BAR - Brazilian Administration Review

Number 4, 2018

4
Artificial intelligence and industry 4.0: The next frontier in organizations

Authors: Alexandre Moreira Nascimento, Carlo Gabriel Porto Bellini

Abstract

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Number of views: 393

In 2016, Professor Andrew Ng, from Stanford University, stated that artificial intelligence (AI) is the new electricity (Lynch, 2017). Such analogy illustrates the magnitude of the impacts of AI on businesses and society that are expected in coming years. That strong claim turned out to be very popular among AI researchers and practitioners, and has been frequently quoted in mass media.

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The career advancement challenge faced by female executives in Peruvian organisations

Authors: Kety Jáuregui, Mariella Olivos

Abstract

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Number of views: 1293

The percentage of women in Peru’s workforce overall has been growing at a steady rate, but there are still few women are seen in executive positions. This qualitative study describes the challenges in women’s professional career advancement in a country in which the cultural pattern of business is dominated by men and where specific roles have been assigned to women. In-depth interviews were conducted with 24 professionals, 11 women and 13 men. The interviews were analysed using qualitative data analysis software. The results show that family responsibilities were the main challenge for female executives’ career advancement. Moreover, family responsibilities were linked to other challenges, such as physical mobility, educational attainment, professional experience and informal networks. Family responsibilities can be considered a transcultural challenge to the career advancement of female executives. Finally, the study shows that a country’s culture is an important challenge to career advancement, as in the Peruvian context where women are still considered responsible for attending to the family and are assigned a fundamental role in raising the children.

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Credibility, audacity and joy: Brand personalities that connect users to social media

Authors: Gisela Demo, Talita Lima da Silva, Eluiza Watanabe, Fernanda Bueno Cardoso Scussel

Abstract

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Number of views: 457

The main purpose of this article is to evaluate the influence brand personality has on customer loyalty in the context of social networks as brands. We conducted a survey of 268 social networks users in Brazil and analyzed data through Structural Equation Modeling. As a result, brand personality dimensions Credibility, Audacity and Joy were found to be predictors of loyalty, the main aspect governing customer relationship perception. Credibility is the main predictor of customer loyalty, shedding light on network trustworthiness, user privacy and personal information safety, while Audacity indicates the power of innovation, and Joy points out the relevance of social networks’ entertainment atmospheres. Together, these dimensions are strategic aspects to be considered in the development of relationships with users in the digital world. Our finding contributes to the body of knowledge interested in relationship marketing and its relation with strategy and sustainable competitive advantage. We also investigated social networks as brands, a topic of major impact in the development of a literature on the digital world. Lastly, the results serve as a source of information about social network user behavior, helping companies enhance their communication strategies and achieve customer loyalty.

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Explaining transgressions with moral disengagement strategies and their effects on trust repair

Authors: Tatiana Iwai, João Vinícius de França Carvalho, Victor Marson Lalli

Abstract

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Number of views: 435

When providing explanations for a transgression, the offender may use verbal statements based on moral disengagement strategies to mitigate the negative consequences of a trust violation. That is, the offender may try to reframe unethical acts to appear less harmful, or displace responsibility for the wrongdoing, or distort the consequences of his or her actions in order to address the repair of a damage of a trust violation. Based on this, we examined the effects of these explanations based on different moral disengagement strategies on trust repair. The results of a scenario-based experiment show that both the moral justification and the displacement of responsibility strategies elicited higher trusting intentions compared to the distortion of consequences strategy. This effect was mediated by trusting beliefs toward the offender. These findings suggest that reframing the unethical conduct as targeting a greater good, as well as obscuring personal agency for the detrimental conduct, may be more effective to repair trust than misrepresenting the consequences of the immoral acts.

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Management practices and competitiveness: A multisector study in the Brazilian industry

Authors: Maria Tereza Leme Fleury, Mauricio de Mauro, Luis Oliveira, Arnaldo Mauerberg Junior, Afonso Fleury

Abstract

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Number of views: 412

The Practice-Based View (PBV) is an insightful approach among alternative theories of firm competitiveness. However, it hardly addresses industry level effects on the adoption of management practices and consequent performance impacts. We investigate if industrial sectors that are technologically sophisticated, more exposed to competition, and receiving greater government support adopt more advanced management practices and achieve superior performance. We built an intentional sample in seven industrial sectors, representative of the diversity of local industry, by selecting ten firms in each sector following specific criteria. Data collected following the method proposed by Bloom and Van Reenen was analyzed through Ordinary Least Squares regressions designed to assess our hypotheses. The outcomes confirm previous findings and reveal two insights. First, governmental support does not necessarily enhance management practices at the firm level. Second, the relationship between practices and performance seems to be jeopardized by the turbulence of the local business environment. We contribute to the PBV by shedding light on the implications of the sectoral perspective for the analysis of best practices adoption and performance impacts.

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Measuring accrual-based IPSAS implementation and its relationship to central government fiscal transparency

Authors: Sigit Wahyu Kartiko, Hilda Rossieta, Dwi Martani, Trisacti Wahyuni

Abstract

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Number of views: 806

This study aims to explore government accrual-based IPSAS implementation level measurements and to test the measures associated with central government fiscal transparency. Performing content analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on a sample covering 77 countries from 2008 to 2015, measurement indicates the relative importance and significance of financial performance statements and accrual accounting policies, such as non-exchanged and exchanged transactions as accrual level constructors. Conducting panel data regression, we find that accrual level scores meet the requirements of the external validity test, as indicated by their positive association with the International Budget Initiative’s (IBP) fiscal transparency index. The evidence suggests that central governments should strategically implement accrual-based IPSAS. Accrual practices (implicitly or explicitly) based on IPSAS strengthen fiscal transparency when it prioritises developing accrual accounting policies substantially rather than accrual commitment and the completeness of reports.