What about sustainability? Understanding consumers' conceptual representations through free word association

The United Nations (UN) conceptualizes sustainability as development that meets the current needs of the planet's populations, but without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Although the concept of sustainability has been widely discussed in the international political agendas, inconsistent interpretation and ambiguity of the concept by consumers is observed. In this paper, the understanding of the term sustainability amongst Brazilian consumers is reported. Using the word association projective technique, the participants were asked to write down all the words that came to their mind when thinking about “sustainability.” Thematic content analysis was performed by grouping words by similarity of meaning in categories, which were further submitted to correspondence analysis (CA) to create a perceptual map. Brazilian consumers made different associations reflecting the complexity and multidimensionality of the concept amongst different groups of consumers. The most frequently cited categories are related to environment, health and nutrition, behaviour, production and economy and sustenance. CA accounted for 76.7% of the data variance and the perceptual map evidenced that younger individuals with higher education made associations with categories related to the current concept of sustainable development, similar to that proposed by UN. Moreover, consumers with basic education were associated with categories related to food and sustenance. The findings of this study can contribute to the formulation of education strategies directed towards different social groups, besides directing further research on consumer behaviour.     

中国生物燃料需求与巴西乙醇

中国gdp快速增长的同时带来严重的大气污染,因此中国政府正在寻求一种更加环保的可再生绿色燃料来满足国内的运输需求。生物燃料是一种从生长过程中吸收co2的植物中提取出来的新型燃料,尽管中国国内并没有足够的农用土地来生产满足其未来消费需求的生物燃料,但是选择生物燃料仍然不失为污染问题的部分解决方法。由于巴西从甘蔗中提取的乙醇比其他国家从谷物中提取的乙醇便宜且排放更少的温室气体,因此从巴西进口乙醇可以说是中国政府最好的选择。加上巴西不但在乙醇工业部门有着其特殊的技术,而且拥有大量的劳动力,丰富的水源和闲置的农业用地,这些条件足以为中国额外生产85亿升的乙醇来满足中国到2020年对乙醇的需求量。     

Teachers as servants of state ideology: Sousa and Sales,Portuguese School of Commerce, 1759–1784

This paper draws upon Althusser [Althusser L, Ideology and ideological state apparatuses (notes towards an investigation). In: Althusser L, editor. Lenin and philosophy and other essays [Brewster B, Trans.]. London: New Left Books; 1971] to conceive two teachers of commercial subjects as apparatchiks serving an ideological state apparatus in order to diffuse a state ideology. We explore the lives of João Henrique de Sousa and Albert Jaquéri de Sales, the first two teachers of the Portuguese School of Commerce, established in Lisbon in 1759. Sousa and Sales were important propagators of commercial knowledge and mercantilist State ideology during the regime of the Marquis of Pombal (Chief Minister of Portugal, 1756–1777). We explore their role as operatives of an “ideological state apparatus” and the contribution they made to the growth of indigenous commercial know-how and the development of the Portuguese economy. We explore how their status in Portuguese society was related to the fortunes of the regime they served.     

THE IMPACT OF DEMAND UNCERTAINTY AND CONFIGURATION CAPACITY ON CUSTOMER SERVICE PERFORMANCE IN A CONFIGURE‐TO‐ORDER ENVIRONMENT

This paper examines the simultaneous impact of demand variability, demand skew, and configuration capacity on customer service in a configure‐to‐order environment. Simulation is done in ARENA and data are analyzed using ANOVA and MANOVA. The findings indicate that the factors studied have differential impact on performance both individually and interactively.     

The Development of Corporate Identity: A Political Perspective

abstract    A corporate identity denotes a set of attributes that senior managers ascribe to their organization. It is therefore an organizational identity articulated by a powerful interest group. It can constitute a claim which serves inter alia to justify the authority vested in top managers and to further their interests. The academic literature on organizational identity, and on corporate identity in particular, pays little attention to these political considerations. It focuses in an apolitical manner on shared meanings when corporate identity works, or on cognitive dissonance when it breaks down. In response to this analytical void, we develop a political analysis of corporate identity and its development, using as illustration a longitudinal study of successive changes in the corporate identity of a Brazilian telecommunications company. This suggests a cyclical model in which corporate identity definition and redefinition involve power relations, resource mobilization and struggles for legitimacy.     

Motivation in sport and exercise: a comparison between the BRSQ and BREQ

Quality & Quantity - This study aimed to test whether the Behavioral Regulation in Sport Questionnaire and the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire can measure the same constructs in...     

Special issue: 20th anniversary of the Portuguese Economic Journal. Editors’ introduction

Portuguese Economic Journal -     

Global mindset and the internationalization of small firms: The importance of the characteristics of entrepreneurs

Despite being a relatively new concept, the importance of the global mindset is already well-documented. So far research has primarily focused on multinational companies and therefore the operationalization of the concept is still a work in progress. Recognizing the importance of entrepreneurs in small companies, yet mindful of the gaps that exist, this paper addresses the factors that constitute the global mindset and their influence on the internationalization of small Portuguese companies. Using information-processing theory through a quantitative, survey-based study and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the results show the importance of the characteristics of both entrepreneurs and firms in explaining the global mindset, and confirm the impact they have on internationalization behavior. The entrepreneur??s level of education, their satisfaction with company performance in the domestic market and the potential for growth in the domestic market all affect the global mindset model. The conclusions are useful for entrepreneurs and national authorities aiming to successfully implement internationalization practices, given the role of the global mindset in exploring global business opportunities and in the global success of companies. Replication of the research in different contexts is essential for the wider generalization of the results.