Kleber Vasconcellos de Oliveira, Paulo Roberto B. Lustosa, Fatima de Souza Freire and Frederico A. de Carvalho
This study examines the factors which affect the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure practices in line with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the factors which affect the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure practices in line with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines in Brazil's banking industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis comprised the deposits (demand and savings), fee income, employee expenses, regulatory capital (Basel ratio) and ownership structure of all Brazilian banks from 2006 to 2017. The sample totalled 1,613 firm-year observations. The authors used three binary regression models (logit, probit and complementary log-log) in order to choose the one that best fits the model proposed. The authors controlled for size, profitability, leverage and liquidity.
Findings
The main results show positive relationships between CSR reporting and both savings deposits and fee income. The authors also found that state-owned (foreign private-owned) banks have a positive (negative) relationship with probability of CSR disclosure. A negative relationship was found between CSR disclosure and regulatory capital, indicating that banks are more likely to publish GRI reports as they approach the minimum levels of the Basel ratio.
Research limitations/implications
Some banks may disclose CSR reports which do not adhere to the GRI guidelines; these were not captured in this study.
Practical implications
The estimated model aids understanding of factors influencing CSR disclosure in the banking industry in an emerging economy, which may help bank regulators to adopt new approaches in their supervisory and regulatory roles.
Originality/value
This work is the first to document that both fee income and banks' regulatory capital are related to CSR disclosure. Furthermore, this study investigates the entire banking industry of a Latin American country over the longest and most up-to-date period the authors are aware of.
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Roberto Tommasetti, Marcelo Á. da Silva Macedo, Frederico A. Azevedo de Carvalho and Sergio Barile
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on financial reporting quality (FRQ) within family firms (FFs), assessing whether longevity can determine a different…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on financial reporting quality (FRQ) within family firms (FFs), assessing whether longevity can determine a different propensity to earning management (EM) behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample, composed by Italian and Brazilian listed family (and non-family) firms, is segregated into old and young. For each subsample, unsigned discretionary accruals are calculated, using two different EM models. A linear regression model is then proposed, together with some robustness tests, to confirm the research hypothesis.
Findings
The outcome is that, within FFs, the entrenchment effect seems to be diminishing with the company’s age, up to become lower than the alignment effect. With some caveat, research also demonstrates that old FFs are more propense to supply higher FRQ than any other subsample group.
Research limitations/implications
The authors demonstrated that, in terms of EM decision process, FFs become virtuous just with time. More research is needed to evaluate the impact of the share and management control separately and to analyze different generation segmentation.
Practical implications
This paper could help non-family stakeholders, as it shows that different company types (family vs non-family), at a different stage of the life-cycle (young vs old) have a different attitude toward FRQ. On the other hand, family owners could exploit the longevity as a value driver.
Originality/value
This paper suggests that agency theory and socio-emotional theory are complementary in explaining the family control role in earnings management decisions. The study also contributes to the debate of FF homogeneity and on risk behavior in FFs, often portrayed as having a patient capital.
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Frederico A. de Carvalho, Marcelino José Jorge, Marina Filgueiras Jorge, Mariza Russo and Nysia Oliveira de Sá
This paper intends to illustrate an application of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to assess library performance from an efficiency standpoint.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper intends to illustrate an application of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to assess library performance from an efficiency standpoint.
Design/methodology/approach
DEA modeling was applied to a convenience sample of 37 libraries affiliated to a federal university in Rio de Janeiro. Data were collected from the university's managerial database and refer to three inputs – number of employees, area and number of volumes – and four outputs – consultations, loans, enrolments and (user) traffic. Markovian analysis of transitions between efficient and inefficient states along time allowed a long‐term distribution between those states to be computed.
Findings
The retained DEA model provides a list of estimated scores that quantify efficiency status for each library unit and from which both rankings and operation plans can be determined for each unit to assist managers in their quest for library efficiency. In fact, (re)allocative measures, expressed as operation plans, indicate that, for each unit, some input(s) may be decreased and nonetheless some output(s) will increase. Those indicators may also be used to further or avoid either promised or planned changes.
Originality/value
As long as the efficiency principle is accepted the paper provides a three‐step procedure whereby any set of library units may be simultaneously assessed and ranked in relative terms and a set of quantitative operation plans may be used to (re)direct inefficient units toward efficiency. Whenever historical (e.g. annual) data are available, more adequate long‐term efficiency profiles will be computed, as well as some (e.g. yearly) durations relating to time spent in or before visiting (in)efficiency states. This model, combining short‐ and long‐term assessment, may be seen as a novelty contributed by the paper.
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Marcelino José Jorge, Frederico A. de Carvalho, Marina Filgueiras Jorge, Renata de Oliveira Medeiros and Daniela de Souza Ferreira
This paper aims to discuss and collect evidence about the hypothesis that, under imperfect information, the multipurpose public organization emulates its peers, arguing that this…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss and collect evidence about the hypothesis that, under imperfect information, the multipurpose public organization emulates its peers, arguing that this hypothesis can be fruitful to the study of this kind of organization.
Design/methodology/approach
At IPEC – Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas, the clinical research institute affiliated to FIOCRUZ – Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, activities relating to infectious diseases –, e.g. diagnostic exams; outpatient care and patient admissions; teaching and research – are structured in the form of integrated action programs (briefly, PAIs). Taking into account the complexity of this organizational format, this paper applies a mathematical model allowing to define and compute managerial indicators referring to the eight main PAI programs with a view to measure their performance, to investigate whether there are any scale inefficiencies in the eight programs selected as decision‐making units (DMUs) and to assess the effectiveness of the whole organizational structure. To accomplish those objectives, the paper employs the so‐called DEA models with variable returns to scale – whereby two input and seven output variables were used to represent the eight DMUs.
Findings
Findings suggest that PAIs related to clinical research operated under increasing returns to scale between 2002 and 2006. To that extent, both the choice of PAIs as an organizational format and the current growth strategy at the Institute may be considered adequate.
Originality/value
This approach is valuable to complement the cost minimization analysis of specific activities of multipurpose organizations and has general application to the overall assessment of performance, structures and strategies in these organizations.
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Frederico A. de Carvalho and Valdecy Faria Leite
According to the Parasuraman‐Berry‐Zeithaml conjecture, the greater the importance of a given quality dimension, the thinner the corresponding tolerance zone would be. This paper…
Abstract
According to the Parasuraman‐Berry‐Zeithaml conjecture, the greater the importance of a given quality dimension, the thinner the corresponding tolerance zone would be. This paper seeks to test the conjecture when attribute items are individually considered. The original data have been collected to assess the quality of postal services in Brazil. A qualitative stage yielded a list comprising 39 attribute items. In the quantitative stage the three‐column format of a SERVQUAL questionnaire was employed to permit the computation of importance weights and tolerance widths for each attribute item. The questionnaire was mailed to a sample of some 5,900 firms. About 10 per cent (540) of mailed questionnaires returned and were considered valid. The values obtained for the correlation coefficients were significantly negative and consistently close to each other. The inverse association between importance and tolerance of service quality attributes was then accepted. The most interesting consequence of this finding is that simply ordering the computed width of attributes’ zones of tolerance will yield the most important attributes. Other implications are also discussed.
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Loan Thi Cam Bui, Maria Carvalho, Hai Thanh Pham, Tram Thi Bich Nguyen, An Thi Binh Duong and Huy Truong Quang
The research objective is rooted in the principle of providing new insights and a collective perspective regarded as Supply Chain Quality Management 4.0 (SCQM4.0), an integration…
Abstract
Purpose
The research objective is rooted in the principle of providing new insights and a collective perspective regarded as Supply Chain Quality Management 4.0 (SCQM4.0), an integration of all three concepts – Industrie 4.0, quality management and supply chain management.
Design/methodology/approach
A thorough review of historical developments and existing integration trends among Industrie 4.0, quality and supply chain approaches along with future research directions outlined in the main literature, was conducted. This work establishes a knowledge base on research topics, issues of integration and synergies with a concentration on the potential for deeper integration with supply chain operations.
Findings
This article not only introduced the term SCQM4.0 and proposed a definition for it, but also contributed a novel conceptual SCQM4.0 framework and evolutionary perspective through the SCQM4.0 maturation model. Stemming from the gaps, opportunities and benefits identified in the literature, the conceptual SCQM4.0 framework builds on the high potential of the SCQM4.0 constructs to achieve successful governance and implementation. Under the SCQM4.0 maturity framework, it provides a clear evolutionary path underpinned by the SCQM4.0 constructs.
Research limitations/implications
In the effort toward a successful SCQM4.0 implementation, the proposed SCQM4.0 maturity frameworks will be a “road map” for businesses to develop fully and actively in supply chain operations, bringing quality products and services for the company. Industry practitioners are encouraged to perform gap analysis and direct the implementation of the strategy to establish an excellent SCQM4.0.
Originality/value
This is one of the pioneering studies integrating all three concepts (Industrie 4.0, quality management and supply chain management), connecting the link and discovering more synergies to support the future development of more holistic management models. SCQM4.0 is expected to expand on the strengths, synergies and established relationships between technologies 4.0, quality and supply chain, contributing toward a pioneering and quality supply chain.
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Edson Oliveira Martins and Guilherme F. Frederico
This study aims to find the main contributions from lean office (LO) that can be applied to the project management field, correlating these two areas toward an improvement in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to find the main contributions from lean office (LO) that can be applied to the project management field, correlating these two areas toward an improvement in project management performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses a systematic literature review as a methodological approach to find the main potential contributions from LO that can be applied to project management.
Findings
This study has selected the 13 most cited potential contributions from LO and its level of occurrence in a systematic literature review (SLR).
Research limitations/implications
This study explores theoretical aspects of LO benefits on project management, and further empirical studies are needed to determine the risks and benefits of the concept listed here.
Practical implications
The practical implications are that the most cited potential contribution from LO to the project management and those can be used as a guidance for project managers.
Originality/value
This article highlights the potential contributions from LO to project management field, which is novelty in the face of the existent literature.
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Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in…
Abstract
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.
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Ailton Moisés Xavier Fiorentin, Renato Billia Miranda, Dalva Maria de Castro Vitti, Gustavo D’Almeida Scarpinella and Frederico Fabio Mauad
Erosion is the main cause of soil and water degradation, which demands investments for the recovery of such natural resources. The purpose of this paper is to quantify and…
Abstract
Purpose
Erosion is the main cause of soil and water degradation, which demands investments for the recovery of such natural resources. The purpose of this paper is to quantify and spatialize soil losses in a municipality with large areas of monoculture of sugarcane.
Design/methodology/approach
The Universal Soil Loss Equation was applied for the identification of areas susceptible to erosion in the municipality of Jahu, SP, Brazil. Soil maps, statistical census data from Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, radar images from SRTM, rainfall data from Fatec-Jahu hydrometeorological station and digital satellite images from Landsat 5 TM were used for the analyses. Four basic parameters were evaluated: topography of the terrain, rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility, and soil use and management factors. The analyses were conducted in the Geographic Information System (ArcView software).
Findings
The results show most of the municipality (91 percent) consists of areas of erosion potential. However, the remaining 9 percent can potentially produce 40 percent of the sediment load, which indicates the need for conservation practices and environmental recovery for a reduction in the erosion process acceleration.
Originality/value
In view of the expansion of sugarcane culture in the cities of São Paulo, the results show the importance of a master plan for new areas of sugarcane planting and the need for restoration of riparian vegetation in the surrounding streams and springs for the reduction of erosion.
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Marcus Vinicius Estigoni, Renato Billia Miranda and Frederico Fabio Mauad
Finer sediment particles (silt and clay) transported by rivers carry the major part of nutrient loads by absorption; thus, sediment settling can remove nutrients from the water…
Abstract
Purpose
Finer sediment particles (silt and clay) transported by rivers carry the major part of nutrient loads by absorption; thus, sediment settling can remove nutrients from the water column. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relation between reservoir sedimentation and water quality by assessing the reservoir sedimentation process and the sediments’ characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
Bathymetric surveys from 2004 to 2014 were analyzed to assess the sedimentation process. Core samples provided information on a layer-by-layer basis of the sediment deposits, and water samples near the surface and near the bottom provided information on sediment concentration, and adsorbed and dissolved nutrients.
Findings
The upstream region of a reservoir is already silted. From 2004 to 2014, the delta evoluted approximately 500 m downstream and the deposits were mainly composed of clay. An area of approximately 1,000 m between the delta and the dam should still be able to continue allowing sediment deposition in the coming years. Most of the nutrients were absorbed into the sediment particles, except for the nitrogen measured in the dry season.
Research limitations/implications
Although analyses of the full cycle of the nutrients were not carried out, the constant sediment trapping of finer sediments and the high rate of absorbed nutrients in the suspended sediment support the hypothesis that the reservoir has removed nutrients from aqueous media by adsorption into sediments.
Practical implications
In the studied case, reservoir sedimentation has led to better water quality downstream.
Originality/value
It is shown in this study that reservoir sedimentation may have positive effects on river water quality.