The central objective of this thesis was to investigate the manner in which competitive strategies are developed in Brazilian companies, in the state of São Paulo, in the secondary sector of economy. The process which gives rise to these strategies is called "formation" without, however, suggesting that there is a systematic formula to decision making. The available literature on this topic is fragmented and one dimensional. The present work seeks to offer a solution to remedy this limitation by means of both a conceptual approach and a multiple methodology. The investigation was carried out in two stages: (1) a survey through questionnaires answered by 354 companies and (2) one case study. Through this methodology and the proposal of a five-dimensional model of comprehension, the study tries to provide a "general view" of the phenomenon of strategy formation. The results show that companies regard their strategic process as being predominantly deliberated, apolitical, rational and markedly dictated by the environment. However, such conclusions are neither homogeneous in the universe of companies nor conceptually definitive considering that the indicators built to measure such dimensions did not present distinctive values and deviated considerably from the average. Quite the contrary, the results have shown that the predominant theories do not correspond closely with the Brazilian reality. Where there is a connection with the growth of the annual gross revenue, significant-though weakcorrelations were verified between the latter and the perceived use of rationality and discretionarity. Thus the companies with higher gross revenue growth between the years 2006 and 2007 were the ones that declared assessing their strategic alternatives systematically, developing formal planning and studying the environment carefully. The companies with lower results, on the other hand, were politically deterred from implementing their strategies and their plans were determined by external forces. The case study revealed the same results in general. The main conclusions of this thesis refers to the need of implementing a dual approach: developing a formal, long-term strategic planning while allowing for emerging strategies in the daily corporate routine. Furthermore, politically oriented decisions should be avoided and actions aiming at strengthening economic power are recommended. However, in spite of these findings, the question of how strategies are developed remains open and the answer also seems to depend on the specific characteristics of each enterprise. Despite this, it is hoped that this thesis proves to be a useful contribution to practioners as well as researchers.

Purpose -This article diagnoses the relationship between the value priorities of board members in Brazil and their companies' identities trending towards stakeholders or shareholders. The paper tested five hypotheses referring to the fact that board members of profitoriented companies are more individualistic, while board members of stakeholder-oriented companies tend to be more collectivist.Design/methodology/approach -A survey was carried out through the Schwartz (1992) values inventory with 74 board members in Brazil. The Brazilian Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) was considered a proxy for stakeholder orientation. The Mann-Whitney test was used in order to verify if the two independent samples were drawn from populations with equal averages.Findings -In partial consonance with previous research, the board members of stakeholder-oriented companies -those participating in the Corporate Sustainability Index -held less individualistic values. However, for individualistic motivational types, only Stimulation and Hedonism were more frequent in companies not participating in the ISE index.Originality/value -This result amplifies the predictive power of individual values and complements the work of Adams, Licht and Sagiv (2011), which experimentally studied the same relationship within individual choices and in a controlled situation. This article enhances the theory by incorporating the organizational level into the debate. The results suggest that other factors also influence pro-shareholder or pro-stakeholder corporate orientation.

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As mudanças econômicas e políticas afetam a maneira de gerir das empresas e exigem, cada vez mais, profissionais capacitados e que consigam desenvolver competências distintas. O profissional de secretariado caracteriza-se por apresentar conhecimento generalista em diferentes áreas do conhecimento. Porém, não há, na literatura, um trabalho que explore as competências financeiras desse profissional. Nesse contexto, o anseio do presente artigo é contribuir para a percepção da importância das competências financeiras na rotina do profissional de secretariado, por meio de investigação empírica em uma amostra de 272 profissionais. Foram utilizadas, para tal, técnicas de estatística descritiva, análise fatorial exploratória e regressões múltiplas. Como resultado, foram identificadas as oito principais competências financeiras inerentes a esse profissional: 1ª) solicitar orçamentos e cotações; 2ª) negociar com clientes e/ou fornecedores, considerando a política financeira da organização; 3ª) elaborar relatórios para tomada de decisões com base nos orçamentos e preços; 4ª) elaborar relatórios para reembolso de despesas, considerando a política financeira da organização; 5ª) manusear planilhas eletrônicas (Excel) para cálculos financeiros; 6ª) interpretar informações que contenham juros e/ou acréscimos; 7ª) manusear calculadoras convencionais (operações simples) e 8ª) interpretar informações que contenham descontos. Desenvolveu-se, ainda, uma proposta de Escala de Competências Financeiras para Profissionais de Secretariado. Por fim, as contribuições são: facilitar a identificação das principais competências financeiras, inclusive para a área de recursos humanos, identificando assim profissionais mais preparados e guiar as instituições de ensino que oferecem os cursos de secretariado para identificar se as competências financeiras aqui apontadas são trabalhadas nos cursos.

Este artigo apresenta alguns dos elementos facilitadores e dificultadores para se implantar a metodologia Estratégia do Oceano Azul (EOA). A empresa estudada passava por uma situação competitiva intricada, com redução de demanda e excesso de oferta. Com o uso de alguns dos pressupostos da EOA, a empresa redefiniu estratégias competitivas reduzindo sua exposição à rivalidade tipicamente encontrada em setores maduros. Este artigo narra a construção da curva de valor, que tomou 540 horas em entrevistas, contou com a participação de um dos autores e envolveu diversos grupos de foco. Como resultados, entre outros elementos, destaca-se a importância da criação de sentido (sensemaking) e da heterogeneidade de fontes de informação. Diante da riqueza dos achados, considera-se que este artigo contribui para o campo da Estratégia Empresarial. Entre outros, descreve a formação das equipes, mecanismos de coleta de dados e desenvolvimento da curva de valor. O método para desenvolvimento desse artigo baseou-se na pesquisa-ação conduzida pelos autores durante o desenvolvimento do projeto EOA. Foram também conduzidas entrevistas e consultadas fontes secundárias de dados.Palavras-chave: Curva de valor; Estratégia do oceano azul; Formação de estratégias. BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY: IMPLEMENTATION REPORT IN A SECTOR IN CRISIS ABSTRACTThis paper presents some drivers and obstacles for implementing the Blue Ocean Strategy methodology (BOS). The company studied underwent a complex competitive environment, with reduced demand and supply excess. With the use of some of the assumptions of the BOS, the company redefined its competitive strategies and reduced its exposure to the rivalry usually found in mature industries. This paper presents the construction of the value curve, which took 540 hours of interviews and various focus groups. As a result, among other things, it highlights the importance of sensemaking and the diversity of information sources. Given these findings, it is considered that this paper contribute to the field of Business Strategy. Among others, the report describes the formation of teams, data collection mechanisms and development of value curve. The method for developing this article was based on an action research conducted by the authors during the development of EOA project. Besides the use of such a method, interviews and secondary data analysis were conducted. Keywords RESUMENEste artículo presenta algunos de los facilitadores y dificultando desplegar la metodología Estrategia del Océano Azul (EOA). La empresa estudiada pasó por una situación competitiva intrincada, con una demanda reducida y el exceso de oferta. Con el uso de algunos de los supuestos de la EOA, la empresa redefinió estrategias competitivas mediante la reducción de su exposición a la rivalidad se encuentran típicamente en industrias maduras. El artículo relata la construcción de la curva de valor, que tuvo 540 horas de entrevistas, se asistió a uno de los autores y participan varios grupos de enfoque. Como resultado, entre otras cosas, pone de reliev...