Innovation strategies in the Brazilian sugar–energy industry

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 536-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samara Marques Gomes ◽  
David Ferreira Lopes Santos ◽  
Leonardo Fernando Cruz Basso
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Energy Industry ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Of Resources ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Innovation Strategies ◽  
Energy Companies ◽  
Implementation Of Innovations ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the innovation strategies of the sugar–energy industry in Central-Southern Brazil with regard to its resource structure and results. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected through a questionnaire covering the three-year period from 2015 through 2017. The results were extracted based on a combination of factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. Findings The innovation strategies of Brazilian sugar–energy companies are characterized as defensive and imitative based on the resources dedicated to innovation and the implementation of innovation with respect to products, processes, eco-innovation and cost reductions. Research limitations/implications The sample is representative, but it does not cover all companies in the Brazilian sugar–energy industry. The data were acquired using a survey, and the results could not be compared to the financial results of the companies. Practical implications Sugar–energy companies need to define their innovation strategies, as these strategies lead to different results that can be achieved only through the management of resources dedicated to the generation and implementation of innovations. Managers and analysts need to know the profile of these innovation strategies to evaluate the effectiveness of the results based on the resources that were invested. Originality/value This study presents an exploratory model that identified two factors related to innovation efforts and three results. It is possible to define the innovation strategies of companies in the Brazilian sugar–energy industry, which is one of the most competitive in Brazil.

scholarly journals Development and validation of the Work Environment Complexity Scale for leaders

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 296-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Bezler ◽  
Giovanni B. Moneta ◽  
Gary Pheiffer
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Work Demands ◽  
Frequent Change ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Leadership Research ◽  
Development And Validation ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a Work Environment Complexity (WEC) Scale for leaders. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses both cross-sectional and longitudinal data, gathered in the course of major organisational restructuring, using samples from employees (n=305) and leaders (n=120) in two health care organisations. Findings The research developed and validated a scale of WEC for leaders with two factors: frequent change and events, and uncertain work demands. Comparisons between samples suggest diverging employee and leadership representations of WEC. Practical implications Being the first scale to measure the comprehensive construct of WEC, a foundation is laid to measure the amount of complexity in a leader’s work and the functioning of leaders with regards to WEC. Originality/value This paper contributes to leadership research and practice by clarifying the construct of WEC for leaders empirically and validating a bidimensional scale of WEC.

The elements driving green innovation strategy in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 4-6
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Innovation Strategy ◽  
Green Innovation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Innovation Strategies ◽  
Chinese Company ◽  
Market Pressure ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings This research paper concentrates on the internal and external elements involved in Chinese company decisions around the pursuit of green innovation strategies. Government coercion and incentives, as well as market pressure from consumers and competitors, are effective in driving environmental improvements in the operations of Chinese companies. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists, and researchers’ hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Best innovators develop a point of view on the future and a roadmap on how to get there

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-22
Author(s):  
Kai Engel ◽  
Voletka Dirlea ◽  
Stephen Dyer ◽  
Jochen Graff
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Innovation Management ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Continuous Innovation ◽  
Innovation Strategies ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The authors have collected key insights from the Best Innovator competition, launched in 2003. Six early-stage practices are critical. Design/methodology/approach – The Best Innovator competition, annual benchmarking against the best in innovation management, focuses on the how-to of innovation and examines what leading companies are doing to achieve better yield with their innovation strategies. Findings – By studying the competition winners, the researchers found a strong correlation between specific innovation management practices and sustainable, profitable growth. Practical implications – Best Innovators establish explicit expectations for making the business case for innovation. They name a specific set of deliverables to which they are committed. Originality/value – The article offers specific guidelines for setting the stage for continuous innovation that results in profitable offerings and services.

Value creation of tourist experiences in spectacular and spontaneous designs

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Jacques Fonseca ◽  
Laura Tonon Zuanazzi ◽  
Rodrigo B. Castilhos ◽  
Guilherme Trez
Keyword(s):  
Value Creation ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Consumer Experience ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumer Experiences ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Embedded Case Study ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThis study aims at understanding how consumers engage with and perceive value in “spectacular” versus “spontaneous” designs of tourist experiences. Building on the idea that experiences unfold over time through consumers' interactions with multiple touchpoints composed of assemblages of material and interpersonal elements, how these designs can be conducive to various dimensions of the consumer experience value is shown.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative comparative “embedded case study” (Yin, 2018) of the tourist experiences at In Vino (pseudonym), a traditional winery located in the Vale dos Vinhedos (Valley of the Vineyards) in southern Brazil, was conducted. Based on initial archival research into relevant and noteworthy experiences, two distinct tourist experiences for In Vino were designed. Both experiences were implemented, and participant observations and interviews with participants were conducted.FindingsThe two experiences effectively lead visitors to unique and separate interpersonal, temporal and materially engaging experiences. Both generated educational, entertainment, esthetic and escapist value when well executed, and the comparative analysis by the authors helped in outlining a potential combination of the characteristics of spectacular and spontaneous designs that can enhance authenticity value for tourists.Practical implicationsThis study provides practical information to help companies develop positive consumer experiences in tourism by employing different combinations of temporal, material and interpersonal elements to emphasize different types of value. It also suggests guidelines for what to do and what to avoid in order to create this value.Originality/valueThis paper shows that it is the very union of elements from two apparently antagonistic types of encounters that provides positive values in tourism-related experiences. It also extends the notion of authenticity as an outcome that can potentially be perceived in both types of experiences. Finally, it introduces guidelines on how to manage the different values in order to help companies offer a positive tourist experience.

Talking about climate change

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 7-8
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Cutting Edge ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Energy Companies ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Statoil (Equinor), Suncor, and Total were the first three energy companies to produce climate strategy reports. Analyzing these, it is possible to discover how these companies view climate change in relation to their business strategy moving forward. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

A way of developing collaboration between universities and businesses in a time of COVID-19

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rusudan Seturidze ◽  
Nino Topuria
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Special Importance ◽  
Business Analytics ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Mutual Cooperation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Integrated Operation ◽  
Implementation Of Innovations ◽  
The Given ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Central to problems affecting effective university–business collaboration (UBC) is the lack of intensive communication in addition to some administrative issues. This paper aims to resolve this issue by use of a uniquely designed “UBC system.” It suggests establishing a unified business analytics portal as one of the most convenient ways of facilitating UBC. This research paper describes the development and functioning of the “UBC system,” which is capable of supporting universities and businesses in terms of the COVID-19 crisis and in enabling the implementation of innovations in their activities. Design/methodology/approach Several dozen organizations and students and graduates of different universities were selected to test the “UBC system.” This research was conducted in several phases. The “UBC system” was developed on the basis of Microsoft 365, which is a solution made on a single platform with the integrated operation of several applications (SharePoint [Easy-Quiz and Survey], Outlook, Teams, Power Automate and Power BI). The system collects, processes and compares the data; schedules online interviews; conducts intelligence quotient testing and surveys; and its business analytic reports and dashboards are shared on the internet and are accessible from any location and from any device. Findings The results of the given study suggest that establishing reliable and convenient online coordination through the “UBC system” can provide help in enabling efficient collaboration between universities and businesses – something that has gained special importance in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper provides a number of conclusions and recommendations to improve online cooperation between universities and businesses. Practical implications The system can be administered by state entities (such as the Ministry of Education) and by career development centers within universities. The use of these kinds of systems can become a permanent part of effective UBC. The “UBC system” will not only help overcome employment problems in times of crisis but also make it easier to analyze the real situation and to introduce and develop innovative trends by both businesses and universities through mutual cooperation in an automated mode. Originality/value The proposed “UBC system” platform was developed by the authors.

An approach to task recommendation in crowdsourcing based on 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic method

Kybernetes ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 1623-1641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuefeng Zhang ◽  
Jiafu Su
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Linguistic Terms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Imprecise Information ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Fuzzy Linguistic ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Task recommendation is an important way for workers and requesters to get better outcomes in shorter time in crowdsourcing. This paper aims to propose an approach based on 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic method to recommend tasks to the workers who would be capable of completing and accept them. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, worker’s capability-to-complete (CTC) and possibility-to-accept (PTA) for a task needs to be recommended are proposed, measured and aggregated to determine worker’s priority for task recommendation. Therein, the similarity between the recommended task and its similar tasks and worker’s performance on these similar tasks are computed and aggregated to determine worker’s CTC quantitatively. In addition, two factors of worker’s active degree and worker’s preferences to a task category are presented to reflect and determine worker’s PTA. In the process of measuring them, 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic method is used to represent, process and aggregate vague and imprecise information. Findings To demonstrate the implementation process and performance of the proposed approach, an illustrative example is conducted on Taskcn, a widely used Chinese online crowdsourcing market. The experimental results show that the proposed approach outperformed the self-selection approach, especially for complex or creative tasks. Moreover, comparing with task recommendation considering worker’s CTC solely, the proposed approach would be better in terms of workers’ response rate. Additionally, the use of linguistic terms and fuzzy linguistic method facilitates the expression of vague and subjective information and makes recommendation process more practical. Research limitations/implications In the study, the authors capture alternative workers, collect workers’ behaviors and compute workers’ CTC and PTA manually. However, as the number of tasks and alternative workers grow, the issue, i.e. how to conveniently collect workers’ behaviors and determine their CTC and PTA, becomes conspicuous and needs to be studied further. Practical implications The proposed approach provides an alternative way to perform tasks posted in crowdsourcing platforms. It can assist workers to contribute to right tasks, and requesters to get outcomes with high quality more efficiently. Originality/value This study proposes an approach to task recommendation in crowdsourcing that integrates workers’ CTC and PTA for the recommended tasks and can deal with vague and imprecise information.

Social media and consumer buying behavior decision: what entrepreneurs should know?

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramo Palalic ◽  
Veland Ramadani ◽  
Syedda Mariam Gilani ◽  
Shqipe Gërguri-Rashiti ◽  
Leo–Paul Dana
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Buying Behavior ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Know How ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Consumer Buying Behavior

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the impacts of social media on the Pakistani consumers' buying behavior, which could be reflected in either complex buying, variety seeking, dissonance reducing or habitual buying. Entrepreneurs need to know how their loyal and prospective customers feel, think and how do they decide on purchasing certain products and services.Design/methodology/approachThe self-administered online questionnaire is used to collect feedback from consumers in order to analyze the data and come up with the findings. A sample size of 396 respondents was used to analyze and find a relationship between social media and consumer buying behavior.FindingsSocial media is found to have a partially significant impact on Pakistani consumers' buying behavior; word of mouth and content credibility are the two factors that influence Pakistani consumers' buying behavior. Pakistani consumers, below the age of 40, possess more complex buying behavior, which alerts entrepreneurs to consider it for their future marketing strategies.Practical implicationsEntrepreneurs should make an effort to be differentiated from others while keeping customers aware of the products they provide. In addition, customers should not spend too much time when comparing brands; rather, businesses should make it more captive.Originality/valueThis paper provides different results in comparison to the previous studies, in terms of the factors influencing consumers' buying behavior.

Consumer value creation through WhatsApp use

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-471
Author(s):  
Jorge Cruz-Cárdenas ◽  
Jorge Guadalupe-Lanas ◽  
Ekaterina Zabelina ◽  
Andrés Palacio-Fierro ◽  
Margarita Velín-Fárez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Value Creation ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Role Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumer Value ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand in-depth how consumers create value in their lives using WhatsApp, the leading mobile instant messaging (MIM) application. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts the perspective of customer-dominant logic (CDL) and uses a qualitative multimethod design involving 3 focus groups and 25 subsequent in-depth interviews. The research setting was Ecuador, a Latin American country. Findings Analysis and interpretation of the participants’ stories made it possible to identify and understand the creation of four types of value: maintaining and strengthening relationships; improving role performance; emotional support; and entertainment and fun. In addition, the present study proposes a conceptual model of consumer value creation as it applies to MIM. Practical implications Understanding the way consumers create value in their lives using MIM is important not only for organizations that offer MIM applications, but also for those companies that develop other applications for mobile phones or for those who wish to use MIM as an electronic word-of-mouth vehicle. Originality/value The current study is one of the first to address the topic of consumer behavior in the use of technologies from the perspective of CDL; this perspective enables an integrated qualitative vision of value creation in which the consumer is the protagonist.

scholarly journals Advantages and potential challenges of data management in e-maintenance

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arian Razmi-Farooji ◽  
Hanna Kropsu-Vehkaperä ◽  
Janne Härkönen ◽  
Harri Haapasalo
Keyword(s):  
Data Management ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Maintenance Systems ◽  
Industry Leader ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to understand data management challenges in e-maintenance systems from a holistically viewpoint through summarizing the earlier scattered research in the field, and second, to present a conceptual approach for addressing these challenges in practice. Design/methodology/approach The study is realized as a combination of a literature review and by the means of analyzing the practices on an industry leader in manufacturing and maintenance services. Findings This research provides a general understanding over data management challenges in e-maintenance and summarizes their associated proposed solutions. In addition, this paper lists and exemplifies different types and sources of data which can be collected in e-maintenance, across different organizational levels. Analyzing the data management practices of an e-maintenance industry leader provides a conceptual approach to address identified challenges in practice. Research limitations/implications Since this paper is based on studying the practices of a single company, it might be limited to generalize the results. Future research topics can focus on each of mentioned data management challenges and also validate the applicability of presented model in other companies and industries. Practical implications Understanding the e-maintenance-related challenges helps maintenance managers and other involved stakeholders in e-maintenance systems to better solve the challenges. Originality/value The so-far literature on e-maintenance has been studied with narrow focus to data and data management in e-maintenance appears as one of the less studied topics in the literature. This research paper contributes to e-maintenance by highlighting the deficiencies of the discussion surrounding the perspectives of data management in e-maintenance by studying all common data management challenges and listing different types of data which need to be acquired in e-maintenance systems.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document