Priscila Borin de Oliveira Claro and Nathalia Ramajo Esteves
Sustainability-oriented strategies involve considering all possible environmental, social and economic factors that impact stakeholders and sustainable development. They could be…
Abstract
Purpose
Sustainability-oriented strategies involve considering all possible environmental, social and economic factors that impact stakeholders and sustainable development. They could be a crucial contribution of the private sector to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study’s objective is twofolded. First, the authors want to discover if enterprises doing business in Brazil are contemplating the SDGs in their strategies. Second, the authors want to identify the external and internal factors that motivate them.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data through an online survey with employees from Global Compact signatories in Brazil. From a list of 335 for-profit enterprises, the authors got back 132 answers. The sample comprises Brazilian enterprises that only operate in the Brazilian market, Brazilian multinational enterprises (MNEs) and foreign multinationals operating in Brazilian and international markets. For this study, the MNEs’ group comprises Brazilian multinationals and foreign multinationals (MNEs). To characterize the sample and identify the motivating factors, the authors conducted a descriptive analysis. To compare the domestic and MNEs’ mean differences regarding the factors that influenced their strategies and the SDGs, the authors performed Mann–Whitney's U-test.
Findings
The results of the study show that enterprises are addressing the SDGs in their strategies. All internal and external driving factors are similar for domestic and MNEs, except for the value chain's negative externalities. MNEs are more prone to consider their negative externalities, which is a positive trend. Finally, results suggest that both groups of enterprises consider the 17 goals in their strategies, contrary to the theoretical argument that multinationals suffer more pressure because of their broad geographic scope.
Research limitations/implications
The database of the study involves data collected through a self-response survey. Thus, the authors cannot discuss the effectiveness of real SDGs' strategies once enterprises' discourse on sustainability does not always correspond with practices. Therefore, the authors suggest that researchers address the results of implemented strategies on the SDGs over time to check for improvements and new developments.
Practical implications
The authors suggest frequent materiality assessment of domestic enterprises' supply chain and articulation of explicit purposes around the selected SDGs, including setting key performance indicators (KPIs) and monitoring progress.
Social implications
The authors believe that enterprises and decision makers should recognize their essential role to bend the curve on SDGs and shift their behavior toward strategic choices that could contribute to their positive performance over time, without contributing to environmental degradation and socioeconomic chaos.
Originality/value
Publication on how enterprises address the SDGs in Brazil is relatively scarce. This study provides some answers to that by focusing on the factors influencing sustainability-oriented strategies on the SDGs. Besides, most previous studies consider a small sample of enterprises and are industry specific or focus on the effects of the SDGs in public policy. The sample of this study is diverse and represents 42% of the for-profit signatories of the Global Compact in Brazil.
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Priscila Borin Claro and Nathalia Ramajo Esteves
This paper aims to discuss how educators can teach sustainability-oriented capabilities (SOCs) using an active learning approach.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss how educators can teach sustainability-oriented capabilities (SOCs) using an active learning approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a case study methodology centered on a Brazilian business school, this research combines qualitative analysis of content, such as teacher notes and student work, with quantitative analysis of student grades. The authors used variance analysis and Bonferroni tests to establish whether the means of three test groups were significantly different. The authors also tested for normality, using the Skewness Kurtosis test, and for homoscedasticity, using Levene.
Findings
The authors’ findings suggest that the active learning (AL) method may be useful in developing SOCs related to the capabilities of “to know,” “to do,” “to interact” and “to be” because it improved student engagement in the program. In addition, this improved engagement was shown to have a positive influence on grades.
Research limitations/implications
Using convenience sampling, the authors studied a limited number of the mandatory management courses offered by Insper. There is a need to check for nonlinear positive effects over a more extended period of time and considering more courses.
Practical implications
This paper offers a practical and replicable technique for teaching SOCs in a business school context using AL.
Originality/value
The existing literature on education and sustainability discusses the role of business schools in the development of SOCs, especially with respect to curricular changes that integrate content and frameworks related to the conceptualization of sustainable development for business (Cebrián and Junyent, 2015; Cortese, 2003; Fairfield, 2018; Aleixo et al., 2020; Leal Filho, 2020; Arruda Filho et al., 2019). However, some studies suggest that the learning process at many business schools fails to explore the complexity of real life by not using a teaching approach that favors the development of SOCs (Leal Filho et al., 2015). Thus, prior studies have pointed to the need for further research on the impact of the active learning approach in teaching about sustainability (Leal Filho et al., 2015; Fisher and Bonn, 2011; Hesselbarth and Schaltegger, 2014). The aim of this research is to contribute to this discussion.
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Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti
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…
Abstract
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.
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Danny Pimentel Claro and Priscila Borin de Oliveira Claro
The recent interest in and increasing demand for healthy, social and environmentally sustainable products, particularly in developed countries, have fostered the presence of…
Abstract
The recent interest in and increasing demand for healthy, social and environmentally sustainable products, particularly in developed countries, have fostered the presence of organic coffee supermarket shelves of such countries. Proposes two models of B2B relationships for the Brazilian supply of organic coffee to international markets, more specifically, The Netherlands. For this proposition, compares two possible organizations of the supply chain wherein B2B relationships are based not only on contracts but more importantly on the informal safeguards of mutual trust, long‐term orientation and joint actions. For the two proposed chains, a cross‐border integrator is included to support the coordination of the business relationship. Emphasis is placed on coordination to increase overall efficiency of the supply chain through reduction of internal and transaction costs.
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Danny Pimentel Claro, Priscila Borin de Oliveira Claro and Geoffrey Hagelaar
It is the aim of this paper to discuss the value of trust and the effects of transaction specific investments for the relative degree of collaborative joint efforts, and also to…
Abstract
Purpose
It is the aim of this paper to discuss the value of trust and the effects of transaction specific investments for the relative degree of collaborative joint efforts, and also to assess the moderating effect of the information network on such joint efforts.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes the perspective of the buyer making the joint effort decision and draws on transaction cost economics, relational exchange and network perspectives to develop the hypotheses of the conceptual framework. Wholesalers and other merchant‐distributors in the Dutch flower industry provided the data to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results show the importance of trust in coordinating the joint efforts and the joint effort response in terms of safeguarding and better integrating the transaction specific investments.
Originality/value
While the information network does not moderate the relation between trust and joint efforts, there is a significant moderating effect of the network on the relation between transaction specific investments and joint effort. This result suggests that buyers temper their specific investments to the degree of joint effort according to the information that is obtained in the network. This implies that coordinating collaborative joint efforts with suppliers is more than just buying well. The degrees of trust, specific investments and the information from the network have managerial implications for the coordination of a buyer‐supplier relationship.
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Danny Pimentel Claro and Priscila Borin de Oliveira Claro
This study aims to assess the moderating effect of the business network on the effects of between relational behavior and the effects of transaction‐specific investments on joint…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to assess the moderating effect of the business network on the effects of between relational behavior and the effects of transaction‐specific investments on joint actions.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was a survey based field study designed using theoretical support from marketing channels, transaction cost economics and network perspectives.
Findings
The results show the importance of relational behavior and the network in coordinating joint actions, and this has relevant managerial implications for the coordination of a collaborative relationship. The characteristics of the relationship, its length as well as the size of each partner affect the collaborative efforts of the partners.
Practical implications
Firms and managers should understand not only the dyadic relationships they are in but also the network structure. Dyadic characteristics affect collaboration, while the network also has effects on the collaboration of partners in vulnerable positions.
Originality/value
The paper points out the role of the network as a countervailing safeguard for dyadic TSIs and network stability. Dyadic relationships are supported by the network.