Osvaldo Luiz Gonçalves Quelhas

Sustentabilidade empresarial e o impacto no custo de capital próprio das empresas de capital aberto

This article provides an analysis of equity costs in Brazilian public companies regarding the adoption of sustainability principles. The concept of sustainable development has evolved considering the relation among economic growth, the society and the environment. The triple-bottom-line of economic, environmental, and social dimensions has emerged as an interpretation model by companies, although each of these dimensions may present a challenge. The corporate sector has faced an increasing demand from society regarding these sustainability concepts, though the actions and the role to be played by companies within this context are still being questioned. Equity costs were analyzed by a multivariate regression of beta on accounting measures, including a dummy variable obtaining the sustainability component. The results confirmed the hypothesis that there is a reduction in the cost of capital for companies classified as sustainable, which also suggests an increase in economic value.

Sustainability assessment and prioritisation of e-waste management options in Brazil

Brazil has an increasing rate of e-waste generation, but there are currently few adequate management systems in operation, with the largest share of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) going to landfill sites or entering informal chains. The National Solid Waste Policy (2010) enforces the implementation of reverse logistics systems under the shared responsibility of consumers, companies and governments. The objective of this paper is to assess sustainability and prioritise system alternatives for potential implementation in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. Sustainability criteria and decision alternatives were defined by elicitation of stakeholders. The adopted multicriteria approach combines Life Cycle Assessment with qualitative evaluations by a small sample of regional experts with knowledge of the problem. The recommended system consists of a hybrid WEEE collection scheme with delivery points at shops, metro stations and neighbourhood centres; a pre-treatment phase with the involvement of private companies, cooperatives and social enterprises; and full recycling of all components in the country.

Sustentabilidade: da evolução dos conceitos à implementação como estratégia nas organizações

Este trabalho apresenta uma contextualizacao acerca da literatura e das diferentes abordagens sobre sustentabilidade nas organizacoes, relacionando-a com o planejamento estrategico. O estudo enquadra-se na Engenharia da Sustentabilidade, uma das areas do conhecimento definida pela ABEPRO para a Engenharia de Producao. Adaptando os conceitos do Balanced Scorecard (BSC), sao propostas diretrizes de gestao, que promovem o alinhamento entre a sustentabilidade e a estrategia, denominada Matriz de Alinhamento Estrategico Sustentavel (MAES). Para avaliar a aplicabilidade, foi realizado estudo de caso em uma fabricante de cosmeticos. A avaliacao da aplicacao das diretrizes propostas foi feita a partir da analise das praticas de gestao na organizacao estudada. Algumas consideracoes foram feitas acerca dos resultados encontrados, especialmente no que tange ao grau de desenvolvimento ambiental inerente aos processos internos, e sao apontadas algumas sugestoes de melhoria, no que se refere ao aprimoramento do binomio entre aprendizado e crescimento e o pilar social da sustentabilidade.

Innovation as a Critical Success Factor: an Exploratory Study about the Partnership among University with Pharmaceutical Industry in Brazil

Interaction between universities and companies is common in Countries considered to be developed and innovative. In Brazil, this strategy is not widely used, although some relevant actions have produced good results in the pharmaceutical sector. The Brazilian Innovation Law, which is considered a milestone, created the Technology Innovation Centers (TICs) in universities, and is seen by the Ministry of Health in Brazil as having great strategic promise within the area of drugs and medicine. In this regard, this article seeks to present the findings of an exploratory research project investigating the participation of Brazilian universities in the formation of strategic partnerships focused on the development of drugs, after the advent of the Brazilian Innovation Law. An exploratory study was used as an instrument of methodological support, backed by a survey whose results allowed the authors to identify some significant reflections structured in the university-pharmaceutical industry-government approach.

A study of the relationships among three variables

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate, for some countries, the nature of relationships among three variables: the character of governance, the potential for sustainable growth and the quality of energy management.Design/methodology/approach – This study was based on a sample of data drawn from a database available from the World Bank. This database provides CO2 emissions and other environmental measures for 54 countries for the period 2000 to 2008. The character of governance was measured by using an indicator of character of governance constructed by Transparency International. Data were analyzed by applying the method of linear regression with panel data after the method of structural equations had been applied in a test of robustness.Findings – The results of the analysis showed the existence of statistically significant relationships among character of governance, potential for sustainable growth and quality of energy management.Originality/value – The results of this investigation all...

Measurement of sustainability performance in Brazilian organizations

ABSTRACT In recent years, sustainability issues are gaining greater prominence among organizations and their stakeholders around the world. This paper aims to verify the sustainability performance of Brazilian organizations in performance measures and to propose sustainable guidelines with the intention of directing future efforts to the transition to sustainable development. The research utilized a triangulated approach by collecting qualitative and quantitative data acquired through multiple collection methods of a theoretical literature review, documentary analysis of corporate reports, questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews with industry professionals and academic researchers. The results show that internal organizational factors are the main inductors of the sustainable environment in organizations, and sustainability must be tied to strategic planning, starting from upper management to lower levels. It is essential to use sustainable performance measurement systems in order to respond to external and internal levers and serve as benchmarking for future corporate operations and strategies. In addition, it is the responsibility of organizations to focus their efforts on environmental protection, reduction of energy, corporate reputation, quality management, customer satisfaction and investor relations, as they are considered to be more important and have a relationship of dependence on organizational sustainability. The findings will be of value to professionals and academics who want to start measuring and for continuously improving the sustainability performance of their organizations according to the technical, economic, environmental, social and governance dimensions. This research work also helps to understand the perceptions and expectations of stakeholders.

Melhores práticas em implantação de escritório de gerenciamento de projeto: desenvolvimento de referenciais de sucesso

Despite the recognition of the Project Management Office (PMO) as a unit to promote maturity in project management and increase the success of projects, its implementation in organizations is often not successful. This research analyzes the best practices of successful PMO implementations, thereby increasing their likelihood of success. Through a literature review, best practices and criteria for measuring success were identified. Through a field survey with questionnaire use, these best practices and PMO success were raised to a group of organizations. Best practices most applied in PMO deployment were identified through these data. Statistical analysis revealed that 14 best practices increase the PMO implantation success.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices developed by Brazilian companies: an exploratory study

ABSTRACT In a world where companies have major influence over the economy, politics, and environment, they must be held accountable for their actions. With this in mind, the publication of sustainability reports is in a company’s best interest, since the disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainable practices can bring enormous advantages, largely related to a company’s image. The amount of information presented in sustainability reports turns them into valuable sources for research data, allowing analyses related to CSR and management practices, stakeholder relations, language used, among others. However, there is no a paper in the literature that analyzes theses information jointly for the Brazilian companies, and then we decided to explore this theme. This research aimed to identify advances and gaps of CSR practices performed by Brazil companies, through the analysis of 30 sustainability reports published between 2014 and 2015. The main findings indicate that, in general, the analyzed companies are experienced in sustainability reporting; however, there is still room for improvements, including a better mapping and reporting of practices involving the integration of CSR to organizational structure, stakeholder engagement, and continuous improvement practices.

Main causes that lead strategies to decline at execution phase: an analysis of Brazilian companies

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify what are the main causes that lead strategies to decline at execution phase. Design/methodology/approach - The paper adopted the strategy of survey with the 69 Brazilian businessmen. The questionnaire was developed from 16 causes pointed out in the literature and the results analyzed using Cronbachs alpha coefficient, Multidimensional Scaling, Exploratory Factor Analysis and Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Findings - The results of statistical analysis showed that the main causes are primarily associated to leaders defaults during execution strategies, lack of support and feedback of senior management, no involvement of the teams during the strategies formulation, failure of communication on the strategic objectives in all organizational levels, and others. Research limitations/implications - The 69 businessmen work in different sectors and there may be specific causes for each sector. The research presented by this paper did not have as objectives to analyze specific sectors of the economy. Practical implications - The results are extremely important and useful for managers during the implementation phase of the strategies and researchers in the field of business strategies. Originality/value - There are no research with the same focus and objective presented by this paper about Brazilian companies.

Avaliação da importância relativa dos critérios para a seleção de Sistemas Integrados de Gestão (ERP) para uso em empresas da construção civil

The adoption of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) by companies has introduced the need of evaluating and selecting such systems. This discussion is embedded in a context of multiple perceptions or evaluation criteria. In the present study, it a systematic literature review was conducted on a set of papers published in journals indexed by Scopus, ISI Web of Science, and Engineering Village databases focusing on the multiple criteria evaluation of ERP systems. Based on this literature review, criteria and sub-criteria was set, which was submitted for validation by a group of professionals with strong ERP System selection and implementation experience resulting in a tree comprised of 45 sub-criteria grouped into five criteria. A survey of IT and civil construction areas was conducted on a sample of 79 respondents in order to investigate the relative importance of these criteria. The survey demonstrated that the Financial, Business, and Software criteria were considered by the respondents as the most important.