Resumo em Inglês:

This study aims to identify the predictor variables for three types of management competencies: financial business management, process management and socio-environmental management. It was hypothesized that attributes of bank managers (such as the learning strategies they use) and those of the branches where they work (such as organizational support) are associated with the expression of management competencies at work. Structured questionnaires were used for data collection. Multilevel regression analyses (HLM) were performed to test the theoretical model of investigation. The sample was made up of 775 managers from the Bank of Brazil, spread among 239 bank branches. The greatest relative contribution to explain the management competencies came from intrinsic and extrinsic reflection, a learning strategy employed by managers at work. The managers’ perceptions regarding the company’s performance management practices, one dimension of organizational support, appeared as another important predictor. Other learning strategies and dimensions of organizational support, as well as the number of hours spent on training activities, revealed less expressive effects regarding management competencies. Practical recommendations are presented and the study’s limitations and contributions are discussed.

Resumo em Inglês:

This paper deals with the process of scaling up and scaling down grassroots demands through a state-sponsored socio-environmental development programme in Brazilian Amazonia called Proambiente (Pro-environment). The paper attempts to understand the links between the three different levels of the programme actions: the macro (federal government), intermediate (NGOs), and local (community) levels. The central paper’s issue is to understand how a state-sponsored socio-environmental development programme interacts with and impacts local communities. The theoretical paper’s framework involves the approaches of participatory development and governance. The methodology is based on three levels of qualitative analysis (macro-, intermediary- and local-level). The paper (a) describes the trajectory of the Proambiente and the process of scaling up communities’ demands; (b) reveals contradictions within the Proambiente implementation; and (c) debates the impacts of the programme actions at local level. The paper reveals that once the state encompasses local people’s demands and creates a development programme, the development model absorbs multi-actor interests that change local people’s proposals. It also shows that the challenge facing a socio-environmental development programme like the Proambiente is to find a balance between production and conservation aims.

Resumo em Inglês:

Many studies have highlighted the capacity Information Technology (IT) has for generating value for organizations. Investments in IT made by organizations have increased each year. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to analyze the IT Business Value for Information Intensive Organizations (IIO - e.g. banks, insurance companies and securities brokers). The research method consisted of a survey that used and combined the models from Weill and Broadbent (1998) and Gregor, Martin, Fernandez, Stern and Vitale (2006). Data was gathered using an adapted instrument containing 5 dimensions (Strategic, Informational, Transactional, Transformational and Infra-structure) with 27 items. The instrument was refined by employing statistical techniques such as Exploratory and Confirmatory Factorial Analysis through Structural Equations (first and second order Model Measurement). The final model is composed of four factors related to IT Business Value: Strategic, Informational, Transactional and Transformational, arranged in 15 items. The dimension Infra-structure was excluded during the model refinement process because it was discovered during interviews that managers were unable to perceive it as a distinct dimension of IT Business Value.

Resumo em Inglês:

This article investigates the Brazilian third-party logistics (3PL) sector which, increasingly competitive, offers clients a wide variety of services/information technologies in the quest to bolster efficiency. The main research objective is to determine which variables significantly impact 3PLs scale efficiency by applying two-stage DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis). Based on an unbalanced panel model, data from the annual study published by Revista Tecnologística (years 2001-2009) were analyzed. Results corroborate evidence in the literature that coordination mechanisms in the supply chain, supported by the availability of real time information and inventory synchronization, favor a more rational allocation of resources (inputs) to client demands (outputs).

Resumo em Inglês:

The primary objective of this paper is to identify the factors that explain Brazilian companies’ level of voluntary disclosure. Underpinning this work is the Discretionary-based Disclosure theory. The sample is composed of the top 100 largest non-financial companies listed in the Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo (Brazilian Securities, Commodities, and Futures exchange - BOVESPA). Information was gathered from Financial Statements for the years ending in 2006, 2007, and 2008, with the use of content analysis. A disclosure framework based on 27 studies from these years was created, with a total of 92 voluntary items divided into two dimensions: economic (43) and socio-environmental (49). Based on the existing literature, a total of 12 hypotheses were elaborated and tested using a panel data approach. Results evidence that: (a) Sector and Origin of Control are statistically significant in all three models tested: economic, socio-environmental, and total; (b) ‘Profitability’ is relevant in the economic model and in the total model; (c) Tobin’s Q is relevant in the socio-environmental model and in the total disclosure model; (d) Leverage and Auditing Firm are only relevant in the economic disclosure model; (e) Size, Governance, Stock Issuing, Growth Opportunities and Concentration of Control are not statistically significant in any of the three models.

Resumo em Inglês:

This research investigated the underuse of technological tools by innovative organizations which are acknowledged for their use of and familiarity with new technologies. The research conducted an analysis of 58 institutional repositories (IRs) out of 43 educational and research institutions which are internationally renowned for excellence. The core aspect of the analysis was the use of IRs for publishing and dealing with evidence in order to legitimize and add value to scientific research. The following items were analyzed: (a) the logical structuring of scientific communication published in the IRs; (b) the metadata which describe scientific communication based on the terms of the DCMI protocol used; (c) the availability of software functions which facilitate the queries and publication of evidences. Results show that the introduction of IRs did not add value to the quality of research in\ terms of associating and publishing evidence that could back them up. A strong tendency to replicate the traditional library model of physical collections was observed. It was concluded that merely possessing good technological tools is not sufficient for fostering innovation and strategic gains in organizations, even if their implementation takes place in highly promising and favorable environments.