Francisco Gaetani, Pedro Palotti and Roberto Pires
The objective of this chapter is to describe and analyze Brazil's main steps in its long and incomplete process of organizing a professional and responsive public service. During…
Abstract
The objective of this chapter is to describe and analyze Brazil's main steps in its long and incomplete process of organizing a professional and responsive public service. During the twentieth century, Brazil had two authoritarian regimes and organized a state-oriented process of industrialization. After 1988, democracy has changed how public administration should be constituted, imposing demands for universal recruitment and accountability. The level of professionalization of the federal public service was improved, with a higher level of education, better wages and the recruitment of public servants to management positions. The challenges ahead are improving governance and executive coordination and raising the responsiveness and quality of public management (such as human resources, planning, budgeting, procurement, information and communication technologies, and organizational modeling) in a context of political instability, slow economic recovery, and substantial public debts at the federal government.
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The objective of this chapter is to outline an integrating picture of the situation, representativeness, contradictions, and challenges that the treatment of diversity assumes in…
Abstract
The objective of this chapter is to outline an integrating picture of the situation, representativeness, contradictions, and challenges that the treatment of diversity assumes in Brazilian society and in its organizations. The aim is to reply to the research question: “How are public policies and organizational practices constructing ways of inserting and valuing the diversity of Brazilians?” We provide a brief background of the changes in the global and Brazilian contexts over the last few decades and analyze the demographic data presented in the 2010 Census and in studies on diversity that were published in the main periodicals in the Administration area in Brazil, between 2000 and 2014 with regard to the segments most widely studied in the academic literature: Afro-descendants, homosexuals, the elderly, Indians, women, and people with a disability. The conclusion reached is that, in a short period of time, Brazil has made great strides in constructing the mechanisms and legal devices for recognizing the rights of its diverse population and that private companies are in the initial stages of introducing diversity programs.
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B. Tjahjono, P. Ball, V.I. Vitanov, C. Scorzafave, J. Nogueira, J. Calleja, M. Minguet, L. Narasimha, A. Rivas, A. Srivastava, S. Srivastava and A. Yadav
The purpose of the work presented in this paper is to capture the current state of Six Sigma as well as to document the current practices of Six Sigma through a systematic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the work presented in this paper is to capture the current state of Six Sigma as well as to document the current practices of Six Sigma through a systematic literature review so as to extend and update the previous work of Brady and Allen.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach to this paper is to answer the questions such as “what is Six Sigma?”, “what are the applications of the Six Sigma?”, “what are the main enablers and barriers to its application?” and “what are the emerging trends?” These questions are used to guide the search of papers from various publication databases even if it is expected that existing literature might not be sufficiently developed to translate each question directly into a finding. The literature is then analysed and the major emerging themes are presented.
Findings
Seven key findings (topics on which the views of the authors converged) and two issues (topics on which authors had differing views) have been established. These include the interpretation of Six Sigma, tools and techniques, implementation of Six Sigma, benefits, adoption, enablers and links to other disciplines.
Originality/value
The systematic literature review approach used in this paper allows emerging trends and issues in Six Sigma to be highlighted in a structured and thematic manner, enabling the future work to progress as Six Sigma continues to develop and evolve. The findings also open up new opportunities to apply Six Sigma in the fields that are not widely explored before for instance sustainability and product‐service systems.
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Helen M. Haugh and Bob Doherty
The common good refers to contextual conditions that contribute to human wellbeing and flourishing, such as prosperous communities and environmental sustainability. In this paper…
Abstract
The common good refers to contextual conditions that contribute to human wellbeing and flourishing, such as prosperous communities and environmental sustainability. In this paper, we consider how entrepreneurship impacts society by investigating the generalized outcomes of social entrepreneurship on the common good. From a qualitative study of ten large and profitable social enterprises in the United Kingdom, we theorize how social entrepreneurship contributes to the common good in the short and long term. We also conjecture how some commercial practices undermine the common good and further, explain how the common good performs as a conceptual anchor for social entrepreneurship.
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Jinjing Li, Cathal O’Donoghue, Jason Loughrey and Ann Harding
Prateek Khanna, Reetika Sehgal, Ashish Gupta, Ashish Mohan Dubey and Rajeev Srivastava
In this era of technological advancement, the capabilities of devices and telecommunications have changed the pattern of media consumption among consumers. This study examined the…
Abstract
Purpose
In this era of technological advancement, the capabilities of devices and telecommunications have changed the pattern of media consumption among consumers. This study examined the research landscape and advancements in OTT services.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a hybrid review consisting of bibliometric and thematic analyses to present advancements in the OTT platforms. A hybrid review integrates both systematic and narrative approaches by emphasizing a literature search strategy and the study selection process.
Findings
This study focuses on previous literature to understand recent developments in the domain. The authors derive six major OTT themes: OTT infrastructure and technology advancement, OTT consumption behaviour, shifting trends towards OTT platforms, viewers’ engagement in digital media, OTT in the global market, OTT policies and regulatory mechanisms.
Practical implications
The findings of this study will be useful for marketers/stakeholders associated with the entertainment and media industries, such as sales promotion teams, media planners/advertisers, content management companies and policy regulators, to penetrate OTT viewers.
Originality/value
The literature related to OTT is progressively rising, but it remains highly fragmented because of inconsistencies in the methodologies and theories used in the domain of OTT. This study offers directions in terms of theory, methodology and future research on OTT services.
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Joana Bessa Topa, Conceição Oliveira Nogueira and Sofia Antunes Neves
Despite the high prevalence of immigrant women at the national level, studies on migration have been indifferent to the gender perspective. The purpose of this paper is to discuss…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the high prevalence of immigrant women at the national level, studies on migration have been indifferent to the gender perspective. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the engagement of Ukrainian immigrant women, one of the most expressive nationalities of female immigration in Portugal, on maternal and child healthcare services, exploring their perceptions and experiences in these contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
On the basis of critical and social constructionism assumptions, this research focusses on discourse. Assuming that immigrant women have access to different resources, as well as different competences to interpret and intervene within the context they are in (Topa et al., 2010; UNFPA, 2006), the best method to deeply understand their experiences was to analyse how discourse is organized and how it creates and produces meanings that become practices (Nogueira, 2001a). The present study adopted a qualitative methodology for collecting (semi-structured interviews) and analysing the data (thematic analysis) and was based on discourses of ten Ukrainian women, living in the metropolitan area of Oporto, who were pregnant or were mothers in Portugal.
Findings
Ukrainian women were misinformed about their legal rights and free access to maternal health services. Some dissatisfaction emerges among them with regard to the quality of information provided by health professionals and their communication skills. Their opinion is that they are given limited access to medical specialties, especially in primary care and that their doubts are inappropriately clarified during medical appointments.
Originality/value
This research also argues that cultural and intersectional considerations are fundamental to promote inclusive health policies for immigrants.
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In the twenty-first century, the family has been turning towards a greater plurality of training paths, situations, family and parental arrangements. However, despite changes in…
Abstract
In the twenty-first century, the family has been turning towards a greater plurality of training paths, situations, family and parental arrangements. However, despite changes in legislation, values, representations and practices, the word family remains inexorably associated with the heterosexual bi-parental model. This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge of the family dynamics of non-heterosexual people, mainly concerning the process of transition to parenting, in relation to family changes in Portuguese society. To do so this study aims to analyze four in-depth interviews1 with young adults, women and men who have a homoconjugality relationship and a project of parenting in mind.
Based on a qualitative methodology the study intends to discuss issues related to the challenge of heteronormativity, equality within the couple, projects and gender representations of parenthood and in particular what it means for the men and women interviewed, to be a father and to be a mother in a same sex couple and how they project themselves as fathers and mothers.
The study discusses all these issues always in relation to the biographical trajectories, the history and life as a couple and the structural and individual resources, such as school and professional qualifications. It also analyzes the main difficulties experienced in revealing their sexuality to the significant others and the difficulties / strategies they anticipate in relation to the parenting project.
The authors conclude that female interviewees show greater independence of a male figure in relation to their parental projects and anticipate less difficulty in their parental skills compared with the gay man interviewed.
To analyze the dynamics of parenting in same-sex couples, this study also points out to the need to construct a model of analysis capable of articulating structural factors, such as job insecurity and heteronormativity, biographies and individual resources and profiles of conjugal interactions.
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Marta Félix and Paula Arriscado
Intrapreneurship (IP) and Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) are a paradigm in which the current global scenario of increased homeoffice and professional globalization can…
Abstract
Intrapreneurship (IP) and Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) are a paradigm in which the current global scenario of increased homeoffice and professional globalization can have the capacity to stimulate professionals’ autonomy and new business orientations able to re-invent new strategies, services, technologies and even leadership development. This study, of an exploratory nature, aims to analyze the synchronicities between IP and SHRM, raised by relational dynamics translated into leadership, organizational culture and individual practices having as a facilitating factor technology as an agent of change for continuous improvement (based on the Kaizen philosophy). It is supported by a qualitative analysis through a case study of a leading Portuguese group, Grupo Salvador Caetano, which has been in existence for 75 years.
The results demonstrate that dynamic relations are the synchronicities of IP and SHRM as long as stimulated and transmitted to collaborators, and that technology, facilitated these processes. The flexibility of SHRM, the sequence of delegation and implementation of relational dynamics must be the key for the synchronicities of SHRM and IP to be two phenomena that go side by side and contribute to more effective performance and evolution among collaborators, as they support each other in creating firms’ value for customers. Some contributions to theory and practice, raised through a logic of “in-house entrepreneurship,” are also presented at the end of the study.