As instituições de educação superior estão sendo desafiadas pelas inúmeras mudanças impostas pelo seu ambiente de atuação. No Brasil esta realidade é representada pelo aumento do número de instituições de educação superior e o fortalecimento de grupos estrangeiros no setor. A ausência de abordagens próprias e a necessidade de maior eficiência e desempenho têm feito com que muitas instituições incorporem práticas gerenciais empresariais na gestão universitária. No Brasil este fenômeno é recente e seus efeitos são ainda pouco conhecidos. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o impacto da adoção de práticas gerenciais, de origem empresarial, identificadas como “managerialism” na gestão acadêmica de uma instituição de educação superior de caráter empresarial. Trata-se de um estudo de caso qualitativo, aplicado a uma das maiores instituições privadas de ensino superior. Os principais resultados indicam claras limitações das abordagens empresariais de gestão quando aplicadas à área acadêmica. A prática gerencial concentra-se na mensuração de algumas variáveis mensuráveis e seus resultados práticos ainda são pouco evidentes, gerando frustrações e desapontamentos entre gestores e stakeholders. As conclusões indicam que o desempenho de uma instituição educacional resulta de um grande número de variáveis tangíveis e intangíveis dificultando a medição dos resultados e do valor agregado.

In the university setting, strategies take on a different configuration due to a permanent dispute between top administration and the academic sector. This triggers a conflict between macro intentions and micro actions at the academic level. In this study, we examined to what extent academic strategic actions are impacted by tensions triggered by the macro intentions of top management and micro actions in the academic management. This research is based on a comparative study involving three Brazilian universities. We identified key sources of tension between top managers and academic managers, such as organizational complexity, the political context, a loosely coupled structure and professional autonomy. The outcome revealed a difficult alignment between intentions and actions while relevant strategies were practiced in the academic sector. We concluded that managerial business models imported from the market led to dubious and controversial benefits in university management. Most strategies were represented by micro actions in the academic area derived from spontaneous initiatives, insights, hunches and non-intentional actions of academic managers and professors that had a considerable impact on the universities' academic performance.

Innovation is an extensively used term in modern management jargon, especially due to its capacity of giving competitive advantage to whoever is able to develop it. Consequently, due to this "special power", innovation has been pursued by organizations worldwide, especially in the private sector. The strengths of innovation were also perceived by governments, as they began developing public policies oriented to foster innovation. In order to understand this phenomenon, this research studies the experience of two cities located in two different countries, Brazil and Germany, that are recognized nationally as having well succeeded public policies aimed on developing innovation. The paper is based on an in depth qualitative research and its main theoretical foundations are based on the contributions of Isenberg (2010) on innovation, Dye (1972) and Sebatier (1986) on public policy and Cantwell and Mudambi (2000), Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff (2000) and Etzkowitz (2008) on innovative public policies. Despite all political, social and economic differences between Brazil and Germany, the strategies implemented in both cities followed a similar pattern and were successful in fostering an ecosystem that enabled the development of companies that generated innovations in products, services and processes. The outcomes, in both regions, were related to economic development, and creation of strong cluster of highly innovative and competitive organizations.Inovação é um termo utilizado intensamente no jargão moderno da administração, especialmente em função de sua capacidade de dotar de vantagem competitiva àqueles que são capazes de desenvolvê-la. Consequentemente, em função desses "poderes especiais", a inovação tem sido buscada por organizações em todo o mundo, especialmente no setor privado. As vantagens da inovação também foram percebidas pelos governos, na medida em que começaram a desenvolver políticas públicas orientadas à promoção da inovação. Para entender esse fenômeno, esta pesquisa estuda a experiência de duas cidades localizadas em dois diferentes países, Brasil e Alemanha, as quais são reconhecidas nacionalmente por terem políticas públicas bem sucedidas voltadas ao desenvolvimento da inovação. Este trabalho é baseado em uma pesquisa qualitativa em profundidade realizada em ambas localidades. As principais bases teóricas são alicerçadas nas contribuições de Isenberg (2010) em inovação, Dye (1972) e Sebatier (1986) em políticas públicas, e Cantwell e Mudambi (2000), Etzkowitz e Leydesdorff (2000) e Etzkowitz (2008) em políticas públicas inovadoras. Apesar das diferenças entre Brasil e Alemanha, as estratégias implementadas em ambas as cidades seguiram padrão similar e foram bem sucedidas no desenvolvimento de ecossistemas que permitiram o nascimento de empresas que geraram inovações em produtos, serviços e processos. Os resultados, em ambas as regiões, foram o desenvolvimento econômico e a criação de um forte cluster de organizações inovadoras e competitivas.

Purpose – Urban mobility is one of the most relevant themes in discussions regarding quality of life in large urban centers worldwide. It is a challenge that local governments have been facing due to a significant growth in the urban population. The purpose of this study is to analyze the changes in public transport made by the local government in the city of Bogotá, ColombiaDesign/methodology/approach – It is an in-depth case study of a qualitative nature, based upon primary (interviews and observation) and secondary data. Data was collected in Brazil and Colômbia.Findings – The case signaled a significant change process by improving urban mobility through the implementation of successful public policies and strategies. The findings indicated that transforming a chaotic public transport system into a point of reference in this field is a notable effort.Practical implications – This study provides insights to public administrators that manage organizations that operate complex systems and pluralistic contextsOriginality/value – This paper contributes to the field by discussing a unique case study in which the administration of a large capital of a South American country promoted a substantial change in the urban mobility system, tackling obstacles and developing an efficient approach.

The management of expatriate employees is an important topic in the field of international business. Most of the studies on expatriation management are based on the experience of North American and Western European corporations. Few studies focus on corporations from developing countries. The purpose of this study was to examine how expatriates were managed by a Brazilian multinational corporation in relation to the cultural dimension. This is a single case study based on qualitative research. The focus was a Brazilian telecommunications company operating in China. The research investigated the preparedness of expatriates prior to departure and the kinds of difficulties they faced in daily life abroad. The analysis revealed that the lack of preparation of expatriates before departure was an important barrier to overcome in order to achieve better performance. The findings indicated that psychic distance was the key factor responsible for major problems facing expatriate workers.

Management literature is replete with cases of companies that use competitive strategies in the markets in which they operate. However, organizational success often depends on other variables, such as political action, which has been neglected in more detailed studies in strategy literature in general. Researchers such as Epstein (1969), Mizruchi (1992), Schuler (1996), Hillman and Hitt (1999), Blumentritt (2003), Boddewyn (2003), Hadani (2007) and Tian, Hafsi & Wu (2009) have stressed the importance of political strategies, claiming that organizational decisions and actions are influenced in practice by them. In the competitive international markets corporations use political strategies to influence stakeholders in order to conquer segments of the market that they focus on and also to prevent from other adverse interests. In this context, home country governments also assist domestic MNC's international ventures using their state owned enterprises (SOEs). This paper aims to examine the political strategies practiced by a Brazilian multinational engineering company in its international operations in its dealings with home country state owned enterprises. The methodology employed was the single case study, using a qualitative approach for data collection and analysis at a large Brazilian multinational engineering company. The findings revealed that political strategies directed at SOEs from home governments are critical to a company's internationalization process.

RESUMO: O objetivo deste estudo é examinar as estratégias utilizadas e os problemas culturais decorrentes de sua implementação nos primeiros anos de

A internacionalização de empresas é um fenômeno recente no Brasil. As empresas brasileiras ainda estão aprendendo o caminho para a conquista de mercados externos. O sucesso nos mercados internacionais depende, dentre outros fatores, de estratégias que direcionem os esforços organizacionais para a conquista de vantagens competitivas nesses novos ambientes competitivos. Este estudo se fundamenta nas abordagens teóricas de Johanson e Vahlne (1977) e Hilal e Hemais (2003) quanto ao incrementalismo estratégico, na importância da utilização de intermediários no processo de internacionalização (KANTER; DRETLER, 1998), na adaptação estratégica a diferentes mercados e no processo de aprendizagem organizacional a que se referem Parker (1999) e Child (2003). O objetivo deste trabalho é examinar as principais estratégias de internacionalização de quatro das principais empresas exportadoras da região da Grande Florianópolis. Trata-se de estudo multicaso, de natureza qualitativa, em que foram entrevistados os gestores das empresas pesquisadas. A análise revelou que as empresas estudadas, inicialmente bem-sucedidas no mercado interno, implementaram, a partir de oportunidades identificadas no mercado externo, ações estratégicas específicas, adaptando-se às características do mercado internacional. A principal conclusão é a de que as empresas utilizaram estratégias adaptativas e de exportação direta, tendo o processo de internacionalização gerado um aprendizado organizacional que lhes tem permitido se manterem competitivas no mercado internacional.