Revista de Administração Contemporânea

7

Authors: Marcelo de Souza Bispo

This editorial proposes how to build original theoretical contributions in a context that privileges practice over theory, where Anglo-Saxon theories dominate the scientific field of administration, and it is even unclear what “theory” means. The central idea is that the approximation between theory and practice only exists when the theory is constructed in the concrete world, i.e., where practice happens. This means that the uncritical adoption of theories to understand specific realities leads to the false impression that “in theory, practice is different.” My conclusion is that the original theoretical contribution must consider the multiple ways of life, culture, and the constituent elements of the social phenomena one wants to research. Added to this is the appreciation of indigenous knowledge (scientific or otherwise) on the reality where one aims to offer an original theoretical contribution.

17

Authors: Gustavo Guimarães Marchisotti, José Rodrigues Farias Filho

Context: there is a certain difficulty for students in understanding what steps need to be followed to guarantee that a chosen research problem is academically valid. There are also difficulties in executing, training, and passing on the methodological procedure. Objective: the present study aims to detail the operationalization of a method of identifying research problems, allowing the students to prove the unique and singular character of their research. Methods: it is a qualitative, interpretive, and applied research, which uses the action research method with the participatory intervention by one of the authors of this paper, in the definition and guidance on how to use a multi-method to identify a research problem. Results: the main contribution of this research is to describe, with examples for each stage, a step-by-step procedure explaining how to perform a multi-method to identify a research problem that helps students operationalize it correctly and systematically. Conclusion: following the guidelines proposed in this paper, students are able to bring up real problems from both academic and managerial perspectives, as the method will be executed properly. It also allows teachers to better train their students about how to properly use the multi-method detailed in this paper.

17

Authors: Pablo Rogers

Context: exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is one of the statistical methods most widely used in administration; however, its current practice coexists with rules of thumb and heuristics given half a century ago. Objective: the purpose of this article is to present the best practices and recent recommendations for a typical EFA in administration through a practical solution accessible to researchers. Methods: in this sense, in addition to discussing current practices versus recommended practices, a tutorial with real data on Factor is illustrated. The Factor software is still little known in the administration area, but is freeware, easy-to-use (point and click), and powerful. The step-by-step tutorial illustrated in the article, in addition to the discussions raised and an additional example, is also available in the format of tutorial videos. Conclusion: through the proposed didactic methodology (article-tutorial + video-tutorial), we encourage researchers/methodologists who have mastered a particular technique to do the same. Specifically about EFA, we hope that the presentation of the Factor software, as a first solution, can transcend the current outdated rules of thumb and heuristics, by making best practices accessible to administration researchers.

18

Authors: Cristiane Benetti, Paulo Renato Soares Terra, Roberto Frota Decourt

Objective: this article replicates in Brazil a survey — previously applied in North America and Europe — to inquire CFOs about the cost of capital, capital budgeting, and capital structure. Method: we rigorously translated and validated the questionnaire before administering it over the internet. We delivered the questionnaire to 1,699 Brazilian private and public firms and received 160 responses, with a return rate of 9.4%. We analyzed the responses conditioned to firm characteristics. Results: the results of the financial policy survey in Brazil indicate that firms employ NPV and IRR as preferred investment techniques and the CAPM and its variations as the method for computing the cost of equity capital. They are also concerned with the cost of debt and transaction costs of market instruments, and they use internal funds as their main investment funding source. The conditional analysis indicates that large, listed, and regulated firms behave differently regarding financial decisions than their counterparts. Conclusion: the main takeaway from this study is that the institutional environment (markets, institutions, instruments, and the economy) is an important determinant of the practice of corporate finance.

25

Authors: Luis Henrique Rigato Vasconcellos, Mauro Sampaio, Henrique Fonseca

Context: there is little empirical evidence of the relationship between the implementation of lean techniques (such as the pull system) and their real effect on supply chain performance. Objective: the purpose of this paper is to describe the process of implementing the pull production logic in the supply chain, reporting the historical evolution of indicators, such as inventory levels and lead times over 23 months of intervention. Methods: an action research project was carried out describing chain intervention steps in 2017-2019, divided into phases as follows: planning, data collection, implementation of the action, analysis and evaluation of the results. Results: the main contribution was to demonstrate that the production shift from push to pull had a positive impact on lead time, inventory, and planning routines indicators. Inventory levels were reduced by more than 30% and lead times were down approximately 40%. In addition, sales forecast assertiveness increased. Conclusion: this paper may provide a reference for organizations that want to make similar changes in their supply chains and significantly change the planning routine of their suppliers and distributors by implementing the pull logic.