BAR - Brazilian Administration Review

8

Authors: Luiz Rohden

In this article, I highlight the importance of inclusion and diversity in companies as one of the decisive factors for increasing their profitability. By highlighting the humanitarian and social relevance, I reiterate that business policies and practices maximize the quality of the people involved and increase their productivity and profits. Although companies have already realized the urgency of adopting inclusive practices and diversity, they are far from welcoming and articulating the rights and desires of systematically and historically excluded people and groups. To support inclusion and diversity in companies, I look to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that guide company practices and projects; in a second moment, I develop arguments about why the adoption of the principle of inclusion and diversity are important factors in increasing companies’ revenue; and, in the end, I propose basic and necessary guidelines for assimilating and incorporating inclusion and diversity in companies.

14

Authors: Rogério Scabim Morano, Rafael Ricardo Jacomossi, Alcides Barrichello, Paulo Roberto Feldmann

This study aims to assess whether the ease of doing business can be considered as an alternative path (indirect path) between innovation and competitiveness of nations, improving the understanding of the effect transfer between these two variables. The study used exploratory/confirmatory factor analysis and mediation techniques applied to data from 141 countries contemplated in The Global Competitiveness report 2019 by the WEF and Doing Business report 2019 by the World Bank. The results show the mediator role of ease of doing business in the relationship between innovation and global competitiveness. Innovation improves the competitiveness of nations, but rules and regulations can be a barrier to this relationship. Therefore, ease of doing business is an essential element in improving the relationship between innovation and competitiveness, helping policymakers to focus their efforts on ease of doing business aspects in such a way as to enhance the economic process and support investors to make the most appropriate decisions when choosing the countries in which to invest their resources. Complementarily, the study also contributes by pointing out that the current method of calculating the EDB index may not be the most suitable, since it can distort analysis affecting international investment feasibility studies.

17

Authors: Carolina Andion

This study offers a new perspective on the relationship between social innovation and public governance. It drew inspiration from pragmatism, emphasizing the importance of public inquiry and democratic experimentalism. The perspective was applied and validated through a series of studies conducted within the framework of the Observatory of Social Innovation in Florianópolis, Brazil, since 2017. The study presented and discussed the findings and insights gained from observing the emergence and spread (or lack thereof) of social innovations in the city’s public arenas. It revisited the debate on public governance to establish a framework for the study of public action. It then identified gaps and improvements in the literature linking public governance and social innovation. Based on these previous discussions, the article proposes an approach to pragmatist ethnography of public arenas validated by empirical studies in Florianópolis. The results provide insights into how societal-state relations and modes of governance can facilitate or impede social innovation and the promotion of more democratic and sustainable cities. The study contributes to a better understanding of the interplay between social innovation and public governance, and its implications for the development of more inclusive and sustainable cities.