The first, and probably the major challenge of Enio, the new Information Technology Director of the university, was, in his own definition, the lack of information systems (IS) for his institution, mainly in administrative and human resources areas. In his understanding, there was a main IS in operation, supporting the academic area, but just for undergraduate courses and, moreover, what was expected was integration between distinct IS databases: "We had loose coupled systems and still remains such systems throughout the institution". Would be better to develop a new IS or purchase a ready one? Choosing to develop it, what would be the cost and effort? Once opting for the acquisition, how to find the most suitable supplier and IS product for the university? The discussion of these issues offers opportunity for increasing planning and diagnostic skills on the application of reference models for software selection and acquisition, through the escription of steps undertaken by managers and directors in a context of major decisions. This theme has potential to promote relevant discussions on subjects such as "IS Management" and "Enterprise Applications" in Business Administration undergraduate and post-graduation courses, and Software Engineering subjects in Computer Science undergraduate courses.

Since 1988, some changes were introduced in the evaluation process, due to the adoption of a quantitative bias, thus affecting the way of conceiving and organizing the Brazilian Postgraduation Program. This study analyzed the role of intellectual production in the triennial evaluation from the year 2007 until 2009, conducted by Capes for Academic Master and Doctorate in Business Administration programs. The survey had a descriptive and quantitative approach from documentary evidence. It was concluded that only the intellectual production requirement is not sufficient to achieve a good score in the evaluation of Capes.

The aim of this study is to describe and analyze how the managerial competences are configured and managed in the retail sector of Barro Preto’s fashion district in managers and other sales team members’ perception. In order to ccomplish this, we took into account Paiva’s competence model (Paiva, 2007). The field research was characterized as a descriptive case study, with a qualitative approach. The data were collected through documentation survey and analysis and by interviews. The subjects were chosen using accessibility and convenience criteria. The data collected were organized, processed and analyzed by the technique of content analysis. Subsequently, the demographic and functional data of respondents were presented. For most of the inverviewees, the notion of competence is linked to action; they are aware that managers occupy a middle ground in the organizational hierarchy and that they work in an environment known by ambiguity, contradictions and demands. So, to be competent managers, interviewees attested the need for academic training, while considering the importance of experience. This study suggests the importance of informal learning in the managers’ competences training and development, especially through the figure of the "model manager"; in other words, the one that is considered the mirror to the other members of the sales team. Finally, limitations of this study and suggestions for further research were pointed out.

The succession process is an important moment in the organizations’ life cycle, particularly in family companies, because according to the way the process is led, the results may represent a competitive advantage or rupture / discontinuity in their life cycle. In this paper we discuss the structural and dynamic characteristics of small family companies, trying to point out elements of analysis that were ignored in the organizational studies based in the Brazilian reality. People understand that in the structure and the dynamic of family companies we can find explanatory elements to the Brazilian family companies longevity. The empirical study was carried out in small Brazilian family companies that work with the retail trade activity in liquefied petroleum gas. Secondary data were used, to identify the sample companies, and also primary data, which were collected by interview technique and analyzed by the techniques of content analysis and discourse analysis. We conclude that the small Brazilian family company longevity is linked to the competitiveness levels expansion which depends on an organizational structure supported by systemic thought and understanding of the organizational dynamic that bind family and company in the same dimension.

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the building of management knowledge in igher education organizations as well as to evaluate its effectiveness in the light of the leadership approach as a catalyst element for institutional and strategic management results. The concept of management in the sphere of education is quite recent (Laranja, 2004; Souza, 2005). Such a late concern reflects the predominance of the thought on education management which claims that any person is able to manage ‘education companies’ (Catani and Giglioli, 2004). However, the need to train leaders for such a purpose is widely verified. Aiming to accomplish the purpose of this research, a literature review was undertaken using national and international works. Then the analysis and the development of the theme were conducted, that higher education organizations need to be analyzed from the standpoint of management and in an interdisciplinary way. The leaderships of ‘education companies’ have occupied positions that involve actions not only in the sphere of teaching, but also of management, finance, interrelations, and towards the surrounding communities as well. The relevance of this study lies in the systematization of the knowledge found in the literature, and in providing a means of stimulating reflection, and further action, on the existent strategies in higher education organizations and on the leadership’s role as central in the organization.

This article aims to determinate and to compare the level of voluntary disclosure in financial statements of agricultural cooperatives and companies of the agricultural segment. In order to accomplish this, we have analyzed the financial statements of the year 2008. For data collection we used a metric to guide the content analysis and, for data analysis, three indices were developed to permit the next three levels valuation: i) level of company compliance to the voluntary disclosure; ii) the disclosure level of firms that practice voluntary disclosure; iii) the general level of voluntary disclosure. We concluded that cooperatives have higher level of environmental and social voluntary disclosure than companies of the agricultural segment. On the other hand, companies of the agricultural segment have a higher level of economic voluntary disclosure. The conclusions confirmed the three hypotheses previously stated. It is worth mentioning that the results can not be generalized because they are restricted to a sample of a specific sector and based in the financial statements of one accounting period.

Since the development of the Six Sigma concept by Motorola in the 80’s many changes have made the market more competitive and demanding, especially in the automotive sector. The present work aims to describe the results of a case study of the Six Sigma program in an automotive company in the state of São Paulo. This paper seeks to identify characteristics about the use of Six Sigma, such as implementation tools, project selection, training and the results obtained with the projects. In the end, besides identifying if the critical factors to the success of the program that the theory presents match with the reality of the company. As the main conclusion, the study shows that the company has used many of the theory recommendations in its application. Concerning training, the efforts were higher than the literature recommends, and it may be one of the main reasons for the success of the program.

This article seeks to analyze if the activity of swine presented a decrease in the negative impacts on the environment. In addition, it presents the swine production record in the studied region, listing the main pollutants resulting from the activity and its consequences on the environment and the main laws and regulations governing the activity. To evaluate the performance in the environmental management of swine production, were raised the total number of assessments conducted by EPA during the period studied, using as an indicator the number of annual fines from 1999 to 2010. It starts from the assumption that the increase or the reduction of fines reflect the behavior of producers regarding compliance with laws and regulations related to the activity and the level of commitment in the relationship with the environment. This study consists in one descriptive approach and quantitative focus research. It can be identified as a documentary research, and data were extracted from the files of the environmental agency. Therefore, we conclude that the pollution problem caused by the lack of efficient management of the activity has a large influence on the environment and that the situation presented only can be reversed when the various sectors involved start to draw common goals and objectives up that can alleviate existing problems, achieving the economic objectives in a sustainable way according to the environmental point of view.