Customer values and CSR image in the banking industry.

ABSTRACT: The authors analyse the role that collectivism and novelty seeking play in the formation process of corporate social responsibility (CSR) image in the Spanish banking industry. Two multisampling analyses of a structural equation model are performed on a sample of 1124 customers. The findings of the article allow the authors to anticipate CSR image based on (i) the congruence between the company and its CSR initiatives, (ii) the attribution of motivations for the company to implement CSR and (iii) corporate credibility in developing CSR initiatives. The findings also show that collectivists and innovative customers process information differently to individualists and conservative customers

ERGONOMIA E SEGURANÇA EM ATIVIDADES EXTRATIVISTAS NO ESTADO DO ACRE

A ergonomia é a ciência que estuda a adaptação do trabalho ao homem, tendo como objetivo a melhoria das condições de saúde, segurança e bem estar do trabalhador. Apesar de existirem diversos estudos de ergonomia em vários setores, ao que tange atividades extrativistas, ainda são poucas as informações obtidas. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar e compreender as condições de trabalho, saúde e segurança das atividades na coleta e transporte de castanha e açaí na Reserva Extrativista Cazumbá - Iracema no Estado do Acre, a fim de propor sugestões à referida categoria a partir da análise dos fatores ergonômicos. As variáveis analisadas foram os fatores humanos, ambientais (clima e iluminação), carga física, posturas adotadas e o manuseio de cargas. Foram avaliados ao total 40 trabalhadores. De acordo com os resultados, os trabalhadores tinham idade média de 35 anos, peso médio de 69 kg, baixo índice de analfabetismo (2,3%), de origem predominantemente rural (94,1%), tendo um consumo alto de bebidas alcoólicas (49%) e tabaco (15%). A maioria dos trabalhadores já tiveram acidentes em suas atividades. A exposição ao calor e a iluminância foram considerados elevados e inadequados entre os horários de 12 e 13:30 horas. A carga física foi considerada moderadamente pesada na maioria das operações, destacando-se o transporte de castanha e a coleta do açai, sendo considerados pesados. As posturas mais prejudiciais foram observadas na coleta do açaí e no transporte de castanha. O manuseio de cargas apresentou alto risco de lesão nas atividades de transporte de castanha. Para melhoria das condições de trabalho, saúde, bem estar e segurança, deve haver uma conscientização a fim de diminuir os vícios e fiscalização para que haja o uso devido dos equipamentos de proteção individual. Ainda assim, os trabalhadores devem ser treinados e conscientizados para utilizar medidas adequadas de controle onde os níveis de exposição a iluminância são elevados. Também necessita-se de adoção de tempo de repouso por hora efetiva de trabalho nas atividades de coleta do açaí e transporte de castanha. A fim de evitar danos a coluna do trabalhador, é necessário a adoção de pausas durante as atividades de coleta e transporte de ambas as cadeias analisadas. E com relação ao manuseio de cargas é necessária uma reorganização ergonômica a fim de reduzir o peso manuseado para execução da atividade de transporte de castanha. Palavra - chave: Processo Produtivo, Unidades de Conservação, Condições de Trabalho

Cross-Cultural Management

Culture is something socially constructed and historically infused in people’s beliefs, perceptions, and behavior. It has been defined as “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another” (Hofstede 1980). Since business is made by people, all organizational activities, from leadership to decision-making, are somehow impacted by culture. Cross-cultural management is the group of strategies and policies, usually adopted by international or multinational firms, aiming to improve the coordination and cooperation among employees and between staff and external business actors that embody different behavioral norms and interpersonal expectations due to their respective national cultures. The basic assumption of cross-cultural management is that there is the potential of misunderstandings in the context of relationships between individuals and organizations from differing cultural backgrounds. From the 1970s to the 1990s, culture was described as a barrier to interaction and source of frictions. Yet, recently, the idea of culture as a resource of organizational learning and competitive advantage also emerged. Companies that leverage from their multicultural workforce can better satisfy different clients and speed up knowledge transfers. Therefore, the goal of cross-cultural management studies is to help identify the characteristics of particular cultures, make comparisons, and provide insights on how to conduct the cross-cultural interactions to both avoid conflicts and get benefits from the correct handling of cultural differences

Toward a model of issue-selling by subsidiary managers in multinational organizations

In multinational organizations, local market responsiveness is critical to the development of effective strategies. This responsiveness is expected to occur in part as the result of upward influence from local subsidiary managers, who represent the local culture and shift relevant priorities accordingly. Issue-selling – defined as directing top management's attention to particular issues and helping them understand such issues – is one important way in which subsidiary managers pursue upward influence. The purpose of this paper is to help multinational organizations better facilitate and exploit potentially valuable input from local subsidiary managers. To do so, we propose an acculturated view of issue-selling. More specifically, we argue that subsidiary managers socialized by different national cultures vary: (1) in the extent to which their intention to sell issues is influenced by various contextual cues; and (2) in their choice of selling strategies. These theoretical differences suggest that local subsidiary managers from different cultures will differ in the way they approach issue-selling and, in turn, in the way they influence the strategy-making process. The discussion traces the implications of this line of reasoning for future research on the influence of local subsidiary managers and, more generally, for research on the cultural embeddedness of the strategy process. Journal of International Business Studies (2005) 36, 637–654. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400166