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In this paper, the authors review the literature on the nature of the small and medium-sized enterprise concept. The review examines the broad diversity of terms and definitions used to describe these kinds of firms in scholarly and practical settings. They relate this examination to the concept of small business for the purpose of comparison, in order to highlight differences and similarities between the concepts.

Relevant literature including articles from academia and defining documents from practical settings was identified through a scope literature review. Field data were subsequently collected via questionnaires sent to editors and authors of articles related to the theme. The data were content analyzed and the resulting codes consolidated into dimensions in accordance with the Gioia method. Chi-squared tests were applied to categorical data.

The use of the composite category “small and medium” was found to be predominant in the labeling of small businesses in scientific articles, including those in journals that specialize in small businesses, with no justifications presented for this, characterizing a widespread and consensual practice between authors and editors. In the defining documents of practical settings, however, the authors observed greater consistency and precision both in the terms used and in the delimiting values for a small business (self-employed, micro business, small business). In the sample of 27 defining documents mentioned in the articles, 25 specifically defined “small business” and 20 defined “micro business,” using indicators such as number of employees and annual turnover. The indicators delimiting values regarding the category of micro business were the same in all the documents analyzed and, regarding the category of small business, many documents used the same delimiting values.

Recognizing the “non-large enterprise” myth will provide a more effective posture for editors and authors to avoid using the term “small and medium,” resulting in greater precision, understanding and knowledge regarding small businesses. A better definition of a small business by academia can help public policymakers and managers of organizations that support small businesses to tailor their actions better according to the different sizes of companies. This will also lead to social gains, given the importance of small businesses in terms of job creation and countries' economies.

The authors identified and described the myth of the “non-large enterprise” among academics, characterized by the dichotomous view of the business universe, composed of “large enterprises” and “non-large enterprises,” the latter group being characterized by the widespread use of the term “small and medium.”

The purpose of this paper is to discuss whether, in entrepreneurship disciplines, professors address equally the positive and negative aspects associated with being an entrepreneur. The literature shows that entrepreneurship professors are enthusiastic about entrepreneurial action, and there may be a bias toward predominant emphasis on positive aspects.

The case study strategy was used to analyze disciplines that qualify entrepreneurship professors. The content analysis technique was applied to the description of the discipline contents and texts from the most frequently used literatures. The selected case (the country) satisfied the condition of having a regulatory agency that evaluates courses and also provides descriptive records of the disciplines that are taught.

It was observed that the topics discussed in the disciplines, as well as the texts of the most frequently used articles, contain a higher volume of messages that are positive and favorable toward the entrepreneurial act. Negative effects or aspects of entrepreneurship are addressed superficially.

This article provides important reflections on the activities of those who teach entrepreneurship, as well as editors and reviewers of entrepreneurship journals. Regarding the former, when preparing the content of their disciplines, and for the latter, when evaluating articles, bearing in mind that their articles are also used by students and professors from countries with less developed economies.

Exploring the myths of entrepreneurship, especially the claim that everyone is capable of becoming an entrepreneur and that entrepreneurship promotes economic development, the risk of becoming an entrepreneur was addressed, especially in countries with less developed economies. From this viewpoint, issues regarding the responsible teaching of entrepreneurship were addressed, along with the need to focus equally on the favorable and unfavorable aspects of entrepreneurship.

To investigate how HRM in an established organization can support employee voice and engage employees to be innovative in their everyday lived experience.

The research is based on a case study of an innovation event in an organization, where 27 employees were interviewed about the emotional, cognitive and behavioral aspects of their engagement in innovation.

Findings highlight the importance of continuing HRM's involvement during an entire event process to connect innovation events with everyday work. HRM has a central role in initiatives that intend to support voice and stimulate the engagement of diverse employees in innovation in established firms.

This was a qualitative and cross-sectional case study of one organization and one event offered two years in a row.

In order to promote innovation, HR and senior management should foster an environment that motivates employees and promotes voice behavior (Morrison, 2014). HRM can create multiple methods of engagement, acknowledging the diversity of the workforce profile and its specific needs. HRM has an important role within an innovation strategy; as it can, together with other areas, create, develop and maintain actions that support and recognize innovative ideas and encourage employees to become actively engaged with the inclusion of innovation in their daily work life. Specifically, innovation exercises are an activity with much potential to foster voice and promote engagement towards innovation.

We develop a model proposing relationships between HRM, employee voice, employee engagement, cross-department collaboration and innovation. The study also considers the engagement of a diverse group of employees in an established company context.

The purpose of the paper is to understand the values perceived and the priorities attributed by the managers to four dimensions of information quality associated with meta-information commonly used in the initial selection (scanning) of content by managers: source credibility, comprehensiveness, timeliness, and confidentiality.

The study involved conducting simulations of information selection for decision making with 124 professionals from 11 different companies. The results were analysed with content analysis techniques, nonparametric statistics, and cluster analysis.

Three levels of priority were found in the managers’ information selection process: the credibility and timeliness dimensions were the most highly prioritised, the comprehensiveness dimension was the least prioritised, and the confidentiality dimension occupied an intermediate position. The preferences of the managers are for current information and a well-known source with respect to the timeliness and source credibility dimensions, respectively. Regarding the confidentiality dimension, the preference is for restricted information, valued for the desire to know. For the comprehensiveness dimension, there was no well-defined preference for managers with respect to the quantity of text in a managerial report.

The knowledge of priorities and values attributed to the dimensions of information quality is critical for the definition of characteristics to be incorporated into information projects.

This study's contribution is related to the process of information selection in a dynamic situation in which little time is available to information analysis.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

The study aims to analyze the composition and mineral profile of oyster shell powder (OSP) and assess its potential as a sustainable source of calcium.

A total of two batches of OSP with different particle sizes had been evaluated for centesimal and mineral composition and microbiological quality. OSP with smaller particles (0.85 mm) was used in the production of bread: standard bread (SB) (0%), fortified bread (FB1) (3%) and FB2 (4%). Centesimal and mineral composition and sensory acceptance had been performed. The internal preference map had been constructed using principal component analysis. The Just About Right data and the influence of sensory attributes on bread acceptance had been assessed by a penalty analysis test.

OSP-0.85 mm had calcium content (478.47 ± 2.37 mg.g-1) lower than OSP-1.00 mm (521.15 ± 0.99 mg.g-1) due to retention of particles. In both batches, heavy metals such as chromium, nickel and copper had not detected. FB1 and FB2 had the best nutritional content compared to SB, with higher calcium content (mg.g-1) 0.69 ± 0.07; 13.76 ± 0.72 and 19.47 ± 1.99 for SB, FB1 and FB2, respectively. The internal preference map showed better acceptance of FB1 compared to FB2. The penalty test showed that this acceptance was penalized (p < 0.05) due to the sandy texture.

The large number of shells generated in the processing of oysters is an environmental problem and generates waste of a natural source of calcium. It has been demonstrated that oyster shell powder can be used as a natural and sustainable source of calcium in bread, requiring further studies to assess the bioavailability of calcium.