RESUMO Este trabalho investiga de que forma consumidores pertencentes à nova classe média atribuem significado à aquisição da casa própria em condomínios multi-familiares. Adotou-se uma perspectiva interpretativa, embasada nos pressupostos teóricos da Consumer Culture Theory. A pesquisa se baseou em entrevistas qualitativas com compradores de imóveis pertencentes a este segmento da população, cuja aquisição ocorreu nos cinco anos anteriores à realização do trabalho de campo. Utilizou-se a análise de conteúdo qualitativa como método de análise dos dados e as categorias de análise utilizadas emergiram do campo. Os resultados obtidos indicam que tanto a casa própria quanto as áreas comuns compartilhadas nos condomínios são representadas de distintas formas. Além disso, o estudo mostra de que forma os informantes articulam uma organização simbólica desses espaços, construída em torno da dicotomia casa / rua, com suas áreas de mediação.

ABSTRACT This paper investigates how consumers belonging to the new middle class attach meaning to the acquisition of their own home in multi-family condominiums. An interpretative perspective was adopted, based on the theoretical assumptions of Consumer Culture Theory. The research was based on qualitative interviews with real estate buyers belonging to this segment of the population, whose acquisition occurred in the five years prior to the realization of the fieldwork. Qualitative content analysis was used as a method of data analysis and the analytical categories used emerged from the field. The results indicate that both the home itself and the common areas shared in the condominiums are represented in different ways. In addition, the study shows how informants articulate a symbolic organization of these spaces, built around the home / street dichotomy, with their mediation areas.

RESUMEN Este artículo investiga cómo consumidores que pertenecen a la nueva clase media atribuyen significado a la adquisición de su propia casa en condominios multifamiliares. Se adoptó una perspectiva interpretativa, basada en los supuestos teóricos de la Consumer Culture Theory. La investigación se basó en entrevistas cualitativas con compradores de bienes inmuebles pertenecientes a este segmento de la población, cuya adquisición se produjo en los cinco años anteriores a la realización del trabajo de campo. El análisis de contenido cualitativo se utilizó como método de análisis de datos y las categorías de análisis utilizadas surgieron del campo. Los resultados obtenidos indican que tanto el hogar como las áreas comunes compartidas en los condominios están representados de diferentes maneras. Además, el estudio muestra cómo los informantes articulan una organización simbólica de estos espacios, construidos alrededor de la dicotomía casa / calle, con sus áreas de mediación.

RESUMO Este caso de ensino tem como foco o processo de expansão nacional e internacional da IGT Motors, empresa brasileira que atua há vinte anos no mercado, e que produz a maior parte de seus produtos na China desde 2010. Pouco tempo após a empresa iniciar a busca por novos mercados no exterior e adaptar todos os seus processos internos e a comunicação para atender às preferências e regulamentações de outros países, a eclosão da pandemia do COVID-19 a levou a repensar suas estratégias de produção e marketing, que foram especificamente afetadas por envolverem a China, país de origem do vírus. O caso trata de como empresas de pequeno porte em meio a uma expansão global podem lidar com cenários inesperados e crises emergentes, ensejando os alunos a refletir sobre as iniciativas que poderiam ser tomadas para superar questões de animosidade do consumidor e tornar a empresa menos suscetível a situações similares no futuro.

ABSTRACT This teaching case focuses on the national and international expansion of IGT Motors, a Brazilian company operating in the market for twenty years that has moved most of its production to China since 2010. Nearly after the company started searching for new markets abroad and adapted its internal and communication processes to comply with other countries’ preferences and regulations, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led top management to rethink its production and marketing strategies, specifically hit by involving China, country of origin of the virus. The case is about how small companies in the midst of a global expansion can deal with unexpected scenarios and emerging crisis, engaging students to reflect upon the initiatives that might be taken to overcome issues such as consumer animosity, but also to make the company less susceptible to similar situations in the future.

Brazilian diasporas overseas has received little academic interest. Nevertheless, estimates suggest that around three million Brazilians currently live in other countries. The present study looks at a specific type of diaspora: small entrepreneurs from the Brazilian martial arts sector. The study adopts the case study method of research. The unit of analysis is comprised by the martial arts (capoeira and Brazilian jiu-jitsu). Data analysis used secondary and primary data from interviews. Cross-case analysis searched for similarities and differences in the internationalization processes of the two martial arts, using several analytical devices, such as chronologies, timelines, matrices, and pattern matching analysis. Evidences suggest that the concept of diasporic internationalization fits better capoeira than Brazilian jiu-jitsu. However, Brazilian jiu-jitsu shows an initial combination of diasporic and transnational characteristics, but more recently became fully transnational. Brazilian jiu-jitsu became a truly global business, formally organized and professionally managed. Capoeira, however, is still seen as non-commercial and as the preservation and practice of an ancient art. Such ethos, combined with the origin of its members in lower economic classes and their restricted access to capital turns internationalization into an often less profitable activity.

Este ensaio teórico busca analisar os espaços de contribuição da perspectiva institucional de análise para o entendimento das escolhas de modo de entrada de empresas multinacionais provenientes de países emergentes. Modos de entrada referem-se às decisões de grau de controle da subsidiária (subsidiária integral versus joint venture). Alguns autores propõem que o modo de entrada seria influenciado pelas três dimensões do ambiente institucional: distância regulatória, normativa e cultural-cognitiva entre o país hospedeiro e o país de origem da empresa investidora. A partir de ampla revisão bibliográfica, são identificados fatores relacionados aos três pilares do ambiente institucional e formuladas proposições para orientar estudos empíricos futuros sobre modos de entrada de multinacionais de países emergentes.

This essay aims at contributing to the analysis of the spaces for contribution of the institutional perspective of analysis to advance the understanding of entry mode choices by multinational firms from emerging markets. Entry modes refer to the decisions involving the degree of control of a subsidiary (wholly-owned versus joint venture). Some authors propose that three dimensions of the institutional environment influence the entry mode decision: regulative distance, normative distance and cultural-cognitive distance between the host country and the country of origin of the investing firm. Starting from a broad review of the extant literature, this study identifies factors related to the three pillars of the institutional environment and advances propositions to be tested in future studies on entry mode choices of emerging market multinationals.

Ese ensayo teórico busca analizar los espacios de contribución de la perspectiva institucional de análisis para el entendimiento de las elecciones del modo de ingreso de empresas multinacionales provenientes de países emergentes. Modos de ingreso se refieren a las decisiones de grado de control de la subsidiaria (subsidiaria integral versus joint venture). Algunos autores proponen que el modo de ingreso sería influenciado por las tres dimensiones del ambiente institucional: distancia regulatoria, normativa y cultural-cognitiva entre el país hospitalario y el país de origen de la empresa inversora. A partir de amplia revisión bibliográfica, son identificados factores relacionados a los tres pilares del ambiente institucional y formuladas proposiciones para orientar estudios empíricos futuros sobre modos de ingreso de multinacionales de países emergentes.

This work investigates whether host countries institutional factors and firm characteristics can help the understanding of Brazilian multinationals' choices of ownership mode for their foreign direct investments (FDI). Brazil is a privileged locus for research on emerging market multinationals (EMNEs), given its growing stock of outward FDI. The paper contributes to a better understanding of the international strategic choices of EMNEs. First, the phenomenon under study is examined using the theoretical lenses of institutionalism. Second, the study looks at the relationship between state support and choice of ownership mode, a new issue in the area of international business. Third, differences between the decisions taken by manufacturing and service EMNEs are also examined. Fourth, the study focuses on an emerging country, Brazil. The quality of the regulatory environment of the host country, and differences in beliefs, cultural identity and management practices between the host country and the country of origin are factors of the institutional environment significantly related to the choice of ownership mode by Brazilian EMNEs. As to firm characteristics, our results show that state support favors the choice of joint ventures, and that service EMNEs also significantly prefer joint ventures, when compared to manufacturing firms. The findings also support the view that EMNEs are less sensitive to institutional weaknesses in host countries.

This research investigated the impact the external environment, firm characteristics and firm strategy have on export performance. To this end, a survey was administered to 448 large Brazilian exporters of manufactured products. A structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used to fit the conceptual model to empirical data. An extensive set of procedures for the validation of measurement models was used. Export performance exhibited a multidimensional structure and the model explained 76.6% and 40.1% of the observed variance of past export revenues and of past export profitability, respectively.

Este caso de ensino apresenta o processo de internacionalização de uma empresa que guarda três peculiaridades: pertencer ao setor de serviços; comercializar software, um produto não típico da pauta de exportações brasileiras; e ter origem no Nordeste do Brasil. Fundada em 1996 na cidade de Fortaleza, a Ivia foi a primeira empresa a lançar o serviço de Internet Banking no Nordeste do Brasil e o primeiro provedor de acesso à Internet com foco no mercado corporativo de Fortaleza. Dez anos depois, a empresa desenvolvia ferramentas de negócios para a web, visando otimizar processos gerenciais de empresas, baseadas na tecnologia de Internet, tendo desenvolvido clientes para seus produtos no Brasil e em Portugal. O caso descreve a trajetória da Ivia em sua primeira década de existência e o início de seu processo de internacionalização. A questão central a ser discutida é de que modo a empresa pode sustentar seu processo de internacionalização, enquanto amplia suas atividades no mercado doméstico. Além disso, o caso permite debater de que forma as ações governamentais podem apoiar o desenvolvimento internacional de pequenas empresas de software, prioridade da atual política industrial.

This teaching case presents the internationalization process of a firm that distinguishes itself in three aspects: it is part of the services industry, sells software (an atypical product in Brazilian exports), and has its headquarters in the Northeast of Brazil. Founded in 1996 in the city of Fortaleza, Ivia was the first company to launch an Internet Banking service in the Northeast of Brazil and the first Internet access provider targeting the corporate market of Fortaleza. Ten years later, the company had developed business tools for web applications, aiming to optimize management processes based on Internet technology. It had customers in Brazil and Portugal. The case describes Ivia's trajectory in its first decade, as well as the beginning of the firm's internationalization process. The central issue to be discussed is how the firm can keep up with its internationalization process and at the same time broaden its scope of activities in the domestic market. In addition, the case offers the opportunity to debate how government agencies can support the international development of small software firms, a priority of the current national industrial policy.

This paper presents a comprehensive and integrated set of validation procedures to assess the satisfactoriness of measurement models of multifaceted constructs. The validation framework is then applied to a new measurement model of the economic domain of export performance, a construct for which agreement has not yet been reached in the literature concerning the appropriate representation of its complex nature. A sample of 414 large Brazilian exporters of manufactured products was collected, and five competing measurement models of the construct were proposed and comparatively assessed. Insights into the nature and structure of the construct are drawn. In the best fitting of the five tested models, export (venture) performance is represented as a two-dimensional construct - past export revenues and their growth, and past export profitability, with four and two operational indicators, respectively. The set of final indicators provides a reasonable coverage of several conceptual aspects of the phenomenon, namely absolute and relative measures as well as static and dynamic orientations. There is a thorough discussion of validation steps. The validation framework advanced here is generic and comprehensive enough to be employed for modeling other multifaceted constructs in the social sciences.

Este trabalho se insere no debate sobre como o marketing pode atender às necessidades dos consumidores de baixa renda. Inicialmente, discutem-se as lacunas na literatura internacional e as principais estratégias que podem ser seguidas pelas empresas para reduzir a pobreza, focalizando-se, em seguida, a perspectiva do "marketing na base da pirâmide". É feita uma revisão de estudos realizados no Brasil sobre o consumo dos pobres, ainda em pequeno número, agrupando seus resultados pela temática abordada, incluindo gastos familiares, uso do crédito, escolha de marcas, escolha de lojas e significado dos bens. Em seguida, analisam-se formas pelas quais as empresas podem atuar no segmento de baixa renda, por meio de estratégias de marketing desenhadas especificamente para tal. Finalmente, propõe-se uma agenda de pesquisas à comunidade acadêmica brasileira, que cubra o consumo dos pobres e o marketing voltado para esse segmento.

This work takes part in the debate about how marketing can meet the needs of low income consumers. Initially, the gaps in international literature and the main strategies that can be followed by companies to reduce poverty are discussed, focusing subsequently on the perspective of "marketing at the bottom of the pyramid". A review is carried out of studies in Brazil (albeit few in number) into the consumption habits of the poor, grouping the results in line with the theme, including family spending, the use of credit, brand choice, store choice and the meaning of having possessions. Then, the ways in which companies can act in the low income segment, by means of marketing strategies designed specifically for this end, are analyzed. Finally, a research agenda is proposed for the Brazilian academic community, covering the consumption habits of the poor and marketing directed at this particular segment.

Some authors have questioned whether the well-known Uppsala internationalization model would be generalizable to services. We take one of the model's assumptions - that firms will follow a gradually increasing resource commitment path in each country - and challenge whether it would hold up under specific service characteristics or particular combinations of environmental variables and service characteristics. We review the literature in search of more appropriate dimensions for the classification of services that would allow for the test of the Uppsala model's assumption. Based on purely conceptual reasoning, supported by previous empirical studies, we propose some hypotheses about how service firms would be expected to behave - in terms of their choice of foreign entry mode - under certain circumstances and what the performance implications would be expected to be. These hypotheses are contrary to the Uppsala model's predictions. This paper is solely conceptual, so the key constructs (environment and service-specific variables) would still require operationalization before the hypotheses can be empirically tested.

Poor conceptualization of the export performance construct may undermine theory development efforts and may be one of the reasons behind the often conflicting findings in empirical research on the export performance phenomenon. This article reviews the conceptual and empirical literature and proposes a new analytical scheme that may serve as a standard for judging content validity and a guiding yardstick for drawing operational representations of the construct. A critical assessment of some of the most frequently cited measurement frameworks, followed by an analysis of recent (1999-2004) empirical research, leaves no doubt that there are flaws in the conceptualization and operationalization of the performance construct that ought to be addressed. A new measurement model is advanced along with some guidelines which are suggested for its future empirical validation. The new measurement framework allegedly improves on other past efforts in terms of breadth of coverage of the construct's domain (content validity). It also offers a measurement perspective (with the simultaneous use of both formative and reflective approaches) that appears to reflect better the nature of the construct.