Resumo em Inglês:

This article aims to understand the relationships between small companies and external innovation agents and how they can help strengthening these organisations. A multiple case research method was adopted by the researchers and applied to small companies which presented innovative practices. The data collection included documents, records and interviews with managers/business owners. Such interviews were recorded and coded using the NVivo 10 software. The results showed relationships of trust, partnership and learning. The article contributes to the idea that small companies recognize the importance of external knowledge sources in their business and innovation strategies. Companies believe in these relationships in order to bring essential competencies to their business, and continuously renovate themselves through shared feedback. This in turn leads to the capture of financial and technological resources as well as market and competitive information that strengthens the business and allows it to overcome its limitations.

Resumo em Inglês:

Through this article we examine ways through which consumers can take advantage of marketers' priming attempts and make better decisions. Specifically, we investigate what happens when individuals are made aware of primes that may potentially improve their performance. Using an Embedded Figures Test, we demonstrate that individuals can be consciously primed into an analytic thinking mindset and perform better when they believe that the prime will enhance performance. Individuals are able to successfully ignore the prime when they believe that the prime hinders performance. Utilizing both holistic and analytic primes and by alternating the valence of the prime's potential outcome, we are able to disentangle the conscious effects of primes from demand effects. We discuss how these findings may lead to and suggest avenues for future research.

Resumo em Inglês:

The main objective of this study is to identify the effect of nostalgic feelings on consumer loyalty to the prevailing brand following the extinction of a brand in a merger/acquisition process. We also propose an explanatory model of the relationships between tests of relevant constructs. Based on a review and theoretical reflection on the constructs under study, this paper outlines a theoretical model in which attitudes in relation to both extinct and prevailing brands mediate the relationship between nostalgic feelings and customer loyalty, which was subsequently analyzed by structural equation modeling. The results showed the effect of nostalgic feelings on customers' attitudes toward both extinct and prevailing brands and the influence of switching costs on building brand loyalty. The study contributed to the expansion of the theoretical framework on the subject of marketing by developing and validating a comprehensive model that adds to existing research, expanding the horizon of the study of the phenomenon.

Resumo em Inglês:

Globalization of the economy and the need to achieve competitiveness drive organizations to invest in technology and in innovation, in order to find solutions that will provide advantages in an ever-more competitive market. The conflict between dwindling natural resources and the demand for economic growth has created a growing need to find means for making environmental conservation compatible with economic growth. The objective of this study is to contribute to the debate by analyzing the innovations implemented by chemical companies in the Sinos Valley region, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and by identifying the motivations that drive them to develop environmental technologies. The study is exploratory and descriptive, with a quantitative data collection component in the form of a survey sent to all chemical companies in the Sinos Valley region, listed in a local business association database. The study results indicate that development of innovations is predominantly of an incremental nature and that novelty is generally restricted to the new-for-firm level. The environmental technologies implemented are generally designed to prevent or remedy environmental damage and are primarily motivated by the need to comply with environmental standards and legislation.

Resumo em Inglês:

This paper tests the validity of the Corwin-Schultz bid-ask spread estimator in the Brazilian stock market. The Corwin-Schultz estimator arises as an easy way to compute asymmetric information throughout daily high and low stock prices for estimating overnight and non-negative adjusted spreads. The sample consisted of Ibovespa firms from 1986 to 2014 and was analysed with time series econometrics. The findings show that the measures of spread have stationarity properties, allowing for forecasting in a period of lagged variables, besides having the property of time-varying cointegration with market-to-book ratio, debt on equity, size and return and also presenting sensibility to different periods, industries and listing segments. Thus, the Corwin-Schultz bid-ask spread estimator seems to be a valid and reliable measure for forecasting aggregate-data variables through the weighted average of firm-level variables.

Resumo em Inglês:

In sales, working together as a team for achieving individual performance is a relevant element. In this paper, we suggest a theoretical framework that analyzes the impact of team potency on subjective performance, according to two mechanisms: self-efficacy and adaptability. The hypotheses suggest that (a) team potency has a positive relationship with self-efficacy and adaptability; self-efficacy and adaptability impact performance (b) directly and (c) indirectly, through a mediating role; and (d) interpersonal climate quality moderates these associations. We did a national survey with 290 salespeople organized in 101 teams from a water purification company. We used multilevel analyses and results suggested that sales team potency has a main effect on self-efficacy and adaptability. Second, results showed that self-efficacy and adaptability explain subjective performance. Third, self-efficacy and adaptability mediate the association between team potency and individual performance. Fourth, we did not find support for a moderating role of interpersonal climate quality on team potency. Final remarks and future research are discussed in the paper.