Resumo A despeito do grande número de estudos relacionados à felicidade derivada do trabalho nas organizações, estes são dispersos, divergentes e, portanto, pouco conclusivos. Isto traz dificuldades para a evolução da pesquisa sobre este tópico e para a tomada de decisões no dia a dia quanto ao tema nas empresas. Tomando por base uma revisão de literatura abrangente, este artigo propõe uma perspectiva que engloba o conhecimento desenvolvido sobre o assunto até o momento. Para tanto, parte de três questões: como se define felicidade no trabalho; o efeito da felicidade no trabalho nos resultados das empresas; e o que torna os indivíduos felizes no trabalho. A proposta de perspectiva integrada utiliza os princípios de Kahneman e Riis (2005), concentrando-se principalmente nos antecedentes da felicidade no trabalho e seus possíveis impactos no comportamento do indivíduo na organização.

Abstract Despite the large number of studies on happiness at work in organizations, they are disperse and divergent and thus inconclusive. This makes the evolution of research on this topic and practicioners’ decision-making regarding the happiness at work difficult. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this article proposes a perspective that encompasses the knowledge developed so far. To do so, it explores three issues: how happiness at work has been defined; the impact of happiness at work on organizational performance; and, what makes people happy at work. The integrated perspective this paper advances draws on the principles from Kahneman and Riis (2005), mainly focusing on antecedents of happiness at work and their impact on individual behavior in the organization.

Resumo Contrastando a visão acadêmica com a de investidores em valor, este artigo discute os prós e contras de gestão familiar e gestão profissional em empresas brasileiras, visando contribuir para a discussão sobre que tipo de gestão seria preferível em termos de desempenho de longo prazo e de criação de valor para os acionistas. Seis investidores de fundos de investimento em valor foram entrevistados pessoalmente a respeito do gerenciamento de empresas de varejo de moda. Conclui-se que investidores não têm preferência por um tipo de gestão na hora de investir, mas sim por características e padrões de comportamento específicos em um CEO, similares em muitos aspectos aos descritos por Selznick (1957) como os de um líder institucional. Finalmente, novos caminhos de pesquisa são indicados para acadêmicos (relacionando o velho institucionalismo com profissionalização) e orientações práticas são dadas para cada tipo de gestão (familiar ou profissional), tendo, portanto, uma contribuição tanto acadêmica quanto prática.

Abstract Regarding the debate on which sort of management - professional or family administration - would more effectively run businesses, this paper discusses the advantages and shortcomings of family and professional management from a theoretical and a practitioner’s viewpoint. The study aims at contributing to our understanding about the superiority that either type of management might have delivering long-term performance and value creation to shareholders. Six investors from top value investment funds were interviewed regarding the management of seven fashion retail Brazilian companies. Data analysis revealed that investors do not prefer either type of management - family or professional - when they make investments. Instead, they do look for specific characteristics and patterns of behavior in a CEO, which resemble Selznick’s (1957) definition of an institutional leader. Finally, the paper suggests a new path of research for scholars (relating old institutionalism and professionalism) and practical guidelines for each type of management (family or professional), offering, therefore, an academic as well as a practical contribution.

Resumen Al contrastar la visión académica con la de los inversores en valores, este artículo discute los pros y los contras de la gestión familiar y la gestión profesional en las empresas brasileñas, con el objetivo de contribuir al debate sobre qué tipo de gestión sería preferible en términos de rendimiento a largo plazo y creación de valor para los accionistas. Se entrevistó personalmente a seis inversores en fondos de inversión en valores con respecto a la gestión de empresas minoristas de moda. Se concluye que los inversores no tienen preferencia por un tipo de gestión a la hora de invertir, sino por las características y patrones de comportamiento específicos de un CEO, similares en muchos aspectos a los descritos por Selznick (1957) como los de un líder institucional. Por último, se indican nuevos caminos de investigación a los académicos (relacionando el antiguo institucionalismo con la profesionalización) y se dan orientaciones prácticas para cada tipo de gestión (familiar o profesional), aportando, por lo tanto, importantes contribuciones tanto académicas como prácticas.

This paper addresses the question of how organizations become ambidextrous over time, identifying requirements for organizations to become ambidextrous, understanding how ambidexterity may emerge as an organizational property, as well as exploring likely connections of the ambidexterity property and organizing a firm's activities and work. Conceptualizing the exploration-exploitation relationship as a paradoxical one, we advance two necessary conditions for organizing for ambidexterity: fostering paradox-coping tactics and precluding paradox-related traps. The interplay of these two conditions gives rise to a typology of four ambidexterity-related organizational states: ambidexterity-lacking organizations, monolithic organizations, short-term ambidextrous organizations and long-term ambidextrous organizations. The paper identifies each state's distinct strengths and challenges concerning organizing for ambidexterity, and discusses theoretical, practical and policy-making implications.

This paper presents inductive theoretical work inspired by the empirical study of the high-tech rivals General Electric and Westinghouse. Comparative historical analysis suggests that each firm's responses to five organizational challenges have affected their chances of enjoying long-term success. In addition, the theoretical work advances two polar ideal types of organizational success and failure: the self-perpetuating and the self-destructive archetypes, respectively. These should be seen as extreme states of the existence of firms since, in reality, firms operate in some intermediary state. A process-oriented perspective of theory building advances relations of necessity towards organizational long-term success, and integrates the responses to challenges into a requisites model for the development of a propensity for organizational self-perpetuation

Institutionalization processes have an ambivalent effect on organizational long-term success. Even though they foster organizational stability and permanence, they also bring about rigidity and resistance to change. As a result, successful organizations are likely to lose their competitive advantage over time. The paper addresses this issue through the investigation of the institutionalization processes of two long-lived companies: General Electric, a firm that has been a long-term success and its rival, Westinghouse, which was broken up after eleven decades of existence. The longitudinal, multilevel analysis of firms and industry has identified two different modes of organizational institutionalization. The reactive mode gives rise to rigidity and change resistance, much like institutional theory predicts; the proactive mode, on the other hand, neutralizes those negative effects of institutionalization processes. In the reactive mode, structure predominates. In the proactive mode, agency plays a major role in organizational institutionalization, and in managing the organization's relations with the environment, clearly contributing to environmental institutionalization.

Este artigo compara as trajetórias de crescimento da General Electric e da Westinghouse por mais de doze décadas. Enquanto a General Electric desfrutou crescimento e existência continuados, a Westinghouse cresceu, mas também sofreu contração por três décadas e desapareceu após 110 anos de existência. A análise comparativa revelou que, afora as capacitações comparáveis no desenvolvimento de alta tecnologia, as duas empresas diferiam em vários aspectos. Elas desempenharam papéis desiguais na estruturação do setor elétrico e enfrentaram os desafios do aumento do tamanho de maneiras bem distintas. A análise histórica indica que a General Electric tendeu a desenvolver capacitações gerenciais que aumentaram suas chances de perpetuar-se. Já a Westinghouse, durante a maior parte do tempo, desenvolveu propensão à autodestruição.

The paper compares the growth trajectories of General Electric and Westinghouse during twelve decennia. While General Electric has enjoyed a continuing growth and a continued existence, Westinghouse grew but also experienced a three-decades long contraction and disappeared after 110 years of existence. The comparative analysis has revealed that apart from comparable capabilities in the development of high technology, the two firms differed in several respects. They played different roles in the structuring of the electrical industry and faced the challenges of increasing size in very distinct ways. Historical analysis suggests that General Electric has tended to develop managerial capabilities that have enhanced its chances of becoming self-perpetuating. Westinghouse, on the other hand, more often than not developed certain propensity for self-destruction.

Este artigo propõe a estrutura geral de dois motores atuantes em processos de crescimento da empresa. São eles: o de crescimento contínuo, que compreende um processo no qual crescimento produz mais crescimento, e o de co-evolução, que relaciona o crescimento concomitante de um todo e suas partes, a exemplo de uma indústria (todo) e suas firmas (partes). A concepção dos motores inspirou-se na obra de Chandler intitulada The visible hand (1977). O minucioso exame da obra segundo a perspectiva orientada a processo de Mohr (1982) buscou responder à questão "qual é a teoria de Chandler a respeito de como e por que a moderna empresa de negócios (MEN) surgiu e cresceu?". Quatro classes de processos - formação da MEN, desenvolvimento da MEN, formação da indústria e desenvolvimento da indústria - foram identificadas e descritas por meio de encadeamentos de relações de necessidade (baseadas em condições necessárias mas não suficientes). Embora tenham menor poder preditivo que as relações causais (baseadas em condições necessárias e suficientes), as relações de necessidade parecem melhor descrever a realidade complexa das relações envolvidas em processos organizacionais. Finalmente, o exame do crescimento da indústria de microcomputadores à luz dos motores de crescimento propostos fornece evidências de que estes são adequados para analisar indústrias modernas, sugerindo que os motores de crescimento contínuo e de co-evolução são potencialmente trans-históricos e oferecem contribuição para uma teoria geral e para a prática da gestão do crescimento corporativo.

This paper advances the general structure of two motors in corporate growth processes. They are: the continuing growth motor, which comprises a process whereby growth produces more growth, and the co-evolution motor, relating the concomitant growth of parts and whole, such as firms (parts) and their industry (whole). The paper drew on Chandler´s "The Visible Hand" (1977) to derive the proposed motors. Chandler's book was thoroughly examined within Mohr's (1982) process-oriented perspective seeking to answer the question "what is Chandler's theory on how and why did the modern business enterprise (MBE) appear and grow?" Four processes - MBE formation, MBE development, industry formation and industry development - were identified and described by means of chains of necessary relations (base on necessary conditions). Although endowed with less predictive power than causal relations (based on necessary and sufficient conditions), necessary relations are likely to better describe the complexity of social processes. Finally, the microcomputers industry growth was examined in the light of the proposed motors. The analysis revealed their adequacy to explain the emergence of modern industries, suggesting that the proposed motors are potentially transhistorical, contributing therefore to a general theory and to the management of corporate growth.