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This study aims to conduct a pertinent assessment of the concept of business competitiveness and how Portugal can progress in that field, for the sake of becoming a more sustainable and wealth-creator economy.

The research was elaborated with 65 in-depth interviews with expert persons from the Portuguese business ecosystem, who were asked to reflect on the state of the economy and competitiveness of the country.

There is much room for improvement in almost all areas of activity, in particular by promoting an innovative, value-adding and exporting private sector and a lighter and more efficient public sector. The conclusions point to modernisation of the Portuguese economy as a way of making it more competitive in a highly competitive and demanding global scenario.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first time that a reflection with experts of the local Portuguese economy has been carried out, especially after a difficult period of COVID.

Managing the risks associated to world food production is an important challenge for governments. A range of factors, among them extreme weather events, has threatened food production in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of extreme rainfall events on the food industry in Brazil, a prominent player in this industry.

The authors use the AR-GARCH-GPD hybrid methodology to identify whether extreme rainfall affects the stock price of food companies. To do so, the authors collected the daily closing price of the 16 food industry companies listed on the Brazilian stock exchange (B3), in January 2015.

The results indicate that these events have a significant impact on stock returns: on more than half of the days immediately following the heavy rain that fell between 28 February 2005 and 30 December 2014, returns were significantly low, leading to average daily losses of 1.97 per cent. These results point to the relevance of the need for instruments to hedge against weather risk, particularly in the food industry.

Given that extreme weather events have been occurring more and more frequently, financial literature has documented attempts at assessing the economic impacts of weather changes. There is little research, however, into assessing the impacts of these events at corporate level.

O gerenciamento de riscos associados à produção mundial de alimentos é um desafio importante para governantes. Diversos fatores, entre eles os eventos climáticos extremos, têm ameaçado a produção de alimentos nos últimos anos. Neste artigo nós analisamos o impacto de eventos de chuvas extremas na indústria de alimentos no Brasil, um dos maiores produtores mundiais.

Empregamos a metodologia híbrida AR-GARCH-GPD para verificar se chuvas extremas afetam o preço das ações das empresas de alimentos. Para isso, coletamos os preços de fechamento diário de 16 empresas do setor de alimentos listadas na Bolsa de Valores do Brasil [B]³, em janeiro de 2015.

Os resultados sugerem que esses eventos exercem impacto significante sobre o retorno das ações: em mais da metade dos dias imediatamente posteriores à chuva extrema ocorrida entre 28/02/2005 e 30/12/2014, os retornos foram significantemente baixos, levando a perdas médias diárias próximas de 1,97%. Esses resultados apontam para a relevância da necessidade de instrumentos para proteção contra riscos climáticos, particularmente na indústria de alimentos.

Tendo em vista que eventos climáticos extremos têm ocorrido com uma frequência cada vez maior, a literatura de finanças tem documentado tentativas de avaliar os impactos econômicos das mudanças climáticas. No entanto, nota-se a carência de pesquisas para avaliar os impactos desses eventos no nível das empresas.

Agribusiness has stood out in the economy sector as a form of countryside-city interaction due to its productive chain characterized by modernization coming from cities, especially in the industrial area. Thus, the present study analyzed corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the context of agribusiness, based on a survey of articles published in the Scopus database. The main objective of the research is to analyze whether the agribusiness sector has incorporated CSR into its internal policy.

For this, the methodology used was researching through a systematic literature review, in which 14,720 documents on CSR were found. When restricting the search for CSR in agribusiness, 44 articles were found, and it was noticed that three were based on analysis in Latin America, which were the object of the study.

From this, it was realized that the literature on the subject is scarce, but of fundamental importance for its adoption in the sector, as it brings economic and environmental benefits not only to companies but also to society as a whole.

Although CSR is not yet the total solution to socioeconomic and environmental problems, it can be used as a strategy for raising companies’ awareness, based on the development of an organizational environmental culture, which brings competitive advantages over competitors who adopt them.

The topic of CSR is a recent discussion in the academic field, which is why it has few studies. Thus initially, we sought to analyze it in the scenario in Latin America, as presented in the present work. However, as a future stage of research in the area of CSR, this topic will be analyzed as an academic master’s degree in the context of the BRIC countries.

The recent increase in the number of infections and mortality rates in many regions has emphasized the cyclical nature of this pandemic, with new variants emerging constantly. Understanding what has been done by efficient administrations to contain the outbreak is essential while new immunization developments for the new variants are not available.

This work adapts the traditional Banker, Charnes and Cooper (BCC) Variable Returns to Scale model for including panel data on the Brazilian Federal Government spending over the first pandemic months in Pernambuco to identify efficient municipalities and conduct a benchmark on the best practices, reactions and implications that can serve as a guide for the post-Covid recurrence era.

The results provide an interesting panorama of municipal response to the pandemic and some quantitative and qualitative prospects on potentials for improvements from the perspective of efficient and inefficient cities. Only one administration (São Bento do Una) was identified as efficient for the entire period. The authors’ benchmark and discussion are focused on this municipality.

The authors believe this work has two innovative components. The first is a robust and systematic methodology integrating the advances in testing convexity and returns to scale in the construction of a production frontier based on panel data. The second is a discussion on what drives efficiency (benchmarking of best practices) in addition to how to quantitatively attain such efficiency prospects. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, both methodological and empirical implications are original to the present manuscript.

The application of coatings on metal substrates can provide an increase in corrosion resistance in the environment where the material is employed. The use of silane causes low environmental impact and may represent an alternative to replace chromates and phosphates applied as a pretreatment prior to surface painting. The objective of this study was to evaluate experimental parameters for the investigation of the formation of a vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMOS) monolayer on 1010 carbon steel applying electrochemical techniques.

A total of 24 types of coated samples were obtained, following three 2³ factorial design of experiments (DOE), and one uncoated. The VTMOS monolayer was formed by hand dip process, followed by curing in a stove, using substrates of sanded, pickled and degreased 1010 carbon steel and hydrolyzed silane.

The results of coated samples were satisfactory as compared to those of uncoated carbon steel, as the former were better protected against corrosion.

This paper shows an evaluation of experimental parameters that influence the formation of a film of silane VTMOS on 1010 carbon steel by means of electrochemical techniques. The results indicated that the silane monolayer VTMOS promotes enhanced properties that prevent corrosion of 1010 carbon steel and the method of film formation directly influences the properties of such protection.

This paper aims to assess a method that applies scientometric and patentometric indicators in the selection process of projects by seed capital funds. There is increasing interest in technology-based enterprises, for their capacity to contribute to economic and social development. Nevertheless, in practice, there is some difficulty in assessing non-financial criteria associated with technology for the purposes of choosing investment opportunities.

The literature has presented various methods to instrumentalize the process of evaluation and selection of investment projects. This study focuses on an enterprise that received an investment by the largest seed capital fund in Brazil, to assess to what extent scientific and technological indicators can contribute to understanding the market potential of the firm’s technology.

The results show that the use of scientometric and patentometric indicators favors the process of judging non-financial criteria, in particular those related to technology, market, divestment and team.

The originality of this paper is in the evaluation of a patento-scientometric approach for the selection process of projects by seed capital funds.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Portugal must strengthen its public sector, remove bureaucratic burdens, stimulate the local economy, and collaborate with foreign stakeholders.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

E-commerce platforms offer service guarantees (SGs) to improve consumers’ perceived quality and satisfaction. This survey aimed to test the direct and indirect effects of SGs on consumers’ perceived quality and satisfaction concerning the services of an international e-commerce platform.

The survey sample consisted of 378 consumers of an international e-commerce platform. Structural equation modelling (SEM) tested two structural models.

The first hypothetical model demonstrated that SGs positively and directly affects perceived quality and consumers' satisfaction on an e-commerce platform. This model also revealed that the perceived quality directly and positively impacted consumer satisfaction. The second hypothetical model confirmed that perceived quality mediates the relationship between SGs and satisfaction. Moreover, SGs positively and indirectly impacts consumer satisfaction.

This study suggests that e-commerce platforms use SGs as a marketing strategy in their business models to increase perceived quality and consumer satisfaction. However, to positively impact the perception of quality and consumer satisfaction, such SGs must have the following characteristics: unconditional, easy to understand and communicate, meaningful, easy and painless to invoke, and easy and quick to collect.

This research demonstrated the direct effects of SGs on perceived quality and consumer satisfaction on an international e-commerce platform. SGs directly impacts consumer satisfaction with the platform, even if they have not experienced its quality attributes (reliability, customisation, security and design). The indirect effects of SGs on consumer satisfaction were also proven, mediated by perceived quality. No previous study demonstrated such relationships simultaneously on e-commerce platforms.

This paper investigates how food supply chains (SCs) introduce sustainability standards (i.e. organic and/or Fair Trade labels). The authors combined the concepts of power and dependence with types of governance mechanisms to analyse for-profit and cooperative organisations. The authors explored nuances of how lead organisations are spreading sustainability standards.

Four cashew nut and honey SCs were investigated as case studies in Brazil, with data gathered through 15 interviews, secondary data and field visits. Data were examined through a content analysis process following a combined deductive and inductive approach.

Sustainability is spread driven by market pressure, mainly through the diffusion of technical information, either by lead organisations enablers or inter-organisational relations. The authors found that the type and structure of organisations impact the source of power (mediated or non-mediated) and level of mutual dependence between buyer and supplier. For instance, suppliers that hold a strategic position use direct governance mechanisms, which, in turn, lessens the power imbalance in regard to the lead organisation. The authors found in the analysis, a close relation between governance mechanisms and the spread of sustainability, which is ultimately based on strong SC relationships.

By recognising their role and the contingencies in spreading sustainability standards along the SC, managers of lead organisations can better design their relationships as well as create strategies to increase their supply chain sustainability (SCS) performance.

This paper contributes to the underexplored issue of how sustainability standards are spread throughout SCs in Latin America. Also, it shows how different types of SC rely on governance mechanisms that foster SCS.

This study aims to estimate the overall SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and evaluate the accuracy of an antibody rapid test compared to a reference serological assay during a COVID-19 outbreak in a prison complex housing over 13,000 prisoners in Brasília.

The authors obtained a randomized, stratified representative sample of each prison unit and conducted a repeated serosurvey among prisoners between June and July 2020, using a lateral-flow immunochromatographic assay (LFIA). Samples were also retested using a chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay (CLIA) to compare SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and 21-days incidence, as well as to estimate the overall infection fatality rate (IFR) and determine the diagnostic accuracy of the LFIA test.

This study identified 485 eligible individuals and enrolled 460 participants. Baseline and 21-days follow-up seroprevalence were estimated at 52.0% (95% CI 44.9–59.0) and 56.7% (95% CI 48.2–65.3) with LFIA; and 80.7% (95% CI 74.1–87.3) and 81.1% (95% CI 74.4–87.8) with CLIA, with an overall IFR of 0.02%. There were 78.2% (95% CI 66.7–89.7) symptomatic individuals among the positive cases. Sensitivity and specificity of LFIA were estimated at 43.4% and 83.3% for IgM; 46.5% and 91.5% for IgG; and 59.1% and 77.3% for combined tests.

The authors found high seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies within the prison complex. The occurrence of asymptomatic infection highlights the importance of periodic mass testing in addition to case-finding of symptomatic individuals; however, the field performance of LFIA tests should be validated. This study recommends that vaccination strategies consider the inclusion of prisoners and prison staff in priority groups.