifesting the eclectic scope of BAR.

I hope you will enjoy reading them.

Jorge Carneiro

Editor-in-Chief

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  25 Oct 2011
• Date of issue
  Dec 2011