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We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

The objective of this chapter is to outline an integrating picture of the situation, representativeness, contradictions, and challenges that the treatment of diversity assumes in Brazilian society and in its organizations. The aim is to reply to the research question: “How are public policies and organizational practices constructing ways of inserting and valuing the diversity of Brazilians?” We provide a brief background of the changes in the global and Brazilian contexts over the last few decades and analyze the demographic data presented in the 2010 Census and in studies on diversity that were published in the main periodicals in the Administration area in Brazil, between 2000 and 2014 with regard to the segments most widely studied in the academic literature: Afro-descendants, homosexuals, the elderly, Indians, women, and people with a disability. The conclusion reached is that, in a short period of time, Brazil has made great strides in constructing the mechanisms and legal devices for recognizing the rights of its diverse population and that private companies are in the initial stages of introducing diversity programs.

Unplanned urban mobility causes negative effects on the population and the environment. This study aims to understand how higher education institutions (HEIs) are managing the transportation issues related to their activities and how they are implementing actions towards more sustainable practices in this regard.

A systematic review and bibliometric analysis were performed using the Proknow-C method, and the bibliographic portfolio was evaluated to answer guiding questions about distribution of articles over the years and around the world, the most relevant and frequent topics, the travel behavior of university life and the main methodologies used. The meta-analysis was modeled using a programming language in R to execute Bibliometrix package.

Sharing systems, active transport, public transport, urban planning, car parking management and travel behavior are the most relevant topics related to sustainable mobility in HEIs. Different strategies to reduce car use are adopted, and the geographic location of the university and the availability of housing and shopping services in close proximity directly influence travel patterns. As a result, seven guidelines and strategic actions associated were proposed to promote the engagement of institutions in the development of sustainable transport and guide future studies about new solutions to promote sustainable university commutes.

This paper presents a new perspective by performing a critical literature review based on the experiences reported by several isolated studies on the subject. Initiatives of sustainable transport guidelines can be used by academics, urban planners, higher education administrators and other stakeholders to make universities more environmentally friendly, inclusive and accessible.

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.

With fierce competition in capturing tourists, it is crucial that destinations be prepared to adapt and to refresh their event portfolio. The purpose of this paper is to look into the decision-making process that led to the development of a new festival in a middle-sized city, Tomar, in Portugal.

This study analyses the creation process of the Knights Templar Festival, in Tomar, a new event focusing on the Templar history of the city. A retrospective outlook on the evolution of the event is given. Primary data were collected via quantitative survey analysis and semi-structured interviews. The theoretical scope is events and placemaking.

The strengths and weaknesses of the region influenced the conception and setting up of this particular event. This awareness is important for cities in meeting the challenges and opportunities that event portfolio diversification calls for.

This paper helps us to understand the motives and challenges in establishing a new event in the city, through the analysis of a single case study of a European middle-sized city. Simultaneously, it is a longitudinal in-depth case of the first editions of a new historically focused event.

Several practical implications can be derived to the case of Tomar. Overall, it is key that cities align the focus of new events with the city’s identity (as Tomar did).

This paper presents an in-depth and longitudinal case study, from the moment of the creation of a new event to its fourth edition, mapping the decision-making process, highlighting the learning curve of the decision makers.

This paper aims to investigate Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in the Brazilian context, seeking to identify its main characteristics and opportunities for future research.

This study focuses on a literature review in the area of production engineering and operations management, where 104 relevant scientific publications were identified.

The results show that the most important critical success factor for integrating LSS in Brazil is top management support and commitment. LSS integration occurs predominantly in large industrial companies, being incipient in small and medium-sized enterprises. In general, there is no structured way of applying LSS. A standard framework for LSS is still lacking.

This study is limited to a sample that only comprises Brazilian scientific studies.

Professionals and practitioners can understand the evolution of LSS through practical applications and the main LSS tools used in both the industrial and services sectors. It also points out the critical success factor for the implementation of LSS. The study highlights several roadmaps for LSS implementation adopted by large and modern Brazilian automotive industries based on a robust technological base. This study also contributes to expanding the evidence base of LSS application, both in Brazil and in other countries.

Some suggestions are proposed to clarify the structure and complexity of integrated implementation of LP and SS as well as expand the LSS application in small and medium-sized enterprises. This study is the first to discuss the current situation of LSS in Brazil and provide suggestions to expand LSS in the country. Comparisons of Brazilian LSS literature review with researches of others countries are also presented.

The purpose of this paper is to study the portrayal of early accountants in the unfamiliar site of Portugal by examining Portuguese-language realist literature from the second half of the nineteenth century.

Two popular literary works – Uma Família Inglesa (An English Family), written by Júlio Dinis and published in 1867, and Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loura (The Idiosyncrasies of a Young Blonde Woman), written by Eça de Queirós and published in 1873 – were examined through a qualitative content analysis.

The dimensions of the accounting stereotype discerned for the two early accounting practitioners featured in these works are portrayed as: modest; on-the-job trained practitioner; uncreative, conservative and unenergetic; honest financial manager; servant of the capitalist (i.e. merchant), and warm and sentimental. The accountant stereotype depicted from 1860s to 1870s period is similar to the conventional accountant stereotype, identified as the “traditional accountant” stereotype. Variations from this stereotype, however, are identified in the local, time-specific settings of Lisbon and Oporto.

The study’s portrayal of early accounting practitioners occurs during a period of transformation marked by liberalism. It augments an understanding of the image of early accounting practitioners, reflecting their social positioning at a time of significant social, economic, political and cultural changes, thereby contributing to an appreciation of the historical legacy of the accountant stereotype in continental Europe. Importantly, a taxonomy is proposed for content analysis that can be used and developed by future researchers.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of the bodying agents (erythritol, sorbitol, xylitol and polydextrose) and their mixtures on the preparation of mixed Brazilian Cerrado fruit preserves (marolo, soursop and sweet passion fruit).

The simplex mixture design was used for product optimization and the preserves evaluated by physical, physicochemical and sensory properties. The research data were analyzed using regression equations on SAS University and exploratory analysis by principal component analysis and parallel factors techniques on Sensomaker software.

The results show that erythritol and polydextrose bodying agents should not be used as pure components because they provoked changes in the properties of the final product and negatively influenced the sensory attributes. While the high concentrations of xylitol and sorbitol provided better sensorial acceptance, being considered, therefore, good substitutes for sucrose.

This research has shown it is feasible to use bodying agents in the preparation of mixed Brazilian Cerrado fruit preserves without added sugar.

The development of mixed preserves could increase population access to the Brazilian Cerrado fruits. In addition, sugar-free preserves are a viable alternative for adding value to the product and satisfy all the consumers.

The combination of properties of two or more fruits and use of bodying agents can improve sensory, physical and physicochemical characteristics of the final product. However, there are technological challenges to evaluate in the preparation of mixed Brazilian Cerrado fruit preserves without added sugar.