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The absorptive capacity (AC) leads to firm performance and influences the development and evolution of capabilities and routines, but the influence of AC in projects remains unclear. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of AC on project performance (PP) in the construction industry of Sao Paulo State, Brazil.

The authors conducted a survey questionnaire with project managers and collected 157 responses in the construction sector. They also used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multiple linear regression techniques to assess the data.

The study provides empirical evidence that realized absorptive capacity (RAC) has a direct and indirect positive effect on PP. Conversely, the potential absorptive capacity (PAC) only indirectly impacts PP through project management practices (PMPs). PAC and RAC positively influence PMPs that in turn positively influence PP. The findings reinforce the relevance of AC to the development of internal knowledge for processes and routines, thereby enhancing PP.

The findings provide practical implications: the AC influences PP by refining and adapting routines. Moreover, the consistent application of accepted practices is not enough for PP, but the ability to adapt, adjust and transform the relevant knowledge into routines.

This paper provides empirical evidence that the knowledge application of PMPs improves organizational performance through PP. However, despite what the literature has discussed, this paper proved that AC has no effect as a moderating factor between PMPs and performance; however, AC's role significantly impacts PP through PMPs.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the use of flexible budgets may influence different institutional logics (organizational inertia and flexibility).

A qualitative research based on a single case study in a multinational subsidiary company was carried out. The data were mainly collected using the dialog technique through open-ended and semi-structured interviews and complemented with direct observation in informal and formal meetings and the analysis of internal documents. Content analysis was used for the analysis of the findings.

The use of flexible budgets, which isolates the negative variations due to the decrease in sales volume, may contribute to organizational inertia. However, this can be counterbalanced if the managers try to minimize the decline in performance through initiatives that promote organizational flexibility. In this case study, it was found that the alignment between the production director and the controller, who frequently work under different institutional logics, was important to stimulate organizational flexibility particularly in continuous improvement projects.

The findings of this paper are based on only one in-depth case study. Hence, the results cannot be generalized, but a theoretical contribution can be made. Furthermore, the findings are constrained by the constructs used and the specific managerial and theoretical perspectives that have supported the analysis.

These results can be useful particularly for companies that are dealing with the abrupt drop in the sales volume and use the flexible budget as a performance assessment technique. These firms must pay attention because this combination can stimulate organizational inertia. To counteract this problem, it is necessary that controllers and the managers work by understanding the initiatives that promote organizational flexibility, mainly by Kaizen projects, which can minimize performance decline.

The main contribution may be how to deal with the different managers’ behaviors, given the decrease in sales volume, and it can help an organization survives in times of economic recession and fierce competition environments.

This paper contributes to both practical and academic dimensions. Indeed, despite being widely used, flexible budgeting is not a widely researched topic.

This paper seeks to understand kaizen in practice as it travels through time and space in the organisational setting.

A qualitative case study was carried out at a multinational company using mainly interviews for the data collection that were analysed from an actor-network theory (ANT) perspective.

This paper finds that the company deals with a series of paradoxes while managing the kaizen process. Efficiency and quality paradoxes are the basis for starting kaizen projects. Furthermore, intrinsic, and extrinsic motivation, emerge in these processes, and paradoxes relate to how spontaneous ideas emerge in a deliberated context of cost-saving objectives. The supply chain finance team coordinates kaizen projects with the collaboration of plant managers, promoting the paradox of autonomy and control. In addition, as kaizen mobilises and enrols the actors, some trials of strength emerge, showing actors who oppose the kaizen network and create competing networks that mutually exist in the firm.

This study presents valuable insights for professionals to successfully implement kaizen methodologies that take advantage of developing a network for problem-solving in organizations.

This study highlights the supply chain finance team's role in enrolling the actors within a network built by practitioners engaged in kaizen projects. Usually, engineers, quality, or manufacturing teams lead kaizen projects, and only occasionally, accounting and financial teams participate, including multidisciplinary teams.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate if the organization competitive orientation can really make firms emphasize different internal capability. This paper aims to revisit and extend the study proposed by Fleury and Fleury (2003).

The survey instrument was employed to collect the sample composed by 163 companies from different sectors of Brazilian market. Additionally, several statistic techniques were applied such as cluster analysis, ANOVA test and hierarchical regression analysis to investigate the phenomenon.

It was observed that three possible clusters can be built based on cumulative capabilities perspective and the Operation oriented group has no emphasis on production, logistic nether R & D capability, while other two clusters have a distinctive attentions on their internal capabilities.

The limitation of this research lies in using perceptual scale for performance and few constructs with one item for measuring. On the other hand, this research has revisited the taxonomy topic based on cumulative capability perspective and discussed the trade-off concepts assumed in past studies.

This study has demonstrated the absence of systematic strategy implementation of those that are considered Operational oriented. Additionally, the authors have demonstrated that market share and customer satisfaction performance are impacted by different competitive priority as well as internal capability.

The authors reviewed the work proposed by Fleury and Fleury (2003), and went further in proposing a taxonomy complementation suggested by them. Additionally the authors discussed the assumptions of the taxonomies that have been adopted up today and explored this issue using cumulative capabilities concept. This work is based on competitive orientations, internal capability and cumulative capabilities suggested by seminar papers.