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This teaching case aims to provide in-class discussions on the commercialization and consumption of goods in spiritual markets. This teaching case is a narrative based on facts with a fictitious plot reporting the journeys of the launch, commercialization and consumption of mineral water in bottles in the shape of Father Cícero – a religious leader in Northeast Brazil – produced by Blue Spring Mineral Water in Juazeiro do Norte’s pilgrimage spiritual market.

Primary and secondary data sources were gathered. Two focus groups with pilgrims and semi-structured interviews with Blue Spring leaders and a local Church representative were conducted as primary data. As secondary data, a dossier was created holding content from newspapers and blogs online on the focal product and data from the company’s official website and social networks.

Throughout the case, the strategies and challenges of the production and commercialization of this religiously appealing product and the consumer practices adopted by different consumer profiles are unfolded.

This case intends to be a useful pedagogical tool to discuss the creation, production, commercialization and consumption of goods in spiritual markets. The case allows students to experience Blue Spring’s managers’ point of view regarding the decisions of production and commercialization of the focal product. In a broad sense, this case intends to inform future marketers of the importance of balancing commercialization in religious contexts.

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.

This study contributes to the understanding of the health effects of pesticides exposure and of how pesticides have been and should be regulated.

This study presents literature reviews for the period 2000–2013 on (i) the health effects of pesticides and on (ii) preference valuation of health risks related to pesticides, as well as a discussion of the role of benefit-cost analysis applied to pesticide regulatory measures.

This study indicates that the health literature has focused on individuals with direct exposure to pesticides, i.e. farmers, while the literature on preference valuation has focused on those with indirect exposure, i.e. consumers. The discussion highlights the need to clarify the rationale for regulating pesticides, the role of risk perceptions in benefit-cost analysis, and the importance of inter-disciplinary research in this area.

This study relates findings of different disciplines (health, economics, public policy) regarding pesticides, and identifies gaps for future research.

This study aims to investigate the existence of delimitations more suited to the emergence of generations in Brazil, and to assess generational perceptions on constructs of the work environment and their influences on organizational commitment.

The perceptions of 102,540 respondents employed by 394 organizations were classified into nine constructs. The methodology used entailed an initial confirmatory factorial analysis, which was undertaken to investigate the validity of the proposed measurement model. Regression analyses were applied to test the relationship between work environment and commitment.

The results highlight that the Baby Boomer generation attributed more value to the meaning of work and corporate social responsibility. Meaning of work, learning and development were given a high level of importance in the results for Generation X. Generation Y values learning and development, relationships with co-workers and Work-life balance more than the other two generations.

This research is classified as a cross-sectional study that does not allow us to substantiate whether differences between the groups were caused by influence of generations or the age of respondents. Therefore, nationwide surveys capable of offsetting the age effect on generational differences are still necessary. Another constraint is related to the fact that only data from the survey that annually elects the “Best Companies to Work for in Brazil” were used for undertaking this study. Moreover, because all variables were collected simultaneously from the same source, the authors recognize that the results could have problems related to common method biases.

The authors believe that the identification of critical dimensions of workers’ perception regarding the work environment equips human resources professionals with the ability to implement policies and practices that align people management with the differing desires of each generation, effectively ensuring commitment from these professionals.

This study may contribute to researchers by highlighting the need for temporal outlines suited to the Brazilian reality, which might also inspire further research on the country’s generations, even associating them with other themes, such as values, personality and professional motivation.

As the main contributions, the authors have sought to highlight that generational differences may be related to specific periods in each country’s historical context. The authors also show the determining factors influencing each generation’s affective commitment and justify each of their choices.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the relationship between franchisee support and brand value in micro-franchise chains. This study aims to understand the importance of value delivery in support to the micro-franchisee aiming at increasing brand value.

The sample was composed of 148 micro-franchisees belonging to 70 chains located in Brazil. The questionnaire aimed to verify the franchisee’s degree of concordance with the support and brand value provided by the franchisor through a Likert scale. The questionnaire structure comprised of ten metrics associated with franchisee support, four metrics associated with the brand value perception and four potentially intervenient metrics. A regression analysis was carried out to confirm the results for the factor analysis, assuming that the three factors associated with support as independent variables and the brand factor as a dependent variable.

The three factors related to franchisee support were found to be significant predictors of brand value. Based on the values of the coefficients, it is possible to infer the positive nature of the association. An increase in franchisee support leads to an increase in the franchisee perception about brand value. The positive effect of training and franchisor’s support in prospection and installation improvement on the brand value evaluation by franchisees was supported by the statistical analyses conducted.

This research complements the studies on brand citizenship behavior and franchisee brand commitment; the greater the support provided to the micro-franchisee, the greater its commitment to the brand values of the chain. This contribution is critical because we deal with micro-enterprises in a business environment with an intense resource scarcity. These aspects place restrictions on the delivery of support and brand value in these franchise chains.

Structured support plans and greater approximation with franchisees seem to be alternatives for this perception of value to be increased in micro-franchise chains. The attractiveness of a micro-franchise chain can be enhanced if the franchisor is able to show to its potential micro-franchisees that it offers adequate support for its business; and also for the capture of new micro-franchisees.

The social implications aimed at entrepreneurs with low financial expenditure. The sustainability of these businesses is highly relevant in the case of emerging markets given the high rates of unemployment and informality. Hence, micro-franchises become one of the means for micro-entrepreneurs to enter the job market.

When dealing with micro-franchises, there is an intensification of this scarcity of resources due to the smaller amount captured by the franchisor, as well as the lower technical level found in the franchisees. The relationship between brand value and the perceived level of support and the consequent franchise satisfaction with the chain in franchises, symbolized by brand citizenship behavior, is still little studied, and there are promising new studies, especially on the different types of franchises.