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The purpose of this paper is to present a practical instrument for self-evaluation of maturity in the processes of procurement and supply management, applicable to small and medium-size companies, as well as to show how the use of this evaluation tool may help companies to decide what to improve in these processes.

Based on an empirical and theoretical framework, the instrument developed measures the maturity of procurement and supply management activities in four macro-processes: materials management, purchase process, supplier evaluation process and process of procurement planning. For testing the self-evaluation instrument, the authors evaluated the maturity of 48 hospitals and 37 metal-mechanic manufacturing companies located in the southern region of Brazil. To show how to use this tool to decide what to improve in procurement and supply processes, the authors conducted a comparative analysis of a hospital and a metal-mechanic company, in relation to the sample of the same segment.

The results show that the instrument is reliable for practical application. Metal-mechanic industries have a greater maturity in the purchase process than in the other three macro-processes. The management of materials is the most mature macro-process in hospitals. Comparing hospitals to metal-mechanic companies, the present research shows that, between 20 and 99 employees, hospitals tend to have a higher level of maturity in the purchase process than metal-mechanic companies. With 100 employees or more, metal-mechanic companies are more mature than hospitals in procurement planning and in selection/evaluation of suppliers.

Presenting a useful self-evaluation instrument, this work demonstrates that the measurement of the maturity level, and benchmarking it with other companies, may help a firm to decide what to improve in its processes of procurement and materials management, showing how an economic sector can understand itself better. Few scientific studies have practical application to the assessment of the degree of maturity of procurement and supply management processes. Besides that the authors did not find other papers presenting a comparison of different segments.

This study aims to examine the relationships between the different national culture dimensions presented by Hofstede and innovation data by country to analyze which characteristics of national culture dimensions contribute to the country becoming more innovative.

The study is characterized as descriptive and quantitative, using multiple linear regression equations as data analysis technique. To carry out the analysis, this study made use of secondary data from Hofstede’s national culture database, data on innovation indicators from the Global Innovation Index and population data from the World Bank database. The analysis comprises data from 2015 to 2018.

National culture affects innovation rates positively. The most favorable situation to boost innovation is when there is a low distance from power, high individualism, femininity characteristics, low aversion to uncertainty, long-term orientation and a higher level of indulgence.

The temporal analysis comprises a wider list of countries from all continents, which had not been considered in previous studies.

From the agency theory’s point of view, this paper aims to analyze corporate governance mechanisms about the characteristics of the companies quoted in the segments Bovespa Mais and Bovespa Mais 2 and their influence on the creation of value in preparation for the opening of the initial public offering (IPO).

A quantitative approach was adopted to achieve the proposed objective using the panel data with fixed effects and secondary data collected on the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários website, using statistical software Stata® 13.0 for statistical tests. The population comprises non-financial companies belonging to the Bovespa Mais and Bovespa Mais Level 2 groups, as the survey sample took into account the period of adhesion of the companies, totaled in 15 companies, which cover the period from 2008 to 2019. The selected variables correspond to the ownership structure’s characteristics, then the board’s composition and the fiscal council as the body responsible for supervising the administrators’ acts.

The main results indicate that the number of independent members on the board of directors and the supervisory board’s participation positively influence market performance. However, it also reveals that the concentration of ownership brings fundraising for other companies’ acquisitions, risk reduction concerning information asymmetry between investing powers.

The main results indicate that the number of independent members on the board of directors and the supervisory board’s participation positively influence market performance. Despite this, it also reveals that the concentration of ownership brings fundraising for other companies’ acquisitions, risk reduction concerning information asymmetry between investing powers.

This paper advances a comparative institutional perspective to explain capital market choice by firms making an IPO in a foreign market. This paper finds that internal governance characteristics (founder-chief executive officer, executive incentives and board independence) and external network characteristics (prestigious underwriters, degree of venture capitalist syndication and board interlocks) are significant predictors of foreign capital market choice by foreign IPO firms.

While product market choices have been central to strategy formulation for firms in the past, financial markets’ integration makes capital markets an equally crucial strategic decision. This paper advances a comparative institutional perspective to explain capital market choice by firms making an IPO in a foreign market.

This situation generates value to shareholders and is perceived by the market and, ultimately, generates a direct relationship with the market performance of companies. While product market choices have been central to strategy formulation for firms in the past, financial markets’ integration makes capital markets an equally major strategic decision.

Developing a lean supply chain is a continuous improvement effort, so it requires tracking the implementation progress by assessing the achieved level of leanness. However, lean supply chain practices depend on firm-to-firm relationships and an assessment method should consider these network interactions. Given the absence of such a method, this study aims to propose an alternative approach for assessing the leanness level of supply chains.

The authors extracted 18 typical lean supply chain practices from the literature, constituting the leanness assessment parameters. Then, the authors developed an assessment method based on the graph-theoretic approach due to its properties of capturing the interdependencies between elements of a system. The authors tested the proposed method in an automotive supply chain, selecting the focal firm and three of its first-tier suppliers.

The authors positioned partial and overall results in a visual classification scale and the supply chain presented a moderate leanness level. After empirical testing, the proposed method demonstrated its practical feasibility.

This paper contributes to the literature with a novel approach for supply chain leanness assessment. However, to increase its generalizability, it would be beneficial to test the method in non-automotive supply chains, extending the assessment scope to downstream firms and second-tier customers and suppliers.

For practitioners, this paper provides a self-assessment tool to monitor the supply chain leanness and set priorities for improvement.

Besides tackling the interrelationships between firms, the proposed method considers the interdependencies between lean practices, providing partial and overall feedback to enable a systemic assessment.

This review discusses the concept of edible nanocoatings (ENCs), the biomaterials used in the coating matrices, techniques of coating development, applications, challenges and safety regulations associated with nanotechnology in food products. These ENCs are capable of imparting increased shelf life, improved appearance, better physiological qualities and bioactive potentials such as antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. ENCs can be developed using the layer-by-layer method which forms multiple alternative layers adhered together primarily by electrostatic interactions.

Various keywords such as edible coatings (ECs), safety aspects and nanocoatings were used to search the literature from Google Scholar, Research Gate, ScienceDirect, Springer Link, Taylor and Francis and PubMed. After searching enough literature, 113 articles and research papers were examined, which provides the updated overview of different aspects of edible nano-coatings.

Consumers today are very much aware of the food quality and its safety. They demand food products with longer shelf life, which are minimally processed with natural or no preservatives. ECs based on biopolymers is an alternative technique, which is biodegradable and can be consumed as such without posing any safety risks. The emergence of nanotechnology in food processing has provided new insights to develop ECs at the nanoscale with improved mechanical and barrier properties

ECs are beneficial to consumers and to the environment. ECs have generated significant attention over years as an alternative to fossil-based plastics, considering their renewable and biodegradable features

Given the heavy pollution feature of the construction industry, construction corporations need to adopt an effective environmental governance strategy. The quality and quantity of environmental information disclosure (EID) implementation, as an essential part of a corporate environmental governance strategy, is impacted by the characteristics of the top management team (TMT). This paper aims to analyze the relationship between the demographic characteristics of the TMT (i.e. gender, age, tenure, educational level, and duality) and corporate EID.

Using data from listed construction corporations generated between 2014 to 2018 in China, this study employs the Tobit regression model to test the research hypotheses. Also, this study applies a novel analytical approach, necessary condition analysis (NCA), to conduct a series of additional tests.

The results reveal that tenure and educational level are significantly and positively related to EID, while gender, age, and duality in the executive role are not significantly related to EID. When considering the TMT size as a moderator, the TMT age is positively related to the corporate EID, and the size of the TMT acts as a moderator to weaken the positive effect of the TMT age on the EID. The NCA results show that TMT gender, age, tenure, and educational level are necessary when the levels of EID exceed 40%.

Our findings suggest that TMT characteristics have a relatively significant effect on corporate EID levels, which extends EID research to the construction industry. Corporate planners can endeavor to shape TMT characteristics to improve EID levels. The results of NCA provide insights into what TMT characteristics construction corporations need to satisfy in their pursuit of transparent EID, as well as the levels at which these characteristics are desired.

Reverse logistics (RL) is a waste revaluation process aimed at reintroducing once-used materials back into the production cycle. Public administration (PA) plays a strong role in influencing the implementation of RL in the construction industry through policy and laws. While much research identifies PA as an important driver in RL, no research yet describes how this occurs.

A systematic literature review was conducted on the theme PA in RL with 93 relevant publications retrieved.

Six strategies used by PA to promote RL were extracted: (1) legislation, (2) government subsidies, (3) landfill disposal fee, (4) government inspection, (5) use in public construction works and (6) penalties and fines. Moreover, a typology built on these six strategies was developed, mapping 15 interactional relationships between strategies, according to three levels of influence: (1) encouragement (2) requirement and (3) regulation.

It was found that legislation and government subsidies prove to be the more effective strategies, with the remaining strategies greatly neglected. Importantly, however, this study reveals that a combination of strategies are most effective when appropriately combined.

This study confirms the importance of PA in RL, in construction, while documenting the extent of current research. The resulting proposed typology, along with 15 identified future research priorities, is expected to be of value to academics and policy makers looking to advance understanding in this domain.