Brazilian Administration Review

Why do companies engage in sustainability? Propositions and a framework of motivations

Marco F. Simões-Coelho — 2021-05-28

This article proposes a framework of corporate motivations for sustainability based on the study of sustainability engagement most prevalent in the different UN-defined macro-regions. Four main motivations were uncovered in the literature: Legitimacy — the perception that the actions are appropriate within a system of norms and beliefs; Market Success — increase in turnover, brand equity, or innovation due to sustainable practices; Process Improvement — sustainability-oriented optimization of processes; and Social Insurance — preemptive insurance against reputation or goodwill losses. Field articles were selected via a bibliometric review to develop the propositions. They indicate which motivations are of more academic concern in general and in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Northern America, and Oceania. Legitimacy appears as the most prevalent motivation, followed by Market Success. More developed regions tend to have more studies on Market Success, while Social Insurance seems linked to less developed markets, where corporations must provide access to needs beyond their business.

Inhospitable accessibility and blurred liability: Institutional voids in an emerging economy preventing supply network transparency

Leonardo Marques — 2021-05-28

Research on supply network transparency is incipient and focused on how focal firms can improve monitoring of supplier misbehavior. This narrow focus has restricted advancements in the topic. Our research, firstly, shifts the focus from supplier to focal firm misbehavior, and secondly, focuses on Brazil as an exemplar of an emerging economy. We explore how institutional voids influence supply network transparency. We focus on how voids in regulation, labor market, and contracting systems provide fruitful land for buyer misconduct and undermine supply network transparency. We review legislation in five developed countries to contrast with legislation in Brazil and we synthesize six years of Brazilian law suits regarding outsourcing issues in the apparel sector. This study exposes that voids can ease pressures allowing firms to navigate ‘below the radar’ and sustain poor working conditions along the supply network. Within this context, society has limited information availability and accessibility — what we label inhospitable accessibility (due to the regulatory void), as well as limited proportionality between real risks in the supply network and traceability of those risks back to the buying firm — what we label blurred liability (due to voids in labor market and contracting systems), thus preventing supply network transparency.

Evaluating the effect of entrepreneurial programs elements on students: A scale development

Elda Barron — 2021-05-28

Entrepreneurship education is an approach that universities employ to attempt to produce more ventures. Currently, entrepreneurship education programs do not capture the perceived progress of their students because they lack such a method. In this study, we develop an instrument that measures students’ perceptions. We perform exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses based on the responses of 304 college students to identify the main factors that students consider in an entrepreneurship education program. The results show a measurement scale constituted by the following dimensions: learning, resources, instructor role, and a new dimension called the meaning of life. This new construct reflects the importance of factors beyond education or university resources and highlights individual perceptions. This study contributes to our understanding of the value that entrepreneurship education programs offer to their participants and provides insights into future adjustments to these programs.

Do university ecosystems impact student’s entrepreneurial behavior?

Matheus Leite Campos — 2021-05-31

The goal of this study is to propose a conceptual model for assessing the impact of entrepreneurship supportive university ecosystems (ESUE) on student’s entrepreneurship related behavioral characteristics: entrepreneurial intention (EI) and entrepreneurial characteristics (EC). The empirical research used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and a sample of 1,012 observations. Findings indicate that an ESUE has a positive influence on student’s EI. However, this effect is mostly perceived on the changing of student’s EC than on the direct stimulation for becoming entrepreneurs. Moreover, student’s EI is also influenced by the greater entrepreneurial ecosystem in which universities are embedded. Evidences hint at the possibility that the university’s push for entrepreneurship is insufficient. University and/or public managers stand to benefit from our findings for reassessing their current arrangements for fostering student entrepreneurship and designing new, more efficient mechanisms. Moreover, the literature presents a myriad of localized assessments of small countries, whereas this research provides a rough nation-wide overview of a continent-sized nation, thus contributing to the testing of the model against different contexts.

Proteus looks around: Agency, time, and context in a Gig Economy career analysis

Marcia Cristiane Vaclavik — 2021-06-25

Contemporary career studies based on the protean career theory emphasize individual characteristics such as adaptability and flexibility. However, it is important to consider elements that permeate and influence the individual’s agency and career paths. This study analyzes how the perspectives of time and context, in addition to the individual’s agency, influence the career paths of gig economy workers. The qualitative analysis of data collected from interviews with 57 Brazilian app-based drivers enabled developing an empirically based typology with eight workers’ profiles and different ways of adaptation, including how they experience the activity and how they redirect their professional paths. Although adaptability marks their career trajectory, the time and context limit the area in which they can work and exercise agency. This study joins a broader movement in the career field and international studies that seek a better understanding of the gig economy and its consequences. The emergence of app-based activities resulting from a particular time and technological context brings different ways to adapt and change career plans.