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This article presents the results of a systematic literature review (SLR) on religiosity and spirituality, particularly in the work context. We aimed to verify the state-of-the-art of scientific production related to these themes. To achieve the proposed objective, we identified 312 articles published in journals in the period between 1960 and 2018 using a rigourous method of analysis and sorting, which resulted in 52 appropriate studies. The analyses presented are based on the three bibliometric laws: those of (i) Lotka (16:317–323, 1926), (ii) Bradford (137:85–86, 1934) and (iii) Zipf (1949). This article brings contributions that encompass four approaches: (i) measurement scales of spirituality and religiosity; (ii) behavioural benefits of religiosity in individuals; (iii) insertion of religiosity and spirituality in social service practice; and (iv) research directions. This research presents technical and managerial implications to provide theoretical support for the creation of programmes and/or practices of spirituality and religion in the workplace as an effective strategy, towards ethical attitudes. Also, this study contributes to the methodological achievement of SLRs in the field of religion in the workplace, highlighting an effective method for thematic mapping, and holistically identifying new research topics and directions, especially because of the several guidelines presented.

PurposeThis study aims to (1) investigate the association between companies' investment in occupational safety and their financial performance and (2) discuss the importance of occupational safety to overall performance.Design/methodology/approachOccupational safety is often considered to be a practice that can yield suboptimal return on investment. However, it is not known whether this belief is substantiated by evidence. A mapping review of the eligible research literature (N = 36) regarding firms' investment in occupational safety and their financial performance, published between 1945 and2018, was carried out in the Web of Science database.FindingsBy dispelling myths regarding return on investment associated with occupational safety, the findings of this study underscore financial gains firms can obtain by promoting occupational safety measures in their organizations.Originality/valueThese issues are important because they can help policymakers understand the pressures companies face in terms of occupational safety and financial performance sustainability.

Although startups' importance as "innovation drivers" and a resource for leveraging competitiveness has been established, these startups face difficulties in being sustained and continuing to survive, especially in emerging countries. These difficulties added to the changes to which startups are subjected, considering the context of industry 4.0, can make survival even more challenging. From this perspective, this paper aims to present a typology for startups 4.0. To achieve the proposed objective, we performed a systematic literature review, which covers three stages: (1) planning the review, (2) conducting the review, and (3) dissemination of knowledge. We screened 2434 studies and included 65 to synthesize. Our primary result is a typology with four classes, namely, “Strategy”, “Startups”, “Culture” and, “Methods”. This study's main contributions are (1) the methodological framework, (2) the set of recommendations that can facilitate achieving superior performance, and (3) future research guidelines. From the discussions presented, we believe that this research can help with elaborating hypotheses for developing new quantitative studies to empirically verify the impact of the proposed recommendations, considering the smart industry's advent.

Competitive advantage is a significant concept both in studies of strategic management and in the practice of organizations. The dynamic reality of the market and competitors' innovation capacity make it difficult for companies to achieve their goals and maintain sustainable competitive performance. In small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this difficulty is often compounded by a scarcity of strategic resources, which can considerably decrease their competitive advantage sources. In the present study, we discovered, through a systematic literature review (n = 70), a conceptual typology, with identification of five classes, categorized as (i) methodological procedures, (ii) organizational environment, (iii) organizational performance, (iv) resources/profile and (v) organizational research which were used to capture notions around dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage for SMEs. Likewise, as a result, a diverse selection of three clusters was found to show the positive influence (direct and indirect) of dynamic capabilities on competitive advantage and that performance variables mediate the impact on innovation capacity. Given this, we have answered two research questions related to the (i) discovery of state of the art and (ii) future research directions on Dynamic Capabilities and Competitive Advantage for SMEs.

The purpose of this paper is to present the result of a systematic literature review regarding the application and development of forecasting models in the industrial context, especially the context of manufacturing processes and operations management. The study was conducted considering the preparation of an established research protocol to know, discuss, and analyze the main approaches adopted by researchers in the field. To achieve this objective, we analyzed 354 recent papers published in periodicals between 2008 and 2018. This paper makes three main contributions to the field: (i) it presents an updated portfolio of prediction models in the industrial context, providing a reference point for researchers and industrial managers; (ii) it presents a characterization of the field of study through the identification of publication vehicles, frequency, and the principal authors and countries related to the development of research on the theme; (iii) it proposes a unified framework, listing the characteristics of the prediction models with their respective application contexts, identifying the current research directions to provide theoretical aids for the development of new approaches to forecasting in industry. The results of this study provide an empirical base for further discussions on studies that focus on forecasting in the industrial context.

This study proposes a management model by business processes for science parks based on the premises and concept of enterprise architecture (EA). The model offers integrating business processes with activities and information that can be generated by adopting customized information systems to meet the science parks’ needs. The proposed model’s main contributions included EA as a means for shaping and enabling reconfiguration through descriptions of the structures of business processes and information systems that connect these structures, forming business and information architecture frameworks. In association with these frameworks, the managers need to define a coherent set of patterns, policies, procedures, and principles that sustain the business processes integrated with the information systems. As a result of the study, this model can help management execute and control activities related to business processes in the parks through interaction and alignment with the information system intended to facilitate the execution. The model will also lead to greater agility and efficiency in these business processes, considering their specific nature and the relationship with the parks’ actors. As a practical contribution, knowledge of these processes aids the management of the parks in their drive for a competitive advantage by maintaining and developing their management models.

Las burbujas de precios especulativas se definen como una desviación significativa entre el valor intrínseco de un activo y su valor de mercado y en este artículo se refiere a los valores de las acciones. La literatura sobre el tema ha señalado la existencia de burbujas en diversos tipos de mercados y sus respectivos activos. Un gran esfuerzo se ha dirigido hacia la identificación de burbujas en los índices de precios de las acciones. Sin embargo, pocos esfuerzos de investigación se centran en los activos como la unidad de análisis. Los estudios sobre existencias en Brasil han identificado la presencia de burbujas en IBOVESPA (Índice de Bolsa de São Paulo). Dado este contexto y suponiendo que las burbujas especulativas están presentes en el mercado de valores brasileño, esta investigación se centra en la siguiente pregunta: ¿Existe evidencia de la existencia de burbujas especulativas en los precios de las acciones cotizadas en la Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo? Las pruebas econométricas se realizaron en veintisiete acciones, con base en sus posiciones cada semestre, para el período comprendido entre los primeros semestres de 1990 hasta el primer semestre de 2010. Los valores nominales de las acciones seleccionadas fueron ajustados por inflación por el IPCA (Índice de precio). Para identificar la presencia de burbujas, se aplicó la prueba de no cointegración de Johansen y / o la prueba de no causalidad de Granger entre el valor intrínseco, los dividendos y los intereses sobre el capital social, y el valor de mercado (precio de cierre semestral). Los hallazgos primarios revelan una presencia de burbujas en veinte de las veintisiete poblaciones con UN nivel de significación del 5%. De las siete acciones que no muestran evidencia de burbujas, seis son instituciones financieras. En cinco poblaciones las pruebas revelan la causalidad de Granger, derivada del valor de mercado hacia el valor intrínseco. Los resultados del estudio son consistentes y contribuyen con investigaciones previas en la literatura y son útiles para inversionistas, instituciones financieras, académicos, agentes gubernamentales y comerciantes.

This research aims to investigate the moderating role of an economic crisis in the consumer purchase intention toward generic drugs (GDs), and it uses a quantitative questionnaire survey to collect data through face-to-face interviews and robust statistical analyses. The results reinforce the idea that price is a fundamental element in building pharmaceutical product value. In situations of limited resources, the cost savings from generic drugs represent a strong appeal to consumers' experience of GDs and closes the perceived quality gap between the brand name and the generic products. This research highlights two main contributions, and its findings provides managerial and political implications.

AbastractDeciding to make online purchases can be risky and retailers have an opportunity to influence the consumer’s decision-making process. The aim of this article is to gauge the impact of different types of risks on trust and decision making with regard to online purchases. We conducted a survey with adaptations to three theoretical scales. To analyze the impact of risk on the variables of trust and decision making, a confirmatory factor analysis was performed, and to clarify the relationships between these constructs, a structural equation model was prepared. A qualitative (n = 13) and quantitative study were conducted with primary data (n = 328) collected by means of a structured questionnaire using a sample of a group of consumers who reside in the south of Brazil. The article makes four main contributions to the field: (i) it identifies the influence of three latent constructs that might affect online purchase behavior; (ii) it gauges the risks associated with the latent construct of trust and the adaptation of scales of perceived risk and decision making; (iii) it highlights the need to reassess the strategies adopted by companies that sell online to reduce risks and consequently increase trust in decision making; and (iv) it evaluates the demographic variables that have a significant moderating effect on the relationships of the constructs of trust and decision making during the purchase process.

The objective of this paper is to verify how investments in R&D influence the measures of performance (sales and operating profit) of companies. Based on the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, a 2003–2013 information panel was developed for 548 companies. Regression with panel data and Quantile Regression were used. The results indicate that investments in R&D positively influence sales and operating profit of companies as a whole, varies according to the R&D intensity when companies are analyzed in groups and that the distance from the frontier influences the relationship between R&D and performance. The companies of the upper quantiles have better relation R&D and profit than the companies more distant from the frontier. Companies with higher profit can transform R&D investments more efficiently into profit.

This article aims to evaluate the quality perceived, from the perspective of students, in post-graduate diploma courses in the Brazilian context. Post-graduate diploma courses in Brazil are called lato sensu courses as opposed to stricto sensu courses, which is a term used for Master's Degree and Doctorate courses. Based on the literature on quality in services, the main constructs regarding quality in this field were addressed, in addition to studies that investigated the quality of services in Higher Education Institutions. A questionnaire with 32 items was applied to 358 individuals at a major university in the northeast of Brazil. By means of exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, five dimensions relating to SERVQUAL attributes were formed: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. As a contribution to the field, this study suggests the validity of quality perception indicators analyzed in the context of Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and their adaptation to the robust SERVQUAL methodology.

Government regulations can guide the technological progress, investment in research and development (R&D), and institutional organization of a specific sector. In this context, using patent data, this study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of three laws that pertain to R&D in Brazilian pharmaceutical market for vaccines. The results reveal an increasing international interest in the Brazilian market since the promulgation of the Industrial Property Law. Despite its limitations, this study reveals significant efforts and promising results in Brazil with respect to ensuring that technological and industrial policies and strategies incorporate innovation in vaccine R&D and change the economy's competitive circumstances.

Design Science Research (DSR) purports to be a guide for research oriented to finding solutions to problems and designing artifacts. The aim of this study is to propose its use in the proposition of a management model by processes intended for science parks. Four science parks located in Paraná State, Brazil, were analyzed by conducting a comparative case study. Semi-structured interviews were held with the managers of the parks and non-participant observation was used to become more familiar with the environment to be studied. The results suggest that in order to define a management model by processes for science parks, the use of DSR is feasible. It is also important to follow its stages of construction, identifying the parks’ management activities, identifying and mapping business processes and the information systems that support them and proposing this integration in the organizational logic of Enterprise Architecture. This study contributes to the field by using DSR to define a management model by processes that expresses the relationships between business processes and information systems and how these should be articulated in the development of activities in the environments under study.

This paper presents an economic assessment of Brazilian agribusiness and its relationship with other economic sectors. It was found that, in 2011, agribusiness had a share of 18.45% (basic prices) and 19.77% (market prices) of Brazilian GDP. The tax burden of agribusiness (20.68%) was higher than that of other sectors (13.59%), despite agribusiness being a major contributor to the generation of foreign exchange, employment, and essential products, such as food. Brazilian agribusiness is a major employer, responsible for 29.39% of national employment. However, its average income is lower than in the other sectors of the Brazilian economy. Finally, agribusiness was found to be the biggest generator of foreign exchange, with a positive balance of trade. It was possible to conclude that agribusiness forms a strong link between agriculture and livestock, industry, and services in other economic sectors. For this reason, it can be said that the development of agribusiness is highly relevant to the process of Brazilian economic development and is therefore important to the progress of economic policies.

The objective of this study is to investigate evidence of cointegration and causality between the market price of the live cattle in Brazil and the prices of the respective derivatives traded on BM&FBOVESPA – São Paulo, Brazil. The Johansen test was used to analyze evidence of cointegration between markets. The cointegration of these markets and their bidirectional causality signal to decision-makers in this agribusiness that the variations in BM&FBOVESPA futures contracts cause changes in the prices of the spot prices, as well as the spot prices cause to the futures contracts of B&MFBOVESPA.

This article aims to show that business plan risks are clearer and more consistent, compared with classical methodology, when evaluated through the multi-index methodology. To do so, it is necessary to identify the expectations of return and perceived risks in evaluating a business plan. To explain the above statement, we used a case example of a manufacturing unit of purses made of tilapia leather in the city of Campo Mourão, Paraná State, Brazil. Relevant information was collected through documenting research and semi-structured interviews, which were conducted in 2016 and 2017. The adoption of the cost leadership strategy, practicable due to the presence of local production arrangements, proved crucial to this project’s viability. Following this strategy, the demand, initial investments, production costs, and selling price were estimated. The multi-index methodology was used for the generation and analysis of the return indicators vis-à-vis the perceived risks. The multi-index methodology perceptual map signals a medium/high return (return on investment assets = 23.71% per year) and that the perceived risks are compatible with profit expectations. The sensitivity analysis of the results, using the Monte Carlo method, shows that P(net present value ≤ 0) ≈ 0.0002, thus corroborating the decision to invest in this business. This article contributes to the literature on the use of existing productive arrangements in various stages of the production and marketing process and the use of an analysis methodology that leads decision-makers to specify the risks associated with their decision.

The relationships among effective knowledge management (KM), organisational innovativeness (OI), market orientation (MO) and organisational performance (OP) have been explored in the literature. These constructs are generally analysed in pairs, such as the influence of KM on OI, or KM on OP, and other combinations, but the relationships among the full set of constructs in question are not fully understood yet. In the extant literature, the relationships among them are analysed for the most part with covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM). Partial least-squares (PLS) path modelling is a component-based approach to SEM that is not as widely used as CB-SEM, but it has the potential to allow increased flexibility in handling various modelling problems in comparison with CB models, particularly for predictive and exploratory purposes. This paper aims to verify whether the PLS method could confirm or reject the results of the more restrictive covariance-based method in modelling the relationships among KM, OI, MO and OP. The results indicate that both methods yielded convergent and discriminant validity for the constructs, displaying stability across model analysis and depuration. The PLS model revealed the influence of KM on MO, OI and OP. It also shows that OI is the main driving factor for OP. KM seems to have a direct effect on OP, which is greatly magnified when mediated by OI. The sample size, although borderline adequate for the CB method, was more than adequate for PLS, yielding excellent model stability.

This paper investigates the Brazilian innovation policy to encourage research and development (R&D) of NTDs vaccines and evaluates the measurable results achieved by Brazil from the perspective of intellectual property over the past 35 years. It is possible to note the significant national efforts that have been made in Brazil to ensure that national policies and technological and industrial strategies incorporate innovation in NTDs vaccines. Regarding patent date, Brazil can be analysed as an innovative developing country and the R&D of vaccines for NTDs has progressed slowly over the past 35 years. Moreover, Brazilian R&D remains under the responsibility of public institutions and the establishment of public–private partnerships is still limited. On the other hand, this study highlights an important change in NTDs scenario, with increased participation of private companies. Finally, this study establishes a criticism in confronting the incentives of Brazilian innovation policy with the findings of empirical research.

The aim of this article is to present an artifact for evaluating the quality and performance of service providers in the field of health care: the UNIPLUS Program. To verify the scientific nature of the artifact and ensure that it meets the criteria set by the community and the environment, the premises of Design Science Research (DSR) were used. As this research field lacks empirical evidence, the artifact was tested from 2013 to 2015 with 25 health care service providers from different categories, with an emphasis on hospitals and clinics located in 7 cities in the south of Brazil. This article makes 3 main contributions to the field: (1) the artifact can be applied to any health insurance operator in Brazil and other countries, as it meets the legal norms and requirements established by current legislation; (2) it helps health service providers by generating information that identifies shortfalls and possibilities for improvement for every aspect analyzed in the evaluation process; and (3) it uses the DSR methodology in an evaluation artifact that evaluates the quality and performance of services in the field of health care. The artifact proved to be adequate for the purpose in question, helping to improve the quality of care and institutional performance.

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the influence of a transnational egocentric network on the innovation competence for internationalization for a transnational focal organization—considered one of the main players in the telecommunications sector worldwide. The theoretical–empirical framework relies on the perspectives of innovation, relational learning, and relational embeddedness in inter-organizational networks. With regard to methodology, the design chosen for this research was data collection, since it deals with relational data treated dyadically, using the network analysis technique to identify the egocentric network configuration with the use of UCINET software. We conclude that the studied network is oriented toward innovation and the analyzed variables show a high degree of complexity, especially in relation to the wide-reaching treatment of innovation as overlapping with the traditional indicators and with an emphasis on technology or research and development. In this sense, the main contribution of this research is to show that the traditional conception of organizational competence as an internal resource can be extended to the perspective of relational embeddedness by considering innovation for internationalization as an inter-organizational level of competence, creating the need to undertake new studies that will complement the explanatory power, in addition to the learning dimensions, that are contemplated in this research.

Consumer-oriented sustainability follows a broader perspective that takes environmental, social and economic impacts of consumption into consideration. The main objective of this article is to broaden the sustainable consumption scale (SCS) of Ribeiro and Veiga (2011) by including communication as a variable that influences the development of sustainable consumer behaviour. For this study, data were collected from Brazilian consumers: the first with a sample of 231 respondents, and the second with 170. The results are presented on a 15-item scale with five dimensions: 1) recycling; 2) communication; 3) frugality; 4) ecological awareness; 5) resource save. This article contributes to the development of attitudinal aspects studies on consumer-oriented sustainability. The study provides a measuring instrument for organisations that seek to identify the profile of their consumers and identify a market niche in socially and environmentally responsible behaviour, and for future studies that use sustainable consumer attitudes as a variable of interest.

Rural insurance is inserted in the field of agricultural policies to mitigate risks that farmers face. It was an innovation for the Brazilian government from the implementation standpoint, despite the existence of similar programs in other countries. The purpose of this paper is to assess the recent evolution of the Brazilian Rural Insurance Premium Subsidy Program (PSR) and its main variables: amount insured area, policies, average area, benefiting producers, total premiums involved and total subsidy. The study examined in detail the PSR representation by region and farming. In order to evaluate the results of this program on agricultural policy, an exploratory and descriptive analysis was performed with the objective of studying the evolution of the Brazilian rural insurance in the context of PSR, using the information available in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA) about the program. The information and data were collected between July and August 2015. The study was based on data collected from 2005 to 2013 with some general data of 2014 program included in the study. Even though the focus of the analysis was on the most recent years, 2009-2013. Data analysis revealed that the increased supply and demand for rural insurance is in the South and in the agricultural modalities for grains and fruits, with growth potential in other sectors and other regions in the country. PSR, as public policy, was responsible for the expansion of the rural insurance market in Brazil, encouraging and providing the access of producers to agricultural insurance by subsidizing the premium fee. Although this expansion has been slow and gradual, Brazil had in 2013 about 13.8% of the agricultural area with rural insurance coverage. This reveals the need for expanding the program to popularize this important risk mitigation tool.

The purpose of this paper is to extend knowledge of enterprise architecture and the importance of the operating model of a firm through a Dynamic Capabilities perspective. First, the authors attempt to position Private Educational Institutions in an operating model. They propose a model that relates enterprise architecture to the dynamic capabilities approach. A questionnaire was prepared in accordance with the proposed structural equation model and was sent to 1,932 private universities. The results show a significant relationship between operational model dimensions and reconfiguring capability. This paper contributes with a better understanding of enterprise architecture regarding its strategic relevance to organizations, in particular to Educational Institutions. Dynamic Capabilities proved to be a relevant and promising concept for the study of Enterprise Architecture operating models. This implies that the reconfiguring capabilities in Enterprise Architecture project implementation are positively affected by the operating model of the institutions.