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The purpose of this paper is to analyze how Brazilian food companies in the State of São Paulo determine the importance of and the need to adapt their internal resources as a competitive advantage for internationalization.

From a resource-based view (RBV), 35 different factors grouped into four categories were identified and presented to 24 companies. The data were analyzed through a gray relational analysis to establish all factors’ order of importance.

Factors linked to human and organizational resources present greater adaptability and allow companies competitive and sustainable advantages but have not yet been explored thoroughly. Identifying and adapting internal resources do not guarantee achieving competitive and sustainable advantages, as the access to international market is also a consequence of commercial agreements developed by countries and economic blocks.

The analysis highlights the fragility of competitiveness among the companies analyzed in exporting products with commodity characteristics, with none or little differentiation. Such products are traded mainly through trading companies, which allow the access of the same market to internal competitors and other countries. Thus, any lapse promoted by the company may be enough for it to lose its competitiveness and, hence, market space.

This paper stands out in the field of strategic management, specifically in the research on RBV, exportation and competitiveness, by making use of the theory of gray correlation system in an innovative and original way.

The lean production system and world class manufacturing (WCM) have been prominent in recent studies due to their conceptual synergy. However, although the number of studies is increasing, the research is immature, especially regarding the interaction between topics. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to rank the tools of the lean production system, indicating how they help organizations achieve WCM, using the theory of grey systems.

Therefore, the authors conducted an initial survey to collect data to determine how the lean production tools are related to the WCM pillars. These data were analyzed by the grey relational analysis statistical method, which passes through the construction of four stages.

The results show that of the lean production tools, stream mapping, kaizen, total productive maintenance, Six Sigma, standardized work and 5S stand out for their use and implementation in the organizational environment and facilitate organizations’ transitions to world-class performance through the WCM pillars.

The results achieved guide organizations to use the tools of the lean production system to help them reach world class status.

This paper stands out in the field of operations management, specifically in the research on lean production, by making use of the theory of grey correlation system in an innovative and original way. In addition, it promotes the consolidation of information on two of the main administrative strategies currently employed in the organizational environment.

The losses of vegetables in the world are significant and are distributed throughout the production chain. In the face of this problem, the purpose of this study is to applied the principles of the Lean Production to reduce waste in the production process on a family farm.

A case study was conducted on a family farm producing organic vegetables, with the focus of study being on lettuce. Data collection procedures involved interviews, observations and filming of the lettuce production process. The instruments used to identify the sources of waste were the value flow mapping, vertical flowchart, Ishikawa diagram, consumer voice and spaghetti diagram.

The main sources of waste observed were the movement in the planting stage and excess processing in the fertilization stage (excess fertilization). Improvements such as adaptation and even exclusion of activities related to the production process and organization of the site were carried out and contributed to a 45% reduction in the time of the activities cycle that did not add value but which were necessary.

The study here presented came to innovate and contribute to the reduction of waste related to agriculture since the lean production principles were applied to reduce waste in the productive process of lettuce in a family farm. The positive results of the application of lean production prove to be replicable to other properties and cultures, given that the conduction took place in a structured way in the five lean principles and their tools. It is up to the guidance and dissemination of this knowledge to producers.

The study here presented can estimate that lean principles, when applied in agriculture, can contribute to the sustainability of food production systems.

Lean Production is a model developed for application in industrial sectors, and its application in agriculture is incipient in the international literature. This paper contributes to reducing waste in a sector that has significant loss rates by adapting the lean production model to agriculture.

This paper compares traditional and digital banks in nine categories of complaints and provides insights to improve complaint management performance.

A sample of the major Brazilian banks was defined, with four traditional and four digital banks. The grey relational analysis (GRA) method was applied as an analytical tool to compare the most frequent complaints of traditional and digital banks. The most critical complaints identified were considered to discuss potential improvements in complaint management using quality and service management system concepts.

The GRA method enabled the development of a ranking of nine complaint categories, considering the uncertainty involved in the data and differentiating between traditional and digital banks. The most critical complaint categories, regardless of business model, were “unauthorized charges” and “poor service,” which were ranked first and second in the frequency rankings. Traditional and digital banks differed the most in the complaint category “unfair charge,” ranking third and eighth in the rankings, respectively.

Managers from traditional and digital banks can improve complaint management performance by applying ISO 9001 and ISO 20000 concepts such as incident, problem, change, service level, availability, capacity, information technology service continuity and financial management.

The study's findings can help bank managers improve service levels in the face of technological competition. Improving these organizations is an important factor for developing countries such as Brazil.

This paper reveals the differences between two business models regarding complaint management. It also considers a methodological approach to include the uncertainty related to customers' perception and subjectivity inherent to complaints.

This study aims to present consolidated information on blockchain, which seeks to better clarify the concept of blockchain and the associated implications and characteristics.

The methodological procedure used was Grounded Theory, based on a Systematic Bibliographic Review on the adoption of blockchain in supply chain management. To add experts' opinion on the subject to the analyzed panorama, data from a survey were also considered in the analysis.

The Grounded Theory enabled the development of consolidated information on blockchain related knowledge, identifying benefits, fragilities and contributions of the concept for supply chain management.

An epistemological gap has been identified between the use of blockchain in supply chain management and a theoretical basis to support the application. The originality of this study lies in providing a proposition of this theoretical basis.

This paper aims to conduct case studies in companies of different branches of the agribusiness sector to analyze the degree of adherence to lean production system, considering the use of techniques and tools, and how the specificities of the agribusiness system work.

By contributing to the refinement of the theory, multiple type case studies were conducted in eight agribusiness units from different branches by applying structured interviews, on-site visits and document analysis. The comparative analysis of the cases occurred focusing on the degree of adherence to lean production system; use of techniques and tools; and influence of the specificities of agribusiness systems.

The adoption of lean production system occurs as an improvement mechanism of organizational performance. However, it is necessary to advance in the formalization of the actions, which need to encourage the creation of new leaders who spread the organizational philosophy. When comparing the degree of adherence to lean production with the use of techniques and tools, it was observed that there is no direct relationship, indicating that each organization should select only the techniques and tools that will improve their own organizational performance. At last, the specific characteristics of seasonality of consumption, quality and health surveillance and sociological aspects of the food have high influence on surveyed agribusiness systems, and its effects can be minimized by the techniques and tools associated with lean production system.

The analysis is valid for the universe investigated due to the specific characteristic of the case study.

The literature regarding the lean production philosophy is vast; however, the agribusiness segment, one of the major sectors of the global economy, features a large gap in literature. This study is one of the first original papers to report this reality.

Six Sigma program is an approach currently adopted by many companies, which involves a highly disciplined and guided process, in which applications of many different tools and techniques aim at generating a cycle of continuous improvement. In this sense, a survey‐based research was conducted in a developing country from which the aim of this paper is to identify and analyse the tools and techniques used in the stages of the DMAIC.

The paper presents parts of the results of a descriptive survey conducted by a postal questionnaire answered by more than 60 Six Sigma users. Specific results of tools and techniques applied in Six Sigma are compared with those prescribed in the literature.

The results confirm the use of Six Sigma tools and techniques suggested by the literature. It also points out that Six Sigma needs to be supported by measurable and reliable data, and thus that the use of tools and techniques is indispensable to the use of the DMAIC.

This is not a probabilistic survey and, therefore, the generalisation is not feasible.

The paper may assist either academic and practitioners when teaching, researching and applying tools and techniques in Six Sigma.

This paper is one of the few published studies that report tools and techniques applied in Six Sigma programme in developing countries.

Despite the increasing interests in supply chain management (SCM) within academy and industrial environment, there is still a lack of academic literature concerning topics such as methodologies to guide and support supply chain integration. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This article presents the application of a diagnosis method in a Brazilian company from the sugar and ethanol industry to identify the level of supply chain integration. The diagnosis method is based on Cooper, Lambert and Pagh reference model for SCM. The method involves nine referential axes established from the eighth key business processes of the reference model.

It was pre-tested and supplemented with findings from interviews with academics and practitioners. Additionally, an illustration application was conducted in three relevant companies.

The application results were useful for refining the method that can be considered as a diagnosis instrument to permit companies to evaluate its supply chain integration.

Sustainability is in vogue nowadays. It is a new concept and it has yet to be studied in more depth and rigor to create a stronger understanding. There are several lines of research and development in this area, each one using a specific template for measuring sustainability what poses even greater difficulties to those interested in the subject. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and compare current models for measuring organizational sustainability.

The paper presents a literature review identifying six models that have synergies in their structures and methods for measuring sustainability. It also analyzes each model highlighting key individual features identifying similarities and differences.

Results indicates it is necessary to improve existing models and gathering positive features of each model may be the starting point for obtaining a measurement model of sustainability.

This work is restricted to perform a critical analysis of models for measuring intra-organizational sustainability.

This is one of the first studies to investigate models that assess sustainability from the intra-organizational perspective.

Over recent the past decades, integrated management systems (IMS) have emerged as one of the major tasks for practising managers and the academic community. In this context, this paper aims at identifying relevant practices related to an IMS in an organisation that belongs to the sugar cane and ethanol agricultural industrial sector in Brazil.

A review of mainstream literature on IMS is conducted followed by case‐based research used as the methodological approach. Data were gathered through a questionnaire as well as face‐to‐face semi‐structured interviews. The analysis was done a posteriori to construct the case description and perform the analysis.

Issues that motivated the IMS implementation were identified. The paper also highlights the difficulties experienced and benefits accrued during implementation. The existence of a previous quality management system facilitated the implementation of the IMS. Nevertheless, a longitudinal study is desirable to assess further results in the long term.

This work is limited to a single unit of analysis. Therefore, empirical replications in other samples are needed to validate current findings.

This is one of the first known studies to investigate the implementation of an IMS in a manufacturing unit that produces sugar and ethanol.