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This paper aims to address a mobile robot localization system that avoids using a dedicated laser scanner, making it possible to reduce implementation costs and the robot’s size. The system has enough precision and robustness to meet the requirements of industrial environments.

Using an algorithm for artificial beacon detection combined with a Kalman Filter and an outlier rejection method, it was possible to enhance the precision and robustness of the overall localization system.

Usually, industrial automatic guide vehicles feature two kinds of lasers: one for navigation placed on top of the robot and another for obstacle detection (security lasers). Recently, security lasers extended their output data with obstacle distance (contours) and reflectivity. These new features made it possible to develop a novel localization system based on a security laser.

Once the proposed methodology is completely validated, in the future, a scheme for global localization and failure detection should be addressed.

This paper presents a comparison between the presented approach and a commercial localization system for industry. The proposed algorithms were tested in an industrial application under realistic working conditions.

The presented methodology represents a gain in the effective cost of the mobile robot platform, as it discards the need for a dedicated laser for localization purposes.

This paper presents a novel approach that benefits from the presence of a security laser on mobile robots (mandatory sensor when considering industrial applications), using it simultaneously with other sensors, not only to guarantee safety conditions during operation but also to locate the robot in the environment. This paper is also valuable because of the comparison made with a commercialized system, as well as the tests conducted in real industrial environments, which prove that the approach presented is suitable for working under these demanding conditions.

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the differences between common Brazilian beer and pure malt beer in the responses of hedonic scaling, willingness to pay and emotional response.

Two types of beer were selected to be tested – a common beer: Pilsen Skol and pure malt beer: Pilsen Eisenbahn. All the analysis was conducted under three labeling conditions: blind; labeled; inverted label with 70 participants in each test. A nine-point hedonic scale evaluated the acceptance. The consumer was questioned how much he/she would be willing to pay for a bottle of beer that he/she tasted. A questionnaire was elaborated based on the EsSense profile to evaluate emotions; 25 emotions were evaluated using a five-point scale. The socioeconomic status was defined based on consumer's household characteristics.

The acceptance score, positive emotions and willingness to pay were higher for pure malt beer in the labeled test and for common beer (labeled as pure malt) in the inverted test. The findings highlight that information, such as beer type and socioeconomic status, could influence consumer responses by altering hedonic perceptions, emotions and commercial value attributed to different beers. In general, the beer type did not affect the evaluated variables.

Brewing industry should explore in their marketing strategies and state clearly the pure malt label. In restaurants, owners can explore pure malt beers as a strategy for garnering different customer profiles. Technological and production investments should be encouraged to reduce the product price, favoring the final consumer.

This study contributes to understanding the growth in the consumption of pure malt beers in Brazil. Moreover, it brings an overview of the influence of the label/information on regular Brazilian consumers.

The purpose of this paper is to better understand the influence of service quality and corporate image of Brazil’s National Cancer Institute (INCA) on the satisfaction of its outpatients.

The study is quantitative, with data collected from a self-administered structured questionnaire answered by a sample of 434 outpatients of Hospital do Câncer I, the largest and oldest hospital operated by the INCA. The data were treated with covariance-based structural equation modeling.

The results indicated that the corporate image of the INCA was the main factor having a positive influence on the patients’ satisfaction, followed by the quality of the services rendered by physicians and the quality of the hospital’s facilities.

The study shows that unlike indicated by the theory, quality does not have a direct impact on satisfaction with the nursing services, but rather an indirect impact via corporate image. Even though part of the explanation can be the fact that only outpatients were surveyed, who have less interaction with the nursing team than do inpatients, this result shows the strength of the hospital’s corporate image regarding patients’ satisfaction. Besides this, the study identified that hospitals with a strong corporate image transmit to patients the perception that they are being treated by technically qualified professionals, thus increasing the chances of cure and reduced suffering. This is fundamental for patients’ satisfaction, as most are unable to understand the technical attributes of the service. The study adds to the scarce Brazilian literature on the causal relation between the image of hospitals and their patients’ satisfaction.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how the systematisation of environmental training can contribute to the development of individual competences aligned to the environmental dimension of sustainability.

A qualitative research approach was used in a multiple case study with three chemical companies: Braskem, Solvay and Beta (fictitious name).

Data analysis allowed descriptive characterisation of the phases of environmental training and the identification of individual competencies aligned to the environmental dimension of sustainability in the companies surveyed. The results showed that the systematised environmental training, its phases structured to meet the organisational strategic goals of sustainability, helps to develop individual competences of environmental sustainability in the companies analysed.

The contribution of the study to the academy is presented in the deepening of the studies taking into account the gaps presented in the theoretical bases on the subject environmental education. This is the first study that seeks to investigate the stages of environmental training in the development of individual competences in the context of three Brazilian chemical industries. It was possible to describe the process of environmental training in a strategic dimension, used by the companies studied that can contribute to the market, assisting professionals in the areas of human resources and environmental management in the development of training actions.

The value of the paper is given by the reflection on the development of individual competencies for sustainability through environmental training, which can guide future public policies of environmental development for companies in the chemical sector.

This chapter demonstrates how the reception, adaption and development of gender studies in Brazil and subsequent law reform have created a new theoretical field of feminist criminology with a Southern approach. During the 1980s, Brazilian literature discussed gender violence according to three theories: male domination (Chauí), patriarchal domination (Saffioti) and relational violence (Gregori). Gender theories were introduced and developed during the 1990s. Decolonial studies stressed the deeper intersection of gender with race, social class and other vectors of discrimination, which increases the vulnerability of minority women, particularly black and indigenous women. The increase in gender studies supported political feminist advocacy to promote law reform, such as the Maria da Penha Law, the criminalisation of femicide, reforms related to sexual violence and women in prison. Feminist criminology has both criticised law and used it to promote gender equality on society. Judicial practices indicate the conservative resistance of the juridical field to assimilating gender debates and feminist critical theories as a whole.

Using Brandenburger and Nalebuff's 1995 co‐opetition model as a reference, the purpose of this paper is to seek to develop a tool that, based on the tenets of classical game theory, would enable scholars and managers to identify which games may be played in response to the different conflict of interest situations faced by companies in their business environments.

The literature on game theory and business strategy are reviewed and a conceptual model, the strategic games matrix (SGM), is developed. Two novel games are described and modeled.

The co‐opetition model is not sufficient to realistically represent most of the conflict of interest situations faced by companies. It seeks to address this problem through development of the SGM, which expands upon Brandenburger and Nalebuff's model by providing a broader perspective, through incorporation of an additional dimension (power ratio between players) and three novel, respectively, (rival, individualistic, and associative).

This proposed model, based on the concepts of game theory, should be used to train decision‐ and policy‐makers to better understand, interpret and formulate conflict management strategies.

A practical and original tool to use game models in conflict of interest situations is generated. Basic classical games, such as Nash, Stackelberg, Pareto, and Minimax, are mapped on the SGM to suggest in which situations they could be useful. Two innovative games are described to fit four different types of conflict situations that so far have no corresponding game in the literature. A test application of the SGM to a classic Intel Corporation strategic management case, in the complex personal computer industry, shows that the proposed method is able to describe, to interpret, to analyze, and to prescribe optimal competitive and/or cooperative strategies for each conflict of interest situation.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the antecedents of reverse innovation.

Data were collected through an online survey administered using telephone assistance and sent to the 1,000 largest (in terms of revenue) foreign subsidiaries in Brazil. The responding companies numbered 167. For the data analysis, the authors chose the statistical technique of structural equation modeling.

The paper shows that reverse innovation is related to headquarters’ support, autonomy, and integration. Specifically, the authors consider the power of strategic integration between headquarters and subsidiaries as one of the important antecedents of reverse innovation.

Integration has an important role to reverse innovation. In order to stimulate integration, the executive of a subsidiary can make such efforts as invest in the mechanism of the relationship and exchange knowledge with headquarters. For example, it is recommended to encourage travel to the headquarters to more accurately align perceptions of parent and subsidiary executives and to utilize expatriates from headquarters to provide knowledge to subsidiaries about the main processes of the company and to promote subsidiary innovations.

Literature contains some articles discussing and relating some cases of reverse innovation. However, this paper shows the organizational structure necessary for reverse innovation.

Major pillar of Via Campesina in Brazil, the Landless Workers’ Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra – MST) political platform combines land reform and agro-ecology, claiming for a profound change in the hegemonic agriculture model in the country, hoisting the ‘food sovereignty’ flag. However, this was not a linear trajectory. Focusing on events that took place in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the birthplace of the MST, this chapter aims to analyse the different path followed by MST there in order to consolidate the ‘conquered’ settlements. The organization approached, initially, a network of technicians and social organizations critics of the technological package of the Green Revolution in Brazil. Afterwards, choose to support the deployment of conventional agriculture in the agrarian reform settlements, prioritizing collective organization of labour through cooperatives of production, practicing an agriculture based in the intensive use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers and commercial seed varieties. Thanks to the growing international connections of the MST, that paved the way for the creation of Via Campesina, and to the proximity to ‘militant technicians’ coming mainly from the agronomy student movement, in the end of the 1990s, MST resumed its dialogue with alternative agriculture strands, particularly with agro-ecology, campaigning for an agriculture based on principles of environmental conservation and valorization of the peasant way of life.

The purpose of this paper is to study the urban transformation process that is happening in Teresina, State of Piauí in Northeast Brazil.

Secondary data were used, based on the research plan's four parts: the city history during the colonial period; the territorial landmarks and policy implemented; the population growth; and the housing programs developed by governmental agencies.

The analysis showed that the city became impoverished and the environmental impacts are connected to the lack of any sanitation infrastructure, and to the floods invading the lowlands of the city, bringing diseases to the population. Poor quality of life of the poverty‐stricken population in those conditions suggests that the city is rather unsustainable.

The paper presents an understanding of the peculiar features of a Northeast Brazilian city that needs to improve the urban environment, specifically the area located on low lands of about 70 meters above sea‐level, where the rivers in flow cover an extensive part of the urban network.