Maria Inês Sá, Paulo Leite and Maria Carmo Correia
This paper aims to investigate not only the performance of Portuguese mutual funds investing in domestic and international equities but also which fund characteristics, such as…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate not only the performance of Portuguese mutual funds investing in domestic and international equities but also which fund characteristics, such as age, size, family size, expense ratios and flows, influence future performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Fund performance is evaluated over the 2005–2022 period by a robust six-factor model, while the impact of fund characteristics on performance is assessed by a set of fixed-effects panel data regressions with two-way cluster-robust standard errors.
Findings
The results show that, while funds investing in domestic equities predominantly exhibit neutral performance, most international equity funds have significantly negative alphas. The authors document a negative and statistically significant relationship between fund age and performance for all fund categories. Total expense ratios have an inverse relationship with domestic equity fund performance but do not impact the performance of international equity funds significantly. Though fund flows have a neutral effect on performance across the overall period, they are important determinants of both domestic and international funds’ performance in more recent years.
Originality/value
The authors contribute to the literature by carrying out a comprehensive analysis, based on recent and robust methodologies, of the impact of mutual fund characteristics on the future performance of Portuguese equity funds. The research findings serve as a premise for advising investors on how to choose the top-performing funds.
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Daielly Melina Nassif Mantovani Ribeiro, Flavio Hourneaux Junior, Cristiana Lara Lara Cunha, Patricia Taeko Kaetsu, Patricia Fernanda Dionizio-Leite and Celso Machado Junior
This paper aims to discuss the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the effective assessment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) related to smart…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the effective assessment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) related to smart and sustainable city initiatives.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a systematic review of the literature within the Web of Science and Scopus databases, comprising the studies about ICTs related to smart and sustainable city initiatives and sustainable assessment.
Findings
The main results point out that there are several different ways of assessing SDGs performance related to ICTs use in smart and sustainable city initiatives. However, the effectiveness of these assessments can be questioned. The intensive use of technology understood as the core of smart and sustainable cities does not imply an improvement in sustainability unless these technologies are strategically addressed to underpin those objectives. Moreover, not all SDGs have considered the use of ICTs in their targets.
Research limitations/implications
The scope of the study is limited to “how” the information is used and managed, rather than analysing the sustainable performance itself. As a limitation, the findings and conclusions do not consider other sources of studies, such as grey literature.
Practical implications
This study suggests some requirements for providing better and more reliable sustainable assessment, making smart and sustainable city initiatives more correlated with the SDGs.
Social implications
By acknowledging the difficulties associated with SDGs assessment, concerning the municipal level, the study offers valuable insights into the effectiveness of public policies and public management. Besides, the findings shed some light on if and how the use of ICTs can effectively enhance sustainable development issues.
Originality/value
This study offers valuable contributions to the literature by providing a collection of insights regarding how the ICTs may genuinely lead to a sound assessment of sustainable development, especially regarding the SDGs.
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Sheila Walbe Ornstein, Brenda Chaves, Coelho Leite and Cláudia Miranda de Andrade
The city of São Paulo, as one of the World’s mega‐cities, has considerably increased the quantity of commercial floor space recently, with around 160,000m2 added in this sector in…
Abstract
The city of São Paulo, as one of the World’s mega‐cities, has considerably increased the quantity of commercial floor space recently, with around 160,000m2 added in this sector in 1998 and another 400,000m2 planned for 1999. For this post‐occupancy evaluation (POE), the building chosen was a recently designed office building, considered to be high‐tech which has a total of 34 floors including six underground levels, 1,033m2 of useful area per floor and circulation of more than 3,000 people per day. The unique situation of the different users, with their particular layouts, is an area that has still not been analyzed in POEs in Brazil. This paper will present the results of a pilot POE applied to four floors occupied by the headquarters of a manufacturer of domestic appliances, focusing on the methodological approach.
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Emerson D. Pacheco, Flávio I. Kubota, Eduardo K. Yamakawa, Edson P. Paladini, Lucila M.S. Campos and Paulo A. Cauchick-Miguel
Increased competition and access to information are forcing companies to provide quality to their products and services, aligned with a growing society pressure for less harmful…
Abstract
Purpose
Increased competition and access to information are forcing companies to provide quality to their products and services, aligned with a growing society pressure for less harmful environmental practices. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the adoption of reverse logistics (RL) may contribute to the generation of competitive advantage and improved quality in a part substitution process of a household appliance company.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper carried out a single case study in a household appliance company. The study collected data through semi-structured interviews in addition to document analysis and observation.
Findings
The implemented practices enhanced service maintenance and customer services and provided a more effective monitoring of defective parts. Moreover, such practices reduced unnecessary part substitutions, consumer dissatisfaction and undesired disposal in the environment. RL in the studied company has offered a potential contribution to the company quality strategies by providing more part returns, assuring cost savings, and reducing time to solve field problems.
Research limitations/implications
The study was limited to a single case study. Thus, the study findings are not subject to generalization for other similar organizations.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the few studies on RL in a household company in the context of an emerging economy. Such feature denotes in a singular scenario in RL investigations about recovering defective parts.
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Marília Gonçalves Cattelan, Maurício Bonatto Machado de Castilhos, Priscila Juliana Pinsetta Sales and Fernando Leite Hoffmann
This paper aims to evaluate in vitro antibacterial activity of oregano essential oil against foodborne pathogens as a starting point for the use of spice as a natural preservative…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to evaluate in vitro antibacterial activity of oregano essential oil against foodborne pathogens as a starting point for the use of spice as a natural preservative in food.
Design/methodology/approach
Disc and well‐diffusion assays were performed to investigate antibacterial activity of oregano essential oil against six bacteria strains: Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella Typhimurium. Three concentrations of oregano essential oil were employed: 1.0 percent, 2.0 percent and 5.0 percent. Bacterial growth inhibition was determinate as the diameter of the inhibition zones.
Findings
Oregano essential oil showed antibacterial activity against spoilage microorganisms, at different concentrations, except for P. aeruginosa. There was a significant difference between methodologies only for the microorganism S. aureus. The results provided evidence of the existence of significant differences among the concentrations of oregano essential oil for each microorganism evaluated.
Research limitations/implications
Although the research for this paper involved only oregano essential oil, it provided a starting‐point for further investigations concerning spices as natural preservatives for food systems.
Practical implications
Disc and well‐assays were found to be simple and reproducible practical methods. Other spices, their essential oil and extracts might be researched against other micro‐organisms. Furthermore, in situ studies need to be performed to evaluate possible interactions between essential oils and compounds naturally present in food against microbial strains.
Social implications
The imminent adoption of measures to reduce the use of additives in foods and the reduction on using such compounds.
Originality/value
This study provides insights that suggest a promising exploratory development of food natural preservative against spoilage microorganisms in food systems by the use of oregano essential oil.
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This research project is a major metallurgy company worker reception study. Based on a survey of the interviewees' socioeconomic segmentation in levels B, C, D, E, and on the…
Abstract
This research project is a major metallurgy company worker reception study. Based on a survey of the interviewees' socioeconomic segmentation in levels B, C, D, E, and on the results of their media consumption habits, a list of questions was elaborated for in‐depth interviews to be made. It was concluded that the work world is the main mediation in the means of communication reception. Television is the preferred medium and its reception occurs through the different discourses that circulate in the work world, most especially through those promoted by the labor union press and through interpersonal relations between colleagues and union representatives, allowing the worker to establish a critical view on such messages.
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Marilei Osinski, Paulo Mauricio Selig, Florinda Matos and Darlan José Roman
The competitive model has changed. In this context, society entered into an era in which intangible assets are the greatest assets of a company. However, some gaps and…
Abstract
Purpose
The competitive model has changed. In this context, society entered into an era in which intangible assets are the greatest assets of a company. However, some gaps and uncertainties are presented in the literature as to understand the value of a company based on knowledge intensive activities. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the methods of evaluation of intangible assets in the context of business, economic and strategic management.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative research. This research is characterized as descriptive, bibliographic, inductive.
Findings
The main results of this research can highlight the existence of valuation methods of intangible assets intended for specific industries, as public and/or private, that can be better aligned to the context of business; economic and/or strategic management.
Originality/value
It was found that intangible assets are a current topic and increasingly addressed in the literature.
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Marina Bouzon, Paulo Augusto Cauchick Miguel and Carlos Manuel Taboada Rodriguez
The environmental consciousness of customers and the emergence of stricter environmental regulations has pushed industries to think about environmental management by means of…
Abstract
Purpose
The environmental consciousness of customers and the emergence of stricter environmental regulations has pushed industries to think about environmental management by means of reverse logistics (RL) implementation. The purpose of this paper is to provide a current panorama of RL in Brazil and a comparison to international RL body of literature as well. It also seeks to provide a systematic literature review procedure and a conceptual framework for RL literature categorization.
Design/methodology/approach
A descriptive and content analysis approach was adopted. First, a topic delimitation phase was aimed at defining the main research areas and related keywords. Second, a material collection phase focussed on a selection of peer-reviewed Brazilian and international journals. Third, a total of 34 papers were assessed by quantitative indicators, and a conceptual RL framework was employed to classify them. Finally, papers were evaluated using content analysis.
Findings
The RL research gaps in Brazil are in information technology, facility location, inventory control, outsourcing, and performance measurement. It is also reported that, In Brazil, RL is predominantly linked to recycling activities, and the practice of RL is driven by social conditions and economics in some specific industrial sectors.
Research limitations/implications
The focus is restricted to RL applications in Brazil and the corresponding articles published by Brazilian researchers.
Originality/value
Practitioners and academics might find this review useful, as it outlines gaps and limitations of existing research in the largest Latin America economy. This work is built on the recent research in RL. No systematic literature review of this kind has previously been undertaken.
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Ricardo Antônio Câmara, Emerson Antonio Maccari and Renato Ribeiro Nogueira Ferraz
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the contribution of a project management approach to develop a tool to support the management of Brazilian stricto sensu graduate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the contribution of a project management approach to develop a tool to support the management of Brazilian stricto sensu graduate programs (SS-GP). The Adaptive approach was chosen by applying the Project Management Life Cycle (PMLC) method.
Design/methodology/approach
The study corresponds to the concept of applied research. The qualitative approach was used. The research strategy was the action research, where participants cooperate to understand their environment, identify problems and seek a solution, simultaneously producing and using the knowledge produced.
Findings
The results showed one possible way to apply a contingency project management approach to develop the tool. In addition, indicated that its application facilitated the project work, especially when finding a solution for the project’s development and when dealing with the changes inherent to the uncertainties about the problem.
Research limitations/implications
The lack of more updated information and the limitation of time and resources led to the reduction of the environment scope and of the number of functionalities developed.
Practical implications
To contribute to the generation of knowledge and expertise to support the management of SS-GP in activities such as providing information to the CAPES evaluation system, academic production analysis, collaborative researcher network analysis and post-graduation program monitoring and evaluation.
Originality/value
To fill a gap pointed out by several studies, that it is not possible to automatically generate input lists to be processed by ScriptSucupira tool, based on filtered criteria, comprising the entire universe of the Brazilian SS-PG. The creators of ScriptSucupira also declared to ignore the existence of an artifact similar to that.
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Lis Lisboa Bernardino, Francisco Teixeira, Abel Ribeiro de Jesus, Ava Barbosa, Maurício Lordelo and Herman Augusto Lepikson
Many Brazilian organizations have adopted total quality management (TQM). However, this model has lost prominence in academic and business environments. The purpose of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
Many Brazilian organizations have adopted total quality management (TQM). However, this model has lost prominence in academic and business environments. The purpose of this paper is to determine which aspects of TQM have endured over 20 years.
Design/methodology/approach
With descriptive and exploratory objectives, this study used case studies of four companies that have adopted TQM, using temporal and comparative approaches in Brazil. The analysis explores the transcendence of disseminated aspects of TQM.
Findings
The results revealed 19 percent disuse of TQM practices, 28 percent disuse of TQM tools and 57 percent disuse of TQM methodologies. However, the principles of TQM showed an average use of 96 percent, i.e. the predominant management philosophy remains part of the organizational environment of the companies. Although many practices, tools and methodologies are not described or named in the same way, their essence remains preserved and other practices, tools and methodologies have been incorporated into the automated systems of the companies.
Research limitations/implications
Simple statistical tools are used as we use an exploratory and qualitative approach (with just four samples), making generalizations impossible. For future research the authors suggest a more quantitative approach using more complex statistical tools.
Originality/value
The originality is demonstrated by the investigation of the cases of disuse, which contradicts most studies that analyze success stories. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of how certain aspects of the models or “fads” survive or disappear over time.