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Food waste has received attention during the last decade, especially due to its environmental and social impacts. An important contributor to food waste is consumers’ low preference for purchase fruits and vegetables with unusual appearance, products with damaged package and products close to the expiration date, technically called suboptimal food products. Researches show that consumers tend to reject these products when buying food, increasing avoidable food waste. However, consumer considerations when deciding to buy or not to buy suboptimal food are still unknown. The purpose of this paper is to use two different approaches to investigate consumers’ perceptions towards suboptimal food and how they impact their acceptance.

The first part of the study involved a qualitative analysis of participants’ open-ended responses (282 answers), where participants were asked to write down the impressions they had about three suboptimal food images. The second phase explored consumers acceptance of suboptimal food through a focus group discussion.

Results reveal that considerations about suboptimal food are divergent, with some participants rejecting them because they are impelled to search for perfection when buying food products. However, some individuals are disposed to accept suboptimal products, mainly because they have concern with the environment and cook abilities.

As a whole, this study contributes for food waste reduction strategies and has implications for marketing actions.

This paper proposes a model composed by macro-competences developed to contribute for the resilience of public organizations.

To propose the model, a literature review in the area of organizations resilience was carried out, and the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used. The setting used to validate the proposed model was the Brazilian Federal Institutions of Higher Education.

The results present five dimensions of action seen as macro-competences that contribute for organizations’ resilience: human resource management, development of individual competencies, risk management, preparedness for response, and responsiveness. The results also point at competences that can be developed in each of those dimensions with a view toward resilience.

Competences of strategically planning the workforces, of testing the risk hypotheses continuously, and applying the action plans proposed by risk management in response to crises can improve individual and organizational resiliencies.

Guided by the proposed model, public organizations will be better prepared to withstand adversities, such as resources cutbacks and staff shortages.

This article presents an investigation of the suitability of using quantitative or qualitative data for individual competencies assessment. Specifically, the primary purpose of this article is to identify if the results provided by quantitative and qualitative instruments focused on individual competencies are convergent.

In order to do the investigation proposed, a survey on individual competencies comprising a group of employees of the administrative area of a steel company was carried out. A total of 268 evaluations were collected and analyzed.

The analysis of the employee's performance appraisals provided by ratings and narrative comments indicates a low correlation between these assessments. The reasons for such low correlation include the qualitative assessments variability, the restricted list of competencies used in the quantitative assessments and the analytical format of quantitative assessments.

The study indicates that quantitative and qualitative assessments should be carried out jointly so that they can generate more comprehensive results. When the combined use is not possible, the quantitative approach is better suited for assessing performance, while the qualitative approach provides more valuable insights for boosting people development processes.

The purpose of this paper is to define the individual leadership competencies that are necessary to implement and sustain lean systems, based on a multi-method approach.

Data collection involved a literature review of lean competencies, interviews with four experts from the university and the industry, and an empirical survey answered by 91 respondents, who represented companies from several sectors. These techniques provided a mix of qualitative and quantitative data, which set a basis for identifying a list of competencies and discussing its validity.

In total, 16 lean leadership competencies were identified and validated, in terms of content validity, face validity, and predictive validity. Regarding this latter validity type, the survey results indicated that the competencies are positively associated with key operational performance indicators, organizational maturity level of lean, and leaders’ experience with lean systems.

The identified list of competencies may be a basis for the development of formal lean leadership development programs. The list may also support the design of tools for assessing the competencies of leaders in lean companies.

A list of 16 lean leadership competencies was developed based on a verifiable research method that used a mix of data collection techniques. This methodological approach is a distinctive characteristic in comparison with earlier studies, which did not include an empirical validation of the competencies.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the activities needed to meet specified requirements to assist laboratory staff running tests and calibrations and to obtain ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation.

The relevant literature that contributes to establishing activities that help laboratory staff to obtain ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation was studied. Laboratory researchers specializing in electro-medical equipment quality control were questioned about the criteria to be observed when selecting, developing and validating analytical steps.

Results revealed the analytical method criteria to be observed, which demonstrated their essentially quantitative nature.

This study presents a model that improves selecting, developing and validating analytical steps and contributes to producing reliable test and calibration results. These improvements can help laboratory testing and calibration to meet clients’ needs, satisfy specified requirements and provide reliable results.

This study aims to understand the perception of young people regarding different communication strategies to promote proenvironmental disposal behavior. Based on the attention-interest-desire-action (AIDA) model, the study analyses how university students react to different communication approaches used by a university aiming at the correct disposal of waste.

The authors conducted a qualitative exploratory research in two steps: (i) a narrative bibliographic review and (ii) a case study. The (i) bibliographic review was conducted about proenvironmental behavior and disposal of solid waste and response hierarchy models, with emphasis on the AIDA model. The (ii) case study was executed through an in-depth interview with a manager of the environmental sanitation area and a qualitative survey with undergraduate students from a university in southern Brazil.

The findings reveal that young people tend to prefer communication strategies related to triggers for long-term memory, especially when evaluating the cognitive stage of the response hierarchy. For example, the provision of bins identified with stickers and colors is a communication strategy that leads to a memory model of associative networks. By viewing a certain color or image of an object, the individual can quickly retrieve information already known about the act of properly disposing of waste. Additionally, convenience is a key factor for the behavioral intention of properly disposing of waste to become a reality.

Few studies have identified the most effective communication strategies to promote proper disposal behavior among young people in universities. This study addresses this gap, based on the AIDA model.

This paper aims to present a model that maps the relationship between factors and process stages of the knowledge transfer (KT) between new product development (NPD) teams.

The model was constructed through a quantitative evaluation with scholars and practitioners of the NPD field. To evaluate the model and its usefulness, a practical application was carried out in two large Brazilian companies.

A relationship model between 16 main influence factors and 11 stages of the KT process was obtained. It could be seen through the practical applications that the model helps companies to identify and prioritize improvement opportunities in the KT between NPD teams.

Prior studies had been concerned with the analysis of KT factors, but considering KT as an isolated act. So, this work has advanced in the deployment of the KT stages and the relationship of those with different influence factors.

This paper brings an important practical contribution, once several academic works have been concerned with to demonstrate relationships among factors, but few have shown how these results could help to solve practical issues observed in companies.

Results presented in this paper enable the extension of comprehension about the KT phenomena in the NPD process. Furthermore, this paper shows how the proposed model can be used as a decision tool to guide a diagnosis and detect improvement opportunities in KT between NPD teams.

Presents a new procedure for quality control and quality assurance in scenarios where several variables and attributes have to be monitored. The proposed procedure, named integrated process control, begins with the definition of control stations on the production line, where a single chart that aggregates several variables and attributes is used. This procedure is complemented by using Pareto charts, which determine the quality characteristics contributing the most to the number of defectives. The integrated process control also uses traditional control charts; however, these are used selectively following the indication of the Pareto charts. The joint use of these tools facilitates the identification and solution of quality problems, allowing the improvement actions to be taken at the right time and place. The key advantages of the proposed procedure are: the ability to handle variables and attributes on a single integrated chart, the statistical approach, providing a solid basis for decision making, and the strong managerial appeal provided by the integrated charts.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Institutions become better equipped to face the array of challenges in today’s unpredictable world when they focus on building and strengthening macro-competencies. Development of capabilities within each of these five key areas will serve to make the organization more resilient overall.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

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.