Search

Over the last few years, Business Process Management (BPM) has achieved increasing popularity and dissemination. An analysis of the underlying assumptions of BPM shows that it pursues two apparently contradicting goals: on the one hand it aims at formalising work practices into business process models; on the other hand, it intends to confer flexibility to the organization -- i.e. to maintain its ability to respond to new and unforeseen situations. This paper analyses the relationship between formalisation and flexibility in business process modelling by means of an empirical case study of a BPM project in an aircraft maintenance company. A qualitative approach is adopted based on the Actor-Network Theory. The paper offers two major contributions: (a) it illustrates the sociotechnical complexity involved in BPM initiatives; (b) it points towards a multidimensional understanding of the relation between formalization and flexibility in BPM projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management literature draws attention to the gap of strategic alliances (SA) in the paradigm of entrepreneurial orientation (EO). The aim of this paper is to propose a model where EO is associated with SA, this relationship being influenced by its predecessor (top management), and EO working as a multidimensional construct. Data collected from 101 Brazilian firms were analyzed using structural equation modeling and supported those hypotheses. Improving firms' EO, particularly risk taking (RT), is important in order to promote SA. Obviously, top management can influence SA, but firms with an RT competence are more likely to promote SAs and conduct their implementation. Therefore, the present study offers the following contributions: (1) consolidating the EO construct by using it in a multidimensional way in a reflexive model, particularly the risk dimension; (2) advancing studies relating EO and SA by showing that top management has a significant influence on the EO-SA relationship; (3) the model used is robust and representative of the field of strategy and entrepreneurship as it explained 25.5% of the EO-SA relationship; (4) we suggest that EO should be used to increase SA and firm performance, which can reduce entrance barriers and business risks, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of interest to discuss how we are currently governed. A way that seems to operate through a given type of mentality every day helps to produce and disseminate means of conduct. ADM know-how, which circulates in the field of administration and extrapolates it, takes part in the production and dissemination of a business mentality which, in turn, is at the basis of current governability. This paper addresses the notion of government, one that does not only refer to political structures and to State management, but also to the means of action over the possibilities of action by others. It then addresses the notion of governability in different times, focusing on company or business governability, a sort of mentality that governs all. Based on that, it is possible for government to think of administration know-how as it is exercised nowadays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses how legitimacy conditions the market value of companies listed on the BM&F Bovespa. We specifically analyze how joining the Novo Mercado moderates the effect of legitimacy on company value. For such, 348 organizations were investigated between 2002 and 2007, which generated a total of 1357 observations. Adherence to the Novo Mercado, the prestige of board members and company reputation significantly affect market value. When the organizations are divided in accordance with the level of governance, cultural-cognitive origins and legitimacy standards are seen to significantly affect market value in groups with a lower degree of governance, whereas among Novo Mercado companies, the influence was not as significant. In face of these results, legitimacy is shown to be an important factor in explaining variability in the performance of publicly traded companies and the presence in differentiated listings of governance conditioned the influence of other origins of legitimacy in market value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The studies of Mehrabian and Russell (1974), (researchers in the field of environmental psychology), have been instrumental in spreading the idea that the environmental features at the point of sale cause emotional reactions that lead to behavior that is hard to explain from a cognitive standpoint. For this reason, merchandising implementation plays a key role, since its aim is to provide an appropriate store atmosphere and display products in a way that encourages buying activity. This paper investigates the effects of merchandising factors on retail sales. The study was carried out in two types of stores: experimental -- where merchandising factors were employed, and control -- where the design features of merchandising remained unchanged. The analysis of the results confirmed the income effect. The increase in revenue can be an indicator that merchandising factors have an influence on the consumer's store choice criteria and his/her behavior within a determined sales environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have been conducted in corporate finance regarding long-term investment and financing decisions. However, short-term asset investments play a significant role in the balance sheet of companies. Moreover, financial managers dedicate significant amounts of time and effort to the subject of working capital management, balancing current assets and liabilities. This paper provides insights regarding the key factors of working capital management by exploring the internal variables of a number of companies. This study used data from 2,976 Brazilian public companies from 2001 to 2008, and found that debt level, size and growth rate can affect the working capital management of companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The controllability principle posits that managers should be evaluated based on controllable factors. Consequently, managerial incentives might be related to managerial accounting practices able to avoid that managers will be accountable for financial results beyond management control, such as analysis by responsibility center, standard-cost, transfer pricing, budgeting and performance evaluation. This paper develops a field research to investigate whether there is a relation between the presence of managerial incentives and managerial accounting practices associated with the controllability principle. On-site interviews were conducted to collect data at the organizational level and nonparametric statistical tests were used for data analysis. Among the managerial accounting practices examined, the results suggest that only the annual budget, analysis by responsibility center and performance evaluation are associated with the presence of incentive systems in the sampled firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the voluntary disclosures of relevant information on the websites of a sample of 282 non-financial Bovespa-listed publicly-quoted companies. Based on the relevance of the corporate information (financial and governance) assessed by the information intermediaries and that provide the basis for constituting weighted disclosure indices the results suggest that there is more disclosure: i) the bigger the firm is and the bigger the return on company shares; ii) in companies that have a special type of corporate governance; iii) for those categories of corporate information that are more requested by the rating agencies and by stock brokers; iv) in companies with larger debts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article had as an objective to confirm if deferred tax income analysis increases significantly the detection of earnings management. Data were collected for the mining, steelworks, metallurgy and textile industries for the period 2000-2004, through probit and logit analysis established on the Modified Jones and Kang & Sivaramakrishnan models. The paper found evidences that analysis of deferred tax income does not increment the predictive power of the analyzed models. The divergence can be explained because most of the literature on the subject dealt with American firms and industries that supposedly have different incentive factors for earnings management. Further, the differences in Brazilian firms can be originated by the flexible use of the partial method for recognition of tax deferral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]