Maria Laura Ferranty MacLennan

Reverse Transfers of Innovation and National Development: Evidence from Brazilian Subsidiaries

The search for innovation has become an important motivation for the internationalization of companies in emerging countries. In that context, this study tests the impact that a nation’s development has on whether subsidiaries transfer innovation of products or that of processes. Survey data collected from 73 subsidiaries of Brazilian companies indicate that companies located in developed markets tend to transfer more product-oriented innovations than do those based in emerging countries. Furthermore, the size and age of a subsidiary has an impact on the transfer process. The larger and younger the subsidiary, the more likely a company is to favor the flow of product innovation into its headquarters. The level of national development was not identified as an influence on the flow of process innovation.

Atributos da imagem do país de origem como fonte de vantagem competitiva: estudo no segmento internacional da moda brasileira

The study sought to understand which attributes of the country of origin image are source of international competitive advantage in the context of Brazilian fashion. From the theoretical framework related to competitive advantage, country of origin image, Brazilianness and their attributes in fashion, we conducted exploratory research with a qualitative approach. The results suggest that the image of Brazil is understood by the international fashion market in accordance with the attributes of the literature. However (i) in fashion, market still does not have a steady concept on the image of Brazil, (ii) Brazilianness attributes in fashion can be a source of competitive advantage in international trades if they are communicated, promoted and understood by the international market; finally, (iii) among the eight Brazilianness trendy attributes identified in the literature, four were highlighted as differentiators: shape and volumes, colors, prints and lifestyle.

Strategic human resource management and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from Emerging Markets

Corporate social responsibility practices are increasingly being adopted and legitimized in business and they impact the strategic and operational levels in various areas. The integration of these criteria and practices in the strategic management involves many factors, and human resource management is an essential aspect for the accomplishment of such initiative. Thus, this paper associates the relationship among corporate social responsibility (CSR) various dimensions (strategic, ethical, social and environmental) and strategic human resource management (SHRM) in companies operating in Brazil. We also aim to identify whether there is impact of other aspects on this relationship, namely: size, industry and company internationalization level (if national or multinational). Results show evidence that ethical CSR can be associated to SHRM. Environmental CSR showed marginal relation, and social and strategic CSR presented no significant association. Those results emphasize the need to further develop strategic actions of CSR into human resource management in emerging markets. Managers can also benefit from those findings, as it is possible to have a broad view of limitations and opportunities regarding the role played by human resource management in CSR.