Vol. 6 No. 3 (2012)

In the first article, Adalton M. Ozaki (University of São Paulo and Federal Institute of São Paulo, Brazil), Augusto C. B. de Melo, Júnior (Embratel, Brazil), Roberto Sbragia, and Eduardo P. G. de Vasconcellos (University of São Paulo, Brazil) analyse the process of formulating technological strategy in two cases of Brazilian subsidiaries of the telecommunications industry (equipment and network). In the first type of company, technological and corporate strategies are formulated in conjunction, while in the second type of company, technological strategy is derived from the marketing vision, and the Brazilian subsidiary can define its own strategy, simply seeking the approval of the parent company for its implementation. The authors analyse the consequences derived from the same.

The aim of the second article, written by Diego Rodrigues Iritani, Sílvia Inês Dallavalle de Pádua, Aldo Roberto Ometto (University of São Paulo, Brazil), and Charbel José Chiappetta Jabbour (Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Brazil), is to carry out a review and systematisation of the state of the art, in order to identify how a relationship arises between Business Process Management (BPM) and corporate sustainability, exploring areas of collaboration between the two.

Credit activity risk management is fundamental to guarantee continuity and the financial performance of the company. Tarcísio Pedro da Silva and Nelson Hein (Universidade Regional de Blumenau, Brazil) try to establish the threshold of positive exposure to the growth in lending activities of credit co-operatives. To that end, they analyse a sample of 10 credit co-operatives with data for the period from 2001 to 2010. The conclusion is that the limit of positive exposure determines the degree of development possible.


In the following article, Alma Velia Ayala Garay (INIFAP, Mexico), Rita Schwentesius Rindermann (Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo, Mexico), and Benjamín Carrera Chávez (Universidad Autónoma en Ciudad Juárez, Mexico) analyse the competitiveness of Mexican vegetables. For the authors, the index of added revealed competitive advantage in Mexico is positive, but in the last few years, the trend has been reversed: in the USA, that index has grown. They conclude that Mexico must diversify export destinations.

The European Union has just launched an initiative to encourage Public / Private Partnerships (PPPs) through project bonds that are more attractive to institutional investors, in order to promote trans-European projects. That is achieved through mechanisms for improving credit, such as liquidity guarantees or tranches of subordinate debt provided by the European Investment Bank. For Raúl C. Rosales (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, EBRD) and José M. Vassallo (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), that initiative aims at avoiding liquidity problems currently being experienced by commercial banks in Europe in order to finance megaprojects. In that article, they explore the advantages and inconveniences of that initiative to promote transnational infrastructure networks in Europe, and we analyse its applicability to other areas, such as Latin America.

Cíntia Alves Nogueira, Sílvia Dallavalle de Pádua, Elisa França Leôncio Alves, and Patrícia Furlan Monteiro (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil) undertake a review of the literature on management and administrative processes, and present a case study to identify its structure and the main activities to be developed. The result of the study shows that the organisation has implemented that structure in order to promote process management in its operations, attain its strategic objectives, and remain competitive in the market.

In the following article, Raúl Vázquez López (Institute for Economic Research, UNAM, Mexico) analyses the industrial policy implemented in Mexico as a result of commercial openness, emphasising its role in building a template for industrial specialisation that is focused on assembly activities and characterised by reduced content in aggregate value and domestic technological knowledge implicit in the goods produced. For the author, a synthesis of the public measures that enabled the escalation of manufacturing activities in Taiwan leads to a debate on the relevance of the State as an agent for promoting productive development, as well as questioning the viability of the escalation in international manufacturing regulation by part of the industrial complex of countries with lower levels of development.

In the final article, Rodrigo Ubierna Beguin (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Spain) analyses and models the setting of interest rates in the eurozone, specifically that of Euribor. This includes a review of the various focuses on the formation of interest rates (financial, credit, and savings), where the most relevant variables are chosen for modelling. For the author, the model created explains the changes in Euribor through variations in price levels, the public deficit, the monetary offer, and the external interest rate. It also gives a view of Euribor’s imbalances with respect to the needs of the Spanish economy in the last twelve years.

Once again, we should like to thank all those who make the journal possible: members of the Consultative Council, Editorial Council, Editors and Associate Editors by area, assessors, authors, and – above all – the readers.