Apresentação

Abstract

In this issue, we present eight articles. The first one, "Between reward and suffering: the bank workers' view of the flexibility discourse" was elaborated by Rejane Prevot Nascimento, Lígia do Carmo Martins Damasceno, and Diana Rebello Neves. Its purpose is a critical analysis of the impact of the flexibility discourse on banking industry practices from the perspective of bank employees. The main results reveal that the transformation of bank workers' profiles to ones that are more flexible has exposed them to perverse management practices and, encouraged by corporate discourse, they have ended up becoming slaves to high performance. The bank employee is now primarily seen as a salesperson. Even though they are dissatisfied with their working conditions, the interviewees readily submit themselves to the pressures of work to maintain their standards of living. The conclusion reached is that the prevailing ideology in society enhances the discourse of human resources management, which, in turn, makes the flexibility discourse operational, as pointed out by Sennet (2008) and Gaulejac (2007). "Diversity: recognition of the différance or tolerated difference? A study on the perception of mining and steel professionals" was prepared by Cacilda Nacur Lorentz, Alexandre de Pádua Carrieri, Antonio Del Maestro Filho, and Luiz Cláudio de Lima. These authors support that there are few critical studies on the subject, grounded on the ideas of Derrida (2002) and on the theory of recognition of Honneth (2003). The comprehension of diversity is related to the construction of identity among individuals and refers to the concept of tolerance, enabling a discussion about recognition (or not) of differences. They conclude that minority groups still lack recognition, prevailing the valorization of a group over the others. To recognize differences is a challenging thing, considering the distance which is being established between reflexive processes and the corporate practice. Finally, it is pointed out the need to promote actions that aim the equality of opportunities for treating the several groups present in the organization. Patricia Benites Cava, Alexandre Pereira Salgado Junior, and Adriel Martins de Freitas Branco prepared the article "Evaluation of bank efficiency in Brazil: A DEA approach". The study evaluates the efficiency of banks that operated in