Environmental development in Brazilian companies: The role of human resource management

Specialized literature states that proper environmental management at companies requires support from human resource management. This occurs because the more efficient and effective human resource management is, the more it tends to contribute towards the organization's objectives. Considering that environmental management is an emerging organizational objective, human resource practices, when efficient and effective, tend to incorporate environmental goal and to become greener. In order to contribute to this emerging field of research, this paper reports on an empirical study about the relationship between human resources and environmental management at 75 Brazilian companies. The data collected were analyzed statistically using Structural Equation Modeling. The main results indicated that human resource management practices tend to statistically significant relate to environmental management at analyzed companies, through validation of H 1, but his relationship can be considered weak. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Green teams: Understanding their roles in the environmental management of companies located in Brazil

Green teams are frequently considered in the state-of-the-art literature as an essential factor for companies aiming to implement and improve environmental management approaches and practices. However, most of the available literature on green teams is conceptual and theoretical by nature. Therefore, the main purpose of this article is to evaluate the main characteristics of green teams in Brazilian companies and to analyse the relationships between green teams and the maturity level of environmental management in those companies. Based on a conceptual background on corporate environmental management and green teams, a research was done in two complementary phases: a survey of 94 companies with ISO 14001 certification; and a multiple case study of four industrial companies. Survey results suggest that 82% of the studied companies have cross-functional green teams, i.e. involving various companies' departments; and 65% have functional green teams, i.e. individual department teams. The results of the case study suggest that the use of green teams is an instrument to the greening of companies with ISO 14001 in Brazil. The company with the most proactive and advanced environmental management is the same company which uses green teams more intensely. Green teams are especially necessary for implementing more technical environmental management practices, e.g. Life Cycle Assessment. Since this is one of the first studies analysing green teams, the results presented can be useful for companies and public policies aiming to implementation of environmental initiatives. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integration practices for the technological innovation of products: Case studies at two large technological companies

Studies on innovation and technology management have emphasized the importance of integration between the research and development (R&D) department and others involved with the product development process (PDP) as a relevant practice for the good performance of technological innovation of product activities. This study addresses the topic of transfers of technologies to new product projects and also integration practices between the R&D department and others involved with the PDP. A qualitative study was conducted that was operationalized through two case studies at large high-tech companies: One is Brazilian and the other is a multinational subsidiary in Brazil. Among its main result, this paper represents and analyzes management practices that are favorable to integration in product development projects that demand development and transfer of technologies, such as: participation of R&D personnel in market activities, the adoption of virtual interaction mechanisms, and the application of methods such as technology roadmaps. © Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Facultad de Economía y Negocios.

Diagnóstico de modelos de maturidade em educação corporativa como ferramenta de gestão do conhecimento: um estudo de caso

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Barreiras e motivações à adoção de práticas de Green Supply Chain Management: estudo de casos no setor de baterias automotivas

Pós-graduação em Engenharia de Produção - FEB

Modelagem de séries de monitoramento de nível freático em área de afloramento do sistema aquífero guarani (sag) sob influência de diferentes usos agrícolas da terra

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Irrigação e Drenagem) - FCA

Cacaueiro: propagação por estacas caulinares e plantio no semi-árido do Estado da Bahia

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Produção Vegetal) - FCAV

Inter-relações da produtividade de cana soca com a resistência à penetração, umidade e matéria orgânica do solo

The sugarcane crop plays an important role on Brazilian economy,, especially in the aspect related to alternative energy sources. Yield of ratoon cane (2nd cycle) was evaluated in relation to resistance to penetration, gravimetric moisture and organic matter in a Typic Tropustalf, in the municipality of Suzanápolis (SP), 20º28'10'' S and 50º49'20'' W, in the Brazilian cerrado, in 2009. The main purpose was to select, among the attributes surveyed, the one with the highest linear and spatial correlations that explains the variability of sugar cane yield. A geostatistical grid was installed in order to collect data from the soil as well from the plant, with 120 sampling points in an area of 14.53 ha. Organic matter correlated linearly and negatively with penetration resistance, indicating that the soil management practices that aim its increase in the soil profile can improve soil physical conditions, and consequently, the development and yield of sugarcane. Both gravimetric moisture (UG) and content of soil organic matter (OM) correlated directly, linearly (UG2 and MO1) and spatially (UG1 and MO1) with sugarcane yield, proving to be the best attributes, among the evaluated ones, to estimate and increase the sugarcane yield.

Greening the campus of a Brazilian university: cultural challenges

Purpose - This study examined the relationship between environmental management practices developed at a campus of a Brazilian university (University of Sao Paulo) and the greening of its organizational culture. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach - This article presents a theoretical background based on the concepts of environmental management, organizational culture and environmental management in higher education institutions. The main framework of this research is the model proposed by Harris and Crane.Findings - The studied university has an environmental management program that is sometimes constrained in the following ways: the university bureaucracy and hierarchy; the main performance indicators for lecturers and professors are based on scientific production and publication, giving them little time for complementary activities; and some units develop their own environmental management practices, but they are not disseminated as best practices for use by other units. Some academic units showcase the proactive actions of professors who incorporate environmental management into their daily activities. The general perception is that the phrase environmental management is almost synonymous with solid waste management.Originality/value - This research details the first Brazilian application of the Harris and Crane model. It contributes an original analysis of environmental management and green organizational culture of a Brazilian university, an organizational type that has seldom been studied to date.

A gestão estratégica do conhecimento sob os parâmetros dos modelos de governance corporativa nas empresas com capital aberto

This article covers the concepts about the knowledge management practices aligned with corporate governance in the organizations opened capital, highlighting the importance attached to these types of management assistance in the conduct of business organizations. Highlights the points that still have gaps existing in governance organizations models and proposes a discussion of what remains to be done by proposing the use of knowledge management models as a tool to aid the implementation of best governance practices. Through research conducted in a company with publicly traded and listed on Level 1 of corporate governance, it was possible to identify therelationship between knowledge management models aligned with corporate governance standards. A questionary that includes elements of corporate governancein line with the concepts and models of knowledge management was applied. After finding that there is strong alignment between knowledge management and corporate governance, we present the arguments about the contributions that this convergence can bring to the organization.

Measuring Knowledge Management: A Strategic Approach to Library Information Services

In the study of theoretical trends in Administration, the management of information follows the development of theories of Administration; constant-adaptations are suffered. Information Science area understands and concerns itself with the changes wrought in these endeavour of the knowledge society as new forms of communication and integration. The libraries interact in ways that maximize access to information and facilitate the improvement on their structural environment as strategic approach for your services. The research aims at identifying the requirements and specifications of an information system for knowledge management in the public’s library environment and proposes to achieve a pre-defined structure for the implementation of administration management. The research is conducted with public’s library of the metropolitan region of the North’s Portugal. Portugal libraries are institutions that operate in the social process of their communities reflecting the society and its organic sphere of informational performance. These libraries have developed the organizational theories to make a framework easily for effective management practices and have been using their produced knowledge in the optimization of their actions. In the improvement of systems, theoretical administrative trends become management decisions and result in the ultimate success of the organization. In order to achieve its objectives the study verified an economy based on knowledge management, and its production emphasizes the human capital that permeates the condition of the information in support for the development of communities.

Fatores críticos de sucesso à adoção de práticas de green supply chain management: estudo de casos no setor de baterias automotivas

Pós-graduação em Engenharia de Produção - FEB

Greening the work force in Brazilian hotels: The role of environmental training

BACKGROUND: Organizations are increasingly required to reduce their environmental impact through the adoption of environmental management, which requires the support of human resource practices.OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to determine whether human resource management practices, especially training, are supporting environmental management practices at four hotels located in Brazil.METHODS: This research is qualitative, based on the analysis of four hotels in Brazil.RESULTS: Based on the systematized empirical evidence collected from four hotels (Hotels A, B, C, and D), it can be concluded that: (1) human resource management is still not fully aligned with environmental objectives at the hotels studied; (2) only Hotel B has implemented environmental management practices and aligned with human resource management in a more developed manner, which may indicate that these two variables of analysis could have interrelations; (3) environmental training as a human resource management practice was verified in all hotels analyzed.CONCLUSIONS: The greening of human resources practices is not fully aligned with environmental objectives in the hotels studied. If these hotels really wish to "go green," environmental training will be necessary. Hotel stakeholders play a major role in implementing the greening of the hotel industry.

O papel dos stakeholders na adoção de práticas de green supply chain management: estudo de caso em uma cadeia de suprimentos do setor de baterias automotivas

Pós-graduação em Engenharia de Produção - FEB

Evidências da relação entre evolução da gestão ambiental e a adoção de práticas de Green Supply Chain Management no setor eletroeletrônico brasileiro

The objective of this research is to examine if the environmental management evolution is positively related towards the adoption of green supply chain management practices (GSCM) by companies in the electronics sector in Brazil. To reach this objective, a quantitative research was conducted by survey with 100 companies in the electronics sector in Brazil. The collected data were processed using descriptive statistics, Exploratory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling. The most important results are: in the sample, GSCM practices to the recovery of investment, as the resale of scrap and other waste materials, and the adequacy with legislation and auditing, obtained high scores; and research hypothesis (H1) was confirmed and considered statistically valid, indicating that, in fact, the evolution of environmental management influences the adoption of GSCM practices.