Given the lack of agreement on the phenomenological elements of affordance, it is difficult to conduct empirical research to test systematic observations across contexts (e.g., industrial design and interaction design). To address this problem, this paper aims to establish a new understanding of the concept of affordance and its key concepts. Through a critical review of influential articles about affordance, the article identifies some uses and misuses of the concept. Then, a definition of affordance is provided, which delineates its foundational elements. Based on the definition, the article proposes a framework to explain how artefacts acquire affordances through the intentional behaviour of designers, certain material features, and contextual constructions. As a result, this research will contribute a new perspective on affordances that may help designers have predictable control over them when designing end-consumer products.

Inovação, Recursos e Comprometimento: em Direção a uma Teoria Estratégica da .irma RESUMO O artigo se insere no esforço, atualmente em curso, de articulação conceitual entre as teorias da concorrência e da inovação forjadas pela teoria econômica Evolucionária e a teoria da firma desenvolvida pela Visão Baseada em Recursos (VBR) na área de gestão estratégica. Ele o faz em três planos: (i) sublinhando a convergência e complementaridade entre as proposições centrais da teoria econômica Evolucionária e a da VBR; (ii) trazendo à luz uma segunda convergência: da relação entre decisões empresariais sob incerteza e seu impacto econômico, associadas à perspectiva pós-keynesiana; (iii) mostrando como os modelos de processos de formação e gestão de estratégias empresariais vêm oferecendo proposições úteis, coerentes e complementares com este mesmo quadro conceitual.A proposição fundamental do artigo é que a referida articulação aponta para uma teoria estratégica da firma centrada nas relações entre concorrência, inovação, competitividade, decisões sob incerteza, comprometimento e busca de liquidez. PALAVRAS-CHAVE ABSTRACTThis article intends to contribute with the ongoing effort towards a conceptual articulation among the theories of competition and innovation developed under the research program of Evolutionary Economics, the Resource-Based View in Strategic Management and the Post-Keynesian perspective on commitments and decision-making under uncertainty. It makes three main points: (i) it underlines the convergence and complementarities of the central propositions of Evolutionary Economics and the Resource-Based View; (ii) it brings out the convergence between the economics of uncertainty developed by the post-Keynesian research program and the commitment-capabilities approach pioneered by Penrose, Ghemawat, Teece and Pisano; (iii) it suggests that contemporary models of the strategy-making processes and strategic management are developing propositions that should be absorbed by this same conceptual framework.The article thus concludes for the feasibility and usefulness for developing a Strategic Theory of the Firm grounded in the relationships among competition, innovation, competitiveness, decision-making under uncertainty, the inevitability of strategic commitments and the search for strategic liquidity.KEYWORDS Evolutionary Economics; Resource-Based View; Dynamic Capabilities; Strategy Process; Strategy-making under Uncertainty JEL-CODES B5, M2, L1, L2, D84 IntroduçãoA evolução da literatura em Gestão Estratégica vem se constituindo em uma importante fonte de questionamento do modelo de empresa difundido pela teoria econômica Neoclássica. A teoria econômica Evolucionária, por sua vez, vem buscando, especialmente nas discussões oriundas da chamada "Visão Baseada em Recursos" (VBR), adensar o seu programa de pesquisa, de modo a construir uma teoria da firma mais próxima, e mais útil, à realidade empresarial.O presente texto pretende se inserir nesse debate de três formas:Revista Brasileira de Inovação  (a) sublin...

The paper's central claim is that China's speed and ability to leapfrog its peer-nations in the last three decades stems, largely, from the fact that it is a fully developed Entrepreneurial State (ES). The discussion seeks to dig deeper on ES as a bridging concept that fits well with the Schumpeter-Keynes-Minsky analytical framework and one that is particularly appropriated analyzing contemporary China's development trajectory. Although rooted in a historical perspective and using historical examples, the main purpose of the paper is analytical, not descriptive.

The financial sector has been viewed traditionally as either providing the "oil" for the "wheels of commerce" or as a parasite on the real sector of the economy where real productivity gains provide for increasing real wages and per capita incomes. The present paper takes a different route and attempts to an analysis of financial institutions on a par with the production sector of the economy. It also develops a link which amalgamates "the knowledge-based" perspective on firms' operations with Schumpeterian financial leverage to exploit productivity enhancing innovations, and Minsky's tendency towards financial fragility. The analysis also leads to some policy recommendations concerning financial regulation, risk management and financial institution's building.

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