Resumo em Inglês:

The purpose of this article is to identify the attributes that discriminate the prices of personal desktop computers. We employ the hedonic price method in evaluating such characteristics. This approach allows market prices to be expressed as a function, a set of attributes present in the products and services offered. Prices and characteristics of up to 3,779 desktop personal computers offered in the IT pages of one of the main Brazilian newspapers were collected from January 2003 to December 2007. Several specifications for the hedonic (multivariate) linear regression were tested. In this particular study, the main attributes were found to be hard drive capacity, screen technology, main board brand, random memory size, microprocessor brand, video board memory, digital video and compact disk recording devices, screen size and microprocessor speed. These results highlight the novel contribution of this study: the manner and means in which hedonic price indexes may be estimated in Brazil.

Resumo em Inglês:

This study investigates the impact of internationalization on the results achieved by agricultural cooperatives in the State of Parana, at the same time examining strategies for diversification of markets as well as diversification of products aimed exclusively at international markets. Of the 28 cooperatives to be included in the study, 67.9% returned valid structured questionnaires. The collected data was submitted to non-parametric statistical analysis. Key findings suggest the following: external markets are served by indirect and direct exports; product diversification strategies are motivated by the creation of revenue alternatives to members and by the reduction of risks associated to agricultural business; diversification strategies are conceived to develop new business in accordance with market demand and to expand customized products from the existing portfolio; the formation of strategic alliances prioritizes access to distribution channels abroad; internationalization and diversification strategies produce positive results both from an economic and a social perspective.

Resumo em Inglês:

The fact that today's activities are imposing a heavy burden on the earth's capacity has led to an increasing interest in environmental issues. It is emphasized that rapid production growth has exhausted natural resources and polluted the environment. The objective of this essay is to offer a clear definition of natural capital, connect it to a qualitative concept of sustainability and, supported by two analytical models and a set of studies on related environmental literature, to show that sustainability can be attained via imposition of controls over production processes that use depletable natural resources and generate pollution. The methodology used contemplates an integrative approach combining a qualitative (seeking definitions)-analytical (appraising models) apparatus to reach a new conceptual perspective to conceive sustainability. As the main essay's contribution, it is showed that sustainability can be reached if compensation is allowed for, i.e., stocks of renewable being augmented as production depletes the stocks of nonrenewable natural resources. Moreover, that result is possible even considering nondecreasing output production, an important finding to contrast with the current environmentally based output growth literature, which asserts that slowing down output production is the only way to obtain sustainability.

Resumo em Inglês:

It has been suggested that one of the negative aspects of the New Economy has been growing organizational survival-risk both at the firm and the sector levels. This precarious positioning of the firm has profoundly changed the work environment resulting in the dissolution of job-definition-boundaries, thereby raising the intensity of work and finally affecting the level and nature of trust in the workplace. This is the starting point for our study. Using a questionnaire developed by Gillespie, we investigated gender profiles concerning trust in Supervisors, Peers, and Team in the New and the Old Economies for Brazilian managers. The results show that, for the New Economy, Brazilian women are more willing to give trust to Supervisors whereas Brazilian men expressed higher levels of trust when dealing with Team members. The Peer results are mixed. For the Old Economy, men uniformly express higher levels of trust compared to women over all three reference groups. Finally, for gender matched comparisons, those working in the Brazilian Old Economy firms express higher levels of trust compared to their counterparts in the New Economy independent of gender or time worked. We conclude by discussing the control implications of the above results.

Resumo em Inglês:

Because their services are based decisively on the collection, analysis and exchange of clinical information or knowledge, within and across organizational boundaries, knowledge management has exceptional application and importance to health care organizations. This article proposes a conceptual framework for a knowledge management system, which is expected to support both hospitals and the oncology network in Brazil. Under this holistic single-case study, triangulation of multiple sources of data collection was used by means of archival records, documents and participant observation, as two of the authors were serving as INCA staff members, thus gaining access to the event and its documentation and being able to perceive reality from an insider point of view. The benefits derived from the present status of the ongoing implementation, so far, are: (i) speediness of cancer diagnosis and enhanced quality of both diagnosis and data used in epidemiological studies; (ii) reduction in treatment costs; (iii) relief of INCA'S labor shortage; (iii) improved management performance; (iv) better use of installed capacity; (v) easiness of massive (explicit) knowledge transference among the members of the network; and (vi) increase in organizational capacity of knowledge retention (institutionalization of procedures).

Resumo em Inglês:

Stockouts remain a significant retail problem. Progress has been limited, as estimates of stockout rates in the past forty years have consistently averaged above 8 percent. The purpose of this study is to investigate the importance and extent of the stockout problem in the supermarket sector in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, from the perspective of the supermarket managers themselves. Results suggest that the level of stockouts is high. Generally, the suppliers are mentioned as being the ones mainly responsible for stockouts. These results suggest that managers have significant opportunities to reduce retail stockouts by taking preventative actions.