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This work analyses autonomous ships' specific needs of external and environmental information in restricted pilotage waters. Harbour pilots use conventional well-tested techniques when piloting the manned vessel. In this work, the authors propose technological solutions to be installed or adapted in ports to feed the autonomous ships' systems with the information considered relevant by pilots.

To investigate what pilots consider relevant, the authors submitted a questionnaire to the pilotage of Paranaguá Port. Then the authors presented a case study including the critical areas for the navigation of ships.

These technological solutions aim to allow vessels reaching critical areas in a position, a time, a speed and a course that compensates the external forces and/or avoid high-risk situations. The authors have proposed technological solutions considering those already available in the ports, particularly in Paranaguá and Antonina in Brazil.

There is little published data on navigation of ships in pilotage waters. So far, there has been little discussion on autonomous ships in restricted waters.

Knowledge management effects on business performances are of great importance for companies. Yet, they are still overlooked by current literature. Moreover, the use of methods for bibliometric reviews and content analysis reinforces the need for relevant work on the current state of knowledge management application. To this end, this study aims to identify the main barriers for the application of knowledge management in small and medium-sized enterprises. A research agenda is then proposed.

A systematic literature review was performed using data collection, bibliometric analysis and content analysis' steps. The sample used in this study contained 45 papers. For the bibliometric analysis, the authors used the bibliometrix (in RStudio). The content analysis was then performed to infer barriers, factors of relevance and an agenda of questions for future research.

The authors found that using knowledge management techniques to optimize business performance results in competitive advantages for small and medium-sized companies. This study contributes to both practitioners and academics by providing a list of 19 barriers, 12 factors and 36 research questions related to knowledge management in small and medium-sized companies to develop future theoretical and practical studies.

This study demonstrates the propensity and interest of small and medium-sized companies in using knowledge management. However, some barriers might make it difficult to implement this approach.

The purpose of this paper is to map the process of opening an innovation network in the context of the Brazilian agroforestry sector.

Qualitative case study of the open innovation network Embrapa Florestas (17 semi-structured interviews, observation and documentary data). Social network analysis (SNA) of the open innovation network from primary data is available at Embrapa Florestas’ system.

Three primary triggers to the opening process of Embrapa Florestas’ innovation network were identified. The process starts with an innovation network with closed network characteristics. The process of opening the innovation network is motivated by a restructuring in its source of fundraising (trigger 1), by the change in strategic orientation toward the internationalization of its network activities (trigger 2) and by opening the black box of its innovation with greater proximity to the productive sector and partner universities (trigger 3). Comparing the pre-opening and post-opening networks (open innovation network), sociometric data allows us to verify that the opening of the innovation network presents better density, clustering and centrality indexes for the network as a whole and for the Embrapa Florestas specifically.

This is one of the first studies that aims to investigate the transition from a closed innovation network to an open innovation network by a public research institute. It may also be considered innovative because it presents practical and managerial relevance – in addition to contributions to public policy makers – which allows for improvements in the development of innovation and technology in the country's strategic sectors.

This study aims to present a guide for using grounded theory methods for exploring organizational phenomena of the new online era.

A reflexive account is adopted on how one can build upon the foundations of traditional offline grounded theory for conducting grounded theorizing with online-based data.

Guidelines for conducting grounded theory on online contexts are presented for crafting research questions, gathering online data and using consolidated methods for analyzing online data. This study shows future and present challenges posed by the new online era for grounded theorizing, as well as helpful lessons to be learned from traditional offline grounded theory to mitigate them.

The implications are helpful for established qualitative organizational scholars that are yet to catch-up in the boundary spanning process of using the digital sources of data in grounded theory. They are equally helpful for newcomers on qualitative grounded theory by guiding them on where and how to start these challenging research endeavors of grounded theorizing in this new online era.

Scant attention has been given on applications of grounded theory in the new online era. The differences between online and offline settings have not been clearly defined to this date, and neither do guidelines exist for how qualitative grounded theorists can take advantage of online data to build theory about new organizational phenomena emerging in the online era.

The purpose of this paper is to collectively measure and compare the efficiency of Brazilian and American soybean transport corridors, from farmers to export ports, using the data envelopment analysis (DEA).

This paper aims to determine routes from main producing micro-regions to main export ports, specifically using slack-based measure and variables that represent the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social, and environmental). The choice of variables was guided by literature review and analyzed through the principal component analysis. After the application of the model, the quantitative tiebreaking method of the composite index is applied.

The findings are coherent with a global report that compares soybean transportation in both countries (Brazil and USA). Efficient routes and corridors tend to present short distance truck trips and long distance train or barge trips. The efficiency of the inland waterway trips depends on how many barges are used in the same expedition. Routes with more than three modes tend to be inefficient which suggest that there is a limit for multimodality.

Corridor benchmarking is a rare topic in the literature and previous works normally focus on some specific and limited corridor performance characteristics, such as cost. The main contribution of this research is that it expands the discussion regarding corridor benchmarking and it focuses on efficiency as a whole. The paper also proposes a method that can be applied in different logistics contexts, like expanding the study to different countries. More specifically, this method could be used in infrastructure investments programs.

Seaports are vital in facilitating sustainable development, and environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors significantly impact an organization’s performance. Therefore, this study aims to identify and evaluate barriers and strategies of green investments to promote ESG practices within the seaport sector.

To fulfill this aim, a systematic literature review, interpretive structural modeling and the matrix of cross-impact multiplications were applied to classification analysis.

12 barriers were prioritized and categorized by experts in a focus group to optimize efforts and define the materiality of these barriers in implementing ESG strategies within seaport companies.

The implications of this study provide an alternative approach for ESG management in the context of seaports that can be applied in different regions by experts' opinion assessment.

No prior studies assessed the barriers and strategies for green investments in ESG from the port sector perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the personal values of consumers of ethical cosmetics in Brazil, using the resulting personality types to segment consumers for the development of strategies by Brazilian retailers and international players.

This study administered the psychometric Values and Lifestyles Scale (VALS) via an online survey with 302 consumers of ethical cosmetics. First, exploratory factorial analysis was employed to identify the behavior of VALS' factors within the sample. Second, cluster analysis was performed using hierarchical clustering technique in order to link demographic variables and VALS' types to form specific consumer profiles.

The study found eight VALS types in the sample respondents but with a different configuration than the original factors. They were named, respectively, “Avant-garde”, “Oriented to fashion”, “Artisans”, “Committed to morality and religion”, “Leader of a group”, “Theoretical”, “Ingenious” and “Conservative”. Results indicated a demographically homogeneous sample with personality profiles mostly placed among VALS' original factors “Experiencer”, “Thinker” and “Innovator”.

Results may vary within other cultural contexts and different means of investigation suggesting future research opportunities.

Ethical demands concerning health and environmental preservation are no longer neglectable. The study of consumers' personal values can contribute to formulate suitable retail strategies for expected demands of consumers in the ethical cosmetics segment.

These findings are expected to provide resources for decision-makers, academics, practitioners and marketers concerning several points of sensitivity in their relationship with ethical consumers.