Validity and reliability of research and its results are important elements to provide evidence of the quality of research in the organizational field. However, validity is better evidenced in quantitative studies than in qualitative research studies. As there is diversity within qualitative research methods and techniques, there is no universally accepted criteria to assess validity in qualitative studies; its usefulness is also questioned. Therefore, in this paper, we argue that qualitative research should adopt a processual view approach of validity since it should not be the product of a single test or just one step in the research. Processual validity both supports good research and helps in its reflection and guidance. To illustrate our approach, we present the processual approach adopted by one of the coauthors during the development of a research project. We highlight the validity assurance activities for both ex ante and ex post research, peer review and participation in an international conference, which corroborated the quality of the processual approach and the results that were obtained.

This work analyzes how risk management occurs in the internationalization process of Brazilian born global companies. Accordingly, we adopted the qualitative research approach, used a multiple case study strategy, and selected seven relevant craft breweries with national prominence. The findings highlight how risks are perceived in the internationalization process by managers and classified among commercial, intercultural, monetary and country risks. We also identified that these enterprises use different actions to mitigate risks, such as planning, market research, and building scenarios. The contributions discussed in this study are the identification of factors such as the international background of managers and the use of networks to minimize the perception of risk. Additionally, we discussed the ways in which risks are perceived and how the different mitigation strategies work. Finally, we proposed an integrated risk management model for the internationalization of born globals.

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Purpose Human resources (HR) department managers play an important role in the processes of defining and implementing organizational strategies. From this perspective, decisions made by HR managers directly influence organizations’ competitiveness. There is a gap in the literature related to decision-making processes by these managers, particularly with respect to the subjective elements involved in them. This paper’s aim is to analyze HR managers’ strategic decision-making processes from the perspective of reflective practice. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was conducted based on an analysis of five HR department managers’ strategic decision-making processes. Findings The results indicate that reflection-in-action is one possibility for narrowing the gap between action and reflection in management practice, as this could contribute to improving strategic decisions; HR managers’ decisions are delimited by internal and external organizational issues; and these decisions involve intensive information sharing. Research limitations/implications The results of this research contribute to extend the existing knowledge on reflection, one of the subjective elements that influences decision-making processes, and which has been identified as a subject in need of research by several authors (Eisenhardt and Zbaracki, 1992; Hambrick, 2007; Langley et al., 1995; Nutt, 2010). Practical implications A better understanding of HR managers’ decision-making processes, particularly in the Brazilian context, which other organizations can use as examples of alternative choices for HR departments strategic management. For managers, reflection-in-action facilitates an effective decision-making process, increases self-knowledge, contributes to the processes of individual and organizational learning and improves managers’ global overview of their organizations. Originality/value These results represent a development in understanding one of the subjective elements of HR department managers’ decision-making processes – reflection – and should help to improve the results of strategic decisions by these managers and by managers of other organizational departments.

This research investigates managerial risk perception regarding internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Brazilian context. We examine how managers' perception of risk influences firms' degrees of internationalization. Likewise, we assessed how risk perception is influenced by managers' cognitive traits, such as tolerance for ambiguity and cognitive style. We provided empirical evidence for the relationships we proposed through a partial least squares structural equation model with data gathered from a survey of 149 SMEs from the State of Paraná, Brazil. Our results suggest that managers' tolerance for ambiguity is only significant for explaining risk perception for the managers with a preference for a deliberative style. Still, the research suggests that the Brazilian SMEs in our sample presented a higher degree of internationalization even when their managers perceived higher levels of risk.