Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Prior studies have suggested the predominant role of the founder-manager´s moral awareness in the emergence and persistence of a strong entrepreneurial culture likely to shape the firm´s collective behavior. Although the strategic importance of founder-manager´s moral awareness on a general level is undisputed, one major shortcoming of prior studies has been to evaluate his influence in the firm. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the effect of technology founder-manager´s moral awareness on the entrepreneurial orientation-performance relationship in New Technology Based Firms. Not only do the results suggest that performance is positively influenced by its entrepreneurial orientation, but the findings also indicate that technology founder-manager´s moral awareness moderates the relationship. The entrepreneurial orientation-performance link is stronger for low levels of moral awareness. The study´s implications and future research directions are discussed.

This work had the objective to analyze technological efforts and to evaluate the innovative performance of biotechnology and biosciences companies in Belo Horizonte, (MG, Brazil). In order to reach these objectives, a survey was undertaken in eight companies. Data collection was undertaken with an existent questionnaire found in the literature of science-based companies, therefore a replication process was carried out The analyses of collected information have indicated that the companies have expended substantial technological efforts oriented towards internal R&D in their majority. A minority of companies have expended less expressive technological efforts related to technology acquisition through external sources. The internal R&D activities observed are more directed to product than to process innovation. As for innovative performance, the results have evidenced that it is concentrated in the minority of companies and the number of substantially new products is superior to the number of technologically improved products launched in the market.

This article discusses whether a globally competitive high-tech firm is sustainable without being associated with a sufficiently dense sectoral innovation system. It focuses on Embraer and hence on the Brazilian aeronautics industry. Despite not benefiting from a highly subsidized process for technological and financial modernization, Embraer has become the world’s third-ranking producer of commercial jets thanks to institutional innovations, especially in producing and managing contracts with suppliers and risk-sharing partners. The conclusion drawn is that the competitiveness of the Brazilian aircraft industry depends on the continuing supply of technology in international markets. Technological restrictions imposed for geopolitical reasons, or even for market constraints, could fatally undermine the strategy adopted by the company.

This work studies how the set of relationships that gives place to the learning processes is established in the food industry in Argentina. A theoretical ad hoc approach is adopted, conjugating the concepts of innovation systems at sector / regional level with some context considerations like the innovative behaviour of the global and local food industry and a description of the public and private S&T in Argentina. The study is focused in two cases: the wine industry, at the Mendoza province, and the dairy products industry at the centre of the Santa Fe province, both in Argentina. While the winery industry at the province of Mendoza exports differentiated products the dairy industry, at the central basin of the province of Santa Fe, exports commodities leaving differentiated (functional) products for the domestic market. These facts determine different dynamics between them, despite of what the established set of relationships is very complex and knowledge intensive in both cases. Also, in both cases the preponderant contribution of the public institutions of science and technology as knowledge and technology source is flagged.