This study analyses the internationalization characteristics of Large Brazilian Pharmaceutical Companies. It contributes to the international business and evolutionary literature by showing how the home country institutional environment affects the firms’ internationalization at a country- and industry-level. The methodology is a multiple case study with eight companies, exploring their competitive advantages, strategies, and obstacles to international expansion. Findings reveal that home country institutional environment constraints pushed companies to build capabilities to survive and compete in the domestic market, which served as advantages when going international. Companies’ internationalization is driven by the exploitation and exploration of assets and capabilities.

This study examines the influence of audit committee quality on best practices in whistleblowing channels in Brazilian companies. Using a tobit regression analysis on a unique hand-collected sample from 397 B3-listed firms, the study finds a positive association between audit committee quality and best practices in whistleblowing. This finding indicates an effort on the part of audit committees to implement a set of practices to encourage and protect whistleblowers. In contrast, we find a negative association with firms in the financial industry and the percentage of ownership attributable to the largest shareholder. These findings indicate that firms in the financial industry and ownership concentration could discourage whistleblowers.

The management academy as a whole, and more specifically the marketing academy, have recently recognized the importance of discussions of race and racial issues, which were discussed in a panel at EnAnpad 2021, the most prominent Brazilian management conference and the world's second. The Panel's proposal emerged from reading Francis’ provocative work, which establishes new relationships between structural racism and academic socialization, in which the mechanisms of social exclusion are present. As a result of the Panel’s debate, this paper presents three perspectives on the racialized reality in which we live. The first indicates how much racism conveniently insists on naturalizing privileges mistakenly treated as individual merits for specific groups. The second perspective reminds us how the racialized gaze forces subjugated groups to react, fight, and establish political and legal means. Finally, the third perspective explores a racial landscape, forcing us to ask ourselves how long academics and practitioners in Brazil and abroad will take to recognize ourselves as part of the problem. As a result, we advocate that educational institutions are fundamental to the path of change. Additionally, we propose a non-exhaustive critical agenda for social transformation.

Grounded on a conceptual framework that combines contributions from the investment development path (IDP) theory, the Ownership, Location, Internalization (OLI) paradigm, and the institutional theory, this work aims to analyze the home country’s determinants of outward Foreign Direct Investments (OFDI). Based on panel data for a set of 14 Latin American countries between 2000 and 2019, the results of random effects estimations support the propositions of the IDP and institutional theories. Economic development, inward FDI, and institutional quality are strong determinants of OFDI. Results also highlight the role of the openness level and the membership of regional trade agreements in explaining OFDI from Latin America countries.

The purpose of this paper is to verify the main competencies developed by unicorn startups for their internationalization. We use a qualitative exploratory approach, and three case studies were developed with Brazilian unicorns. We identify 15 competencies that guide the internationalization of Brazilian unicorn startups and four new competencies not explored by the literature. We suggest a conceptual model for the study of unicorn companies around the world.

Six sigma offers several benefits to organizations, but its implementation is frequently inhibited by numerous barriers for which there is no clear classification based on their relevance order in the literature. Moreover, there are few studies regarding the relevance of these barriers in relation to Brazilian organizations. Thus, this research aimed to identify and classify the main barriers to six sigma implementation in their order of relevance and to test if some organizational characteristics can change this classification. A survey was conducted by sending a questionnaire to 95 of the 473 Brazilian organizations in the automotive sector associated with the National Association of Auto Parts Manufacturers and 40 responses were obtained. The survey revealed that for the organizations analyzed, the most relevant barrier is the lack of skill and adequate training for implementing six sigma. It also showed that organizational characteristics, such as size or breadth (multinational or national) can influence the order of relevance of the barriers. This study is relevant due to its attempt to identify the main barriers that inhibit six sigma implementation and to order them by their level of relevance. This is important so that organizations that are in the process of implementing or want to implement six sigma can either deal with them or make efforts to overcome them.

This paper aims to deepen the discussion about the productive interdependence and regional resilience among the Brazilian states and regions through an input-output network analysis to identify emergent patterns or properties within the Brazilian states. We use an inter-regional IO matrix, the base year 2011, for the 27 Brazilian states and 68 sectors. The main results show that some states remain isolated in the Brazilian productive structure. Moreover, even with the spatial heterogeneity presented in the Brazilian economy, their inter-regional interdependence is situated at a level that enables the recovery even without some important links.

This article explores Brazilian workers’ ethics position and compares it to those of other nations. We surveyed 410 Brazilian workers and used the Ethics Position Questionnaire (EPQ), with idealism and relativism scales. We translated, back-translated, and adapted the scales according to Sperber and conducted exploratory factor analyses together with confirmatory factor analyses to validate them. The results show that Brazilians present, on average, high idealism and low relativism. Therefore, Brazil appears to be a well-defined “absolutist” country compared to other nations, a surprising outcome, since Brazil ranks as one of the most corrupt countries on international scales.

Migration is a topic of extreme importance today and an intrinsic part of the culture of many societies, particularly those with international/colonial ties. While there are migratory paths that cross the entire world, the present study focuses on the journey from Portugal to Colombia. We seek to study the pull forces in Colombia that motivate the migration of Portuguese citizens, starting by analyzing the migratory course between the two countries in order to gauge the motivations and challenges for this path. A qualitative method of data analysis was used, using interviews with Portuguese migrants in Colombia and other secondary materials. The results suggest that the main motivations for the exit of Portuguese from their country relate to the lack of opportunities and low quality of life, mainly at the financial level. However, one might conclude that the great pull factors in Colombia are precisely the growing volume of opportunities for professional development and entrepreneurs, the economic benefits, and Colombia’s environment and culture.

Startups are a contemporary business model that repeatedly presents issues related to financial constraints. Recently, the adoption of franchising emerged as a possibility for startups. This study adopts a novel approach in the startup literature to explain the decision-making process for startups formulating franchising strategies. Additionally, an exploratory framework of this process was designed. Multiple-case studies on Brazilian startups that operate through franchised units were carried out. For startups that operate through conventional franchises, the use of third-party capital is predominant, while for those that operate with micro franchises the lack of an employment relationship is determinant.