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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the management practices that contribute to single and double cycles of organizational learning in the vocational education of the Brazilian higher education technology courses (HETC), and to study the learning outcomes that result through the Brazilian Ministry of Education SINAES indicators.

It consisted in both participant observation and quantitative phases. The participant observation phase included a benchmarking activity at École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS) de Montréal, to analyze and delimitate their practices for the preparation of the second phase, test the hypotheses by means of modeling of structural equations.

The key practices that contribute to organizational learning in the Brazilian HETC were identified through a benchmark activity at ÉTS by using a quantitative research scheme of single cycles of organizational learning, and further in correspondence with the Brazilian criteria (SINAES-Ministry of Education).

The extent of the sample is concentrated in the southern region of Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná), limiting its representativeness to a regional basis.

Practices that contribute to organizational learning are a counterpoint and a complement of the Brazilian Ministry of Education SINAES indicators, which value the formalization of those courses and the future actions in the Brazilian universities.

The study re-inforces the importance of organizational learning for the development of excellence in Brazilian HETC.

The results contribute to build analysis frameworks on the relationships between management practices, organizational learning, benchmarking and organizational outcomes, particularly in the management of the technology courses and for Brazilian universities.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze customer loyalty in the context of existing relationships between Brazilian banking service provider and its customers in the context of B2C (Business-to-Consumer) relationships. Hence, a theoretical model was proposed and tested with banking services private individual customers taking into account perceived value, service provider reputation, financial bonding tactics, structural bonding tactics, social bonding tactics and switching costs as customer loyalty determinants.

A multivariate statistical approach with structural equations modeling was used in a 505 customer sample of the one prominent bank in Brazil.

Results indicate that the proposed theoretical model confirming a satisfactory fit, presenting a good explanatory power (R²=0.738) and supporting that perceived value influences the service provider reputation; financial bonding tactics, structural bonding tactics and social bonding tactics influence perceived value; service provider reputation influences switching costs; switching costs influence customer loyalty and the social bonding tactics influence customer loyalty.

The results evidenced in the present research could serve as benchmarking for other researchers or managers connected to the financial service sector (or bank service) when looking for a better understanding about the antecedents of customer loyalty, adapting strategies and actions to stimulate and generate better market and economic–financial results for the institutions of this sector.

Finding out which constructs better explain customer loyalty, and its possible relations, is something relevant for the banking sector, once it can generate more effective managerial insights, positively making an impact in a customer portfolio performance, or the financial institution itself, from the construction, maintenance and strengthening of the relationships with customers.

The purpose of this study is to highlight the understanding of the consequent factors of new services development (NSD) in the literature owing to the impact on organizational competitiveness, especially in professional services, such as that investigated by health plan operators in the present study.

The sample (customer of family health plans) consisted of 255 valid cases. For the analysis of the data, multivariate statistical techniques were used through the modeling of structural equations.

The results found evidence of the significant relationships between the NSD considering the constructs, client orientation, reputation, professional competences and customer retention, as consequences of the NSD, which impact on the success of the new services launched by the health plan operator from the perception of the customer.

This implies that health plan operators need to develop new customer-oriented services by investing in new technologies and having more trained and qualified staff so that they can deliver superior services and, as a consequence, have a more profitable relationship with customers.

The new services may result in greater organizational performance and greater competitiveness for health service providers.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the perception of customers (students) about the services provided by Brazilian universities, through the identification of the attributes that impact on customer satisfaction and the dimensions or factors related to quality in services. This may generate a better management and seek more competitive edge in graduate courses.

The research method was developed in two phases: the first one is characterized by a qualitative and exploratory approach and the second one as a quantitative research of conclusive character. In the qualitative phase, in-depth interviews were implemented with a semi-structured approach. A survey was performed in the final phase and a multivariate statistical technique was used for the data analysis.

The results echoed in a set of 40 analyzed attributes (variables), distributed in six dimensions of quality in services, in the graduate courses (second cycle) of administration, which could serve as a basis for orienting other Brazilian universities.

The data analysis did not include crossed techniques that could have enriched the analysis process. Another limitation that can be pointed out is the fact of having only adopted a factor analysis method to identify the dimensions of service quality that influence customer satisfaction (students). In addition, data collection was cross-sectional, which does not allow any change verification of the respondents’ perception.

Taking into account the current scenario of increased competition between the Brazilian universities to attract and retain students, the knowledge of student’s preferences and the dimensions of quality service can effectively contribute in the development of strategies and actions for an effective graduate programs management (second cycle), and for their consolidation in the Brazilian market.

The development of more adequate courses, in terms of level of quality and relevancy.

The identification of the attributes that represent the quality dimensions, related to the services provided, can assist any Brazilian university to prioritize its strategies and actions and to contribute to excellence in education. In addition, it may encourage customer retention (students) and consolidate its market position. Moreover, the study can contribute as a source of empirical data for transferability and benchmark strategies in other contexts for Brazilian universities.