Journal of Contemporary Administration

A Critical Look at the Practice of Literature Review

2023-11-29T15:27:20+00:00

Despite the advantages of literature review and the abundance of texts that discuss it, there is still a gap in critical reflection on its methodologies and uses. My goal in this editorial is to reflect on the practice of literature review in the administration field from a critical perspective. The literature review I am referring to is not just a set of techniques for conducting it; it is a collective doing among scholars, producing specific knowledge. By drawing on concepts such as fad, methodologism, and decolonial critique, we can conclude that contrary to the common belief among researchers, following rigid protocols in literature review does not necessarily lead to new knowledge. Instead, it reproduces pre-existing ways of thinking about a topic, which can inhibit reflective and critical thinking about research findings.

Digital Social Currencies, Institutional Pressures and the Social Modeling of Technology

2023-11-24T16:04:48+00:00

Objective: to analyze the institutionalization of community banks as promoters of financial inclusion considering their strategies undertaken by institutional pressures. Theoretical framework: theoretical framework delimited from organizational strategies in response to institutional pressures in the process of implementing changes by information and communication technologies (ICTs), in the tactics and strategies used in inclusive markets and in social modeling of technology. Methods: a case study was carried out with Banco Mumbuca, where the digital social currency is widely used, through content analysis on documents and semi-structured and structured interviews. Results: results point to theoretical contributions regarding the constituent multiplicity, two new typologies in the tactics used in inclusive markets, as well as the change of status of the content element becoming an element of context in the gradual development of technology. Conclusion: community banks face institutional pressures for various strategies identified in the theory, as well as expand the tactics used in inclusive markets and that the implementation of changes by ICTs has taken place gradually, with processes of change anchored in technology-in-practice.

Decolonizing-Recolonizing Curriculum in Management and Accounting

2023-11-24T16:04:52+00:00

Objective: to reflexively understand how management and accounting decolonial academics in the Global South perceive and respond to the decolonizing curriculum agenda created in the Atlantic North within the hyper-contra-revolutionary context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Theoretical approach: we embrace a decolonizing-recolonizing perspective that challenges reaffirms theory/practice and North/South binarisms that we internalize. Method: we embrace action research based on self-criticism and reflexivity to address the experiences of privileged decolonial scholars. Results: our findings reveal important aspects related to decolonizing-recolonizing dynamics that are occurring in bodies, contexts, and academic spaces. Conclusions: our study reveals that decolonizing the management and accounting curriculum in the South is permeated by difficulties for theoretical delinking, which trigger tensions about the constitution of personal/collective being, the mobilization of intellectual/practical activism, the creation of forms of engagement internal/ external to the academy, transcending the competitive/solidaristic academic action model; the construction of knowledge in extractivist/non-extractivist forms; and the materialization of pluriversal knowledge in academic/nonacademic products. We hope to encourage everyday decolonizing-recolonizing management and accounting education that goes beyond the North/South binarism and curricular reforms led by the counter-revolutionary neoliberal university and its Eurocentric business schools.

Ties that Knot: How App-workers Co-construct Their Identities at Precarious Work Contexts

2023-11-24T16:04:55+00:00

Objective: the aim of this paper was to understand how self-employed workers, more specifically app workers, co-construct their identities at work. Theoretical framework: social identity theory. Method: we used the grounded theory method, through 40 interviews conducted with Brazilian independent app workers. Results: our model presents the following propositions: (1) there is an association between identity management and structured environment, not necessarily formal environment; (2) when there is a collectivity, a feeling of belonging through the more stable relationships between groups and individuals, there is an easier construction of the self; (3) the insertion of the worker in the groups provide a reduction of anxiety for the identity construction and increase motivation and security; (4) it is of the initiative of the app workers themselves the creation of the groups that converge to a personalized belonging – group identity and a precarious belonging – individual identity. Conclusions: the collective constructed by independent application workers comes from an integration whose initiative comes from the workers themselves, at first with a productive purpose, but consequently being a source of facilitators for the construction of an identity.

Kandandu: Black Women’s Identity, Racism, and the Street Carnival

2023-11-24T16:04:58+00:00

Objective: we aim to understand how racism tangibly manifests in the lives of Black women, limiting their agency as they navigate social spaces through cultural expressions in the city of Belo Horizonte. Theoretical approach: we draw upon the concepts of structural racism and narcissistic pact, identifying convergences and divergences in the understanding of organizations as racialized spaces. Methods: we employ a qualitative approach within the context of ethnographic research, opting to conduct a semi-structured interview with Zuri, the president of an Afro block. As an analytical tool, we apply the concept of intersectionality. Results: we highlight that both structural racism and the narcissistic pact manifest in the daily life of organizations. Both phenomena are even more pernicious for Black women, particularly when they challenge a racist and sexist structure. Conclusions: the collective dimension of racism presents challenges to organizations and their stakeholders. This effect may lead individuals, especially organizational leaders who should be more committed to structural change, to hide behind the racism within their institutions and pacts among their team members.

The (In)Tolerance in the Application of Penalties in the Brazilian Public Administration

2023-11-24T16:05:00+00:00

Objective: the option to enter into a contract for goods and services has been used by the public sector since ancient times, and to improve the productivity of these contracts, the actors involved have resorted to different forms of incentives. In Brazil, the only form of incentive formally admitted is a sanction, but empirical evidence suggests that some types of breaches of contracts have been overcome through negotiation. We intended to identify which factors influence management’s (in)tolerance regarding misconduct in the execution of government contracts/purchases. Methods: this was based on multiple case studies, the authors’ reflexivity, and abductive logic for the analysis of interviews with experts in the area, analysis of publications in official journals, internet information, and internal documents in 14 government institutions. Results: we present a list of factors that are (in)tolerable by the administration in managing contracts/purchases and their underlying reasons. As a theoretical contribution, this study expands the existing public administration literature by including, innovatively, tolerance theory and misconduct and relating them to administrative contract management. Conclusions: having as foremost concern to improve the productivity of administrative contracts, this study clarifies that tolerating can be legitimate and offers measures that can be taken to inhibit the occurrence of misconduct in government procurement and contracting, based on the recommendations of the servants involved in the management of administrative contracts. Still, a research agenda makes proposals for analysis of new factors and explanations eventually not captured in this study.

Clubinho Preto: Children Growing Up with Racial Diversity

2023-11-24T16:05:04+00:00

The case shows the difficulties faced by a social business to become financially viable. Talita Peixoto is an African-Brazilian woman enterprising for the first time. Together with her husband, she created Clubinho Preto, a Brazilian subscription club for children that delivered boxes with books, clothing, and accessories to educate children in a positive Afrocentric culture. After two years, they are struggling financially. Looking for alternatives, Talita planned to expand her business by adding schools as clients. Her business partners opposed the idea, believing that not every manager would truly commit to the racial cause. Talita needed the money, but not at any cost. How can she transform her purpose into a product? To answer this question, it is necessary to align purpose, value creation, and a business model. This case can be taught in executive training programs and undergraduate classes on marketing and consumer behavior, social entrepreneurship, and business purposes. We invite teachers and students to include the discussion on diversity, equity, and inclusion in all these disciplines.