ICT in Chilean firms

Includes bibliography

Technological capacity-building in unstable settings: Manufacturing firms in Argentina and Brazil

From the 1970s onward, the macroeconomic context in Argentina and Brazil was characterized by drastic economic changes and instability. Numerous studies have documented the generally negative effect of this environment on the innovation capacities of the manufacturing sector. This paper, however, analyses the possible emergence of new innovation capacities in the period, bringing two important phenomena to light. First, a quite substantial number of firms, even in unstable settings, redoubled their innovation efforts. Second, these firms are mainly found in a small group of sectors associated with the countries’ static advantages or in sectors favoured by specific sectoral regimes. The findings, although exploratory, are a contribution to the debate on the development of innovative capacities in unstable macroeconomic contexts and the ability of sectors associated with the two countries’ static advantages to generate spaces of innovation and value creation.

Rising concentration in Asia-Latin American value chains: Can small firms turn the tide?

Dynamic Asia has overtaken the European Union as Latin America and the Caribbean’s second largest export market, after the United States. However, the region’s exports to Asia remain concentrated in few commodities involving a small number of large firms. This book explores the present and future scope for the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in biregional trade and value chains and the measures that can be taken to make those chains more inclusive and sustainable. SMEs have a low direct presence in the region’s export flows and their participation in the supplier networks of multinational companies is weak. This volume reviews several supplier development programmes (SDPs) adopted in various countries in Asia and Latin America to increase SME linkages with multinational firms. These programmes, many of which are public-private initiatives, aim to boost SME productivity and enhance their participation in value chains.

Avaliação de sistemas de indicadores de desempenho para empresas da construção civil da Região Metropolitana de Belém

A globalização e a demanda de ações sustentáveis do mercado atual, exigem cada vez mais das empresas a busca da melhoria contínua. Os gestores das empresas buscam a todo o momento alcançar o máximo de resultados positivos para obtenção de lucro, com baixos custos de produção e que suas atividades sejam cada vez mais sustentáveis. A utilização de sistemas de indicadores de desempenho é uma alternativa para mensurar o desempenho organizacional, sendo reflexo desta preocupação. Este desempenho deve ser avaliado não apenas em informações financeiras, pois desta forma seria insuficiente para a compreensão do ambiente de negócios dinãmico da atualidade. A utilização de sistemas de indicadores constitui-se uma das principais iniciativas que podem ser implementadas para acompanhar a necessária modernização e evolução da indústria da construção, na busca de aumento de eficiência, eficácia e gerando efetividade nos diversos processos que constituem o sistema de produção. A estratégia de pesquisa utilizada é um estudo de caso, pois tem como objetivo compreender os sistemas de indicadores de desempenho utilizados na região metropolitana de Belém e a relevãncia destes para a tomada de decisão empresarial. Para a pesquisa foram realizadas 5 etapas: 1) elaboração de templates para coleta de dados, 2) seleção de empresas para realização da pesquisa, 3) levantamento de indicadores utilizados, 4) reuniões com as empresas participantes e 5) proposta de sistema de indicadores padronizados. Os principais resultados obtidos foram: (a) entendimento da dinãmica de utilização dos indicadores de desempenho na região; (b) compreensão do comportamento empresarial das empresas da construção civil da região metropolitana relacionados ao uso de sistemas de indicadores de desempenho; (c) proposta de um padrão de sistema de indicadores de desempenho como uma ferramenta de gestão para auxiliar na tomada de decisão empresarial. Verifica-se com os resultados obtidos a necessidade de desenvolvimento de estudos acadêmicos que estimulem a criação de ambientes propícios para a realização de práticas gerenciais colaborativas, na linha de gerenciamento da construção civil, em especial no desenvolvimento de clubes de boas práticas utilizando indicadores de desempenho.

Innovation efforts and performances of Brazilian firms

We analyze the relationship between innovation and firms' performance in Brazil using a comprehensive database that cross-references innovation information by PINTEC (Technological Innovation Research) of the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) and financial information from Serasa and Gazeta Mercantil. Results from the structural equation modeling suggest that variables associating with investments in innovation, which are connected to the innovative effort of a company, do not explain financial performance significantly. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Green Manufacturing: Relationship between Adoption of Green Operational Practices and Green Performance of Brazilian ISO 9001-Certified Firms

The present work aims at analyzing how the adoption of a proactive environmental management via green operational practices (GOPs) correlates to the Green Performance (GrP) of a given set of ISO 9001-certified firms in Brazil. To this end, we elaborated a conceptual framework about environmental management, GOPs, and GrP Such theoretical foundation supported the development of empirical research through quantitative analysis. For the analysis, 75 questionnaires were collected from ISO 9001 certified companies. Data was analyzed by with statistical tools such as descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results demonstrate that the adoption of GOPs, in fact, exerts a positive impact on the GrP of the firms. This work contributes to a better understanding of green manufacturing in Brazil's industrial sector

Green product development and performance of Brazilian firms: measuring the role of human and technical aspects

The goal of this study is to present and test a conceptual framework that describes the technical aspects (TA), human/organizational aspects (HOA) of the adoption of green product development (GPD) practices and the effect of these practices on firms'environmental (EP), operational (OP) and market performance (MP). To this end, after reviewing the literature on these themes, a conceptual framework with 5 hypotheses is proposed. These hypotheses were tested on 62 Brazilian companies through structural equation modeling using SmartPLS 2.0M3. The main results of this study are as follows: (a) in general, the proposed framework obtained adequate goodness of fit statistics (GoF); (b) technological factors are shown to have an influence on the adoption of GPD practices, and those practices are related to company EP, OP and MP, thus confirming 4 hypotheses of the study; and (c) one of the study's hypotheses is not validated, indicating that the relationship of human/organizational aspects to GPD must be further analyzed. This work extends the literature because: (a) the conceptual framework tested in this study establishes several concepts that have been only partially tested in the previous literature; (b) this work presents evidence about Brazil, where the themes addressed herein have not been yet been thoroughly investigated; and (c) the non-validation of the hypothesis regarding the relationship between human/ organizational aspects with respect to the adoption of product-related environmental practices requires attention. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Green supply chain management and environmental performance of firms in the bioenergy sector in Brazil: an exploratory survey

To achieve sustainable development, supply chains must become greener. In this context, the importance of green supply chain management (GSCM) increases because it can contribute to improving firms'environmental performance (EP). However, little is known about these subjects in the context of firms in the bioenergy sector (sugarcane and ethanol production in Brazil). Thus, the objective of this work is to present the results of a survey conducted on 80 micro-, small-, and medium-sized firms that are suppliers in the Brazilian bioenergy sector (sugarcane and ethanol production). These results indicate that GSCM practices strengthen the EP of firms in the sector. Therefore, this article contributes to the existing literature because it addresses the relationship between GSCM and EP in an understudied sector (sugarcane and ethanol production). (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A support system that delineates location-choice sets for firms seeking office space

Factors influencing the location decisions of offices include traffic, accessibility, employment conditions, economic prospects and land-use policies. Hence tools for supporting real-estate managers and urban planners in such multidimensional decisions may be useful. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to develop a GIS-based tool to support firms who seek office accommodation within a given regional or national study area. The tool relies on a matching approach, in which a firm's characteristics (demand) on the one hand, and environmental conditions and available office spaces (supply) on the other, are analyzed separately in a first step, after which a match is sought. That is, a suitability score is obtained for every firm and for every available office space by applying some value judgments (satisfaction, utility etc.). The latter are powered by a focus on location aspects and expert knowledge about the location decisions of firms/organizations with respect to office accommodation as acquired from a group of real-estate advisers; it is stored in decision tables, and they constitute the core of the model. Apart from the delineation of choice sets for any firm seeking a location, the tool supports two additional types of queries. Firstly, it supports the more generic problem of optimally allocating firms to a set of vacant locations. Secondly, the tool allows users to find firms which meet the characteristics of any given location. Moreover, as a GIS-based tool, its results can be visualized using GIS features which, in turn, facilitate several types of analyses.

Integration of R&D and new product development: case studies of Brazilian high-tech firms

One of the aspects that influence good performance of new product development (NPD) at high-tech companies is the integration of research and development (R&D) and the other functions involved with NPD. The objective of this paper is to examine why Brazilian medium and large sized high-tech companies are different with respect to the integration of R&D with NPD. An analysis of case studies was conducted at five Brazilian high-tech firms. Among the results, collectivism, which is characteristic of the Brazilian organisational culture, was seen to manifest itself in companies through the adoption of cross-functional teams; the valorisation of personal relations, which is stimulated by physical proximity; and project managers’ ample participation in different functions involving NPD.

University students' assessment of entrepreneurial environments

Entrepreneurial intention is a primary step to create new venture in the entrepreneurial process. Environmental conditions are one of the main factors that are strengthening or weakening intention of prospective entrepreneur. Therefore, it is important to develop conducive environments for entrepreneurship to promote entrepreneurial intention. Moreover, the promoted entrepreneurial intention will raise the rate of new venture creation. This paper investigates the relationships between five key environments for entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial intention. The five entrepreneurial environments are: government policies and procedures, socioeconomic conditions, entrepreneurial and business skills, financial assistance, and non-financial assistance, respectively. Conjoint analysis was used to determine the significance of five environmental factors conducive to entrepreneurial intention. In this conjoint experiment, 1370 decisions were made by 137 university students. Significant relationships were found between all of these environmental factors and intention. Comparative importance of environmental factors was also calculated, along with sub-conjoint analyses based on characteristics of the sample.

The Role of CEO Statements of Aggressiveness and the Competitive Aggressiveness of Firms: What is the Impact on Performance?

This research examines the impact of a CEO’s statements of aggressiveness on his or her organization’s competitive moves and subsequent performance. Hypotheses were developed based on previous work in Upper Echelon Theory and competitive dynamics. Based on this prior literature, it was hypothesized aggressive statements by CEOs will be associated with more aggressive organizations. It was also hypothesized these more aggressive organizations would display better performance than less aggressive organizations. A content analysis of letters to shareholders and trade publications was performed. This data was analyzed using multiple regression in SPSS 17 to test the hypotheses that aggressive statements by CEOs are associated with aggressive organizations and higher performance. Aggression scores for the content analysis were generated using the software package DICTION. The sample for the study was the organizations with the most revenue in two industries, automobile manufacturing and retailing. Data collection covered a five-year time span from 2003-2007, with performance data lagged one year. Control variables employed included CEO tenure, CEO background, organization size, and organization age. The findings indicate that CEO statements of aggressiveness do not significantly impact the competitive aggressiveness or the performance of their organizations. The implications of these findings are discussed and potential avenues for future research in the area are outlined.

Is production the core competence for the internationalization of emerging country firms?

The rise of new multinationals in countries like Brazil provides an opportunity to revisit and carefully construct theories of how firms internationalize, a topic on which extant theory is weak. Brazilian firms are "infant multinationals", unlike developed country firms that are "mature multinationals". They are also internationalizing in a very different global context, and can do so on the basis of different competitive advantages than multinationals that came before. Therefore, this study aims at creating subsidies for theory building about early-stage internationalization. Emerging country firms have Production competences as main competitive asset to internationalize, what reflects their competitive positioning in home markets and their entry strategy in international markets. In the case of early-entrants - Western multinationals in the 1950s and Japanese in the 1980s - the Production competence played a key role for successful internationalization. Thus, the focus of the study is the role that the Production competence plays in the internationalization of late-entrants, the emerging country multinationals. The research design considers not only the position of the headquarters but also the initiatives of the subsidiaries and the dynamic interplay between both. The paper allows a better understanding of internationalization processes and the role of Production, when firms start building their own international networks. It brings relevant insights about the paths that are being followed by emerging country multinationals, the difficulties they find, the solutions they develop. These are important inputs not only for new theory building but also for managerial practice. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.