Arbetet med att stärka ett arbetsgivarvarumärkes attraktivitet, både internt och externt, det alltmer välbekanta begreppet “Employer branding”, är ett vanligt förekommande koncept i dagens organisationer. Syftet med studien är att försöka ta reda på vad fenomenet “Employer branding” är och hur organisationer kan bedriva arbetet med att göra sitt arbetsgivarvarumärket attraktiv på den svenska arbetsmarknaden. Tieto, COWI och Klarna AB är de företag som deltar i studien. Begreppen legitimitet och löskoppling från den institutionella- och nyinstitutionella teorin kommer att ligga som teoretisk utgångspunkt för att besvara studiens frågeställningar och syfte. Den metod som har använts är en kvalitativ intervjustudie, där totalt åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer utifrån ett strategiskt urval har genomförts med de tre företagen. För att bearbeta materialet har transkriberingsmetoden använts där vi utgår från en deduktiv ansats och har kodat materialet efter på förhand formulerade begrepp som var ställda i relation till den teoretiska utgångspunkten. Det empiriska materialet visar att alla tre företagen är medvetna om både den interna och framförallt den externa sidan av Employer branding och påstår att de är aktiva i arbetet med att öka attraktiviteten internt inom organisationen såväl som externt. / The work with Employer branding, both external and internal, is a frequent used concept in organizations today. The purpose of our study is to try to find out what the phenomenon of “Employer branding” is and how organizations can pursue efforts to make its employer brand attractive on the Swedish labor market. Tieto, COWI and Klarna AB are the companies participating in our study. The terms legitimacy and loose coupling from the institutional- and new institutional theory is going to be our theoretical base to enable us to answer our questions and purpose of our study. The used method is a qualitative study, where a total of eight semi-structured interviews based on a strategic selection were carried out with the three companies. In order to process the material have transcription-method been used that is based on a deductive approach and the material has been coded after pre-formulated concepts that were made out in relation to the theoretical starting point. The empirical material indicates that all three companies are aware of both the internal and especially the external side of Employer branding and states that they are active in the work to increase attractiveness internally within the organization as well as the extern.

This examination studies the gender balance of contemporary art exhibitions in Sweden. To what extent genders are equally represented assumes to be based on how the curating process considers equality work. Three categories of art organisations are studied with the intention to determine differences in equality approach between the categories. Official documents of each organisation are examined to understand how they formally relate to equality work. Statistics of the actual gender balance of each organisation are produced based on the last two years exhibition archives. The study includes interviews with a curator or director from two private exhibition halls, two private art galleries and two public art institutions. The aim is to create an understanding of how the decisions are made and on what basis the artists are chosen. The theoretic base is institutional theory, the study uses a part of the theory called the logic of appropriateness, which explains individual behaviour as a result of how the three aspects identity, rules and situation interact and combine. The conclusions of this study are that all respondents show awareness of the gender balance issue yet other variables are more important for the decision. There is generally a loose coupling between the formal and the informal structure. Equality work can be implemented as a policy without making any difference in the practice. / Studien undersöker hur könsfördelningen ser ut på den samtida konstscenen i Sverige. I vilken utsträckning kön representeras på ett jämställt sätt inom utställningsproduktion antas kopplat till hur de delaktiga i beslutsprocessen förhåller sig till externt jämställdhetsarbete. Tre kategorier av organisationer studeras för att kunna avgöra om det finns skillnader i tillvägagångssätt. Officiella dokument från varje organisation undersöks för att förstå hur de formellt förhåller sig till jämställdhetsarbete. Statistik av den faktiska könsfördelningen för varje organisation tas fram från de två senaste årens utställningsarkiv. Studien innefattar även intervjuer med en beslutsfattande person från respektive organisation; två statliga konstinstitutioner, två privata konsthallar och två privata gallerier. Undersökningen syftar till att skapa förståelse för vad som ligger till grund för valet av konstnärer. Studien har sin teoretiska utgångspunkt i institutionell teori och använder en del av teorin som kallas lämplighetslogiken. Teorin förklarar individuellt beteende som beroende av sin kontext, utifrån de tre aspekterna identitet, regler och situation. Slutsatserna för undersökningen är att samtliga respondenter visar en stor medvetenhet kring könsfördelningen men att andra variabler tenderar att vara viktigare i valet av konstnärer. Hur organisationerna formellt förhåller sig till jämställdhetsarbete har en begränsad påverkan på det praktiska utfallet. Desto mer betydelsefullt är huruvida dessa värderingar finns implementerade i företagskulturen och hos de som är delaktiga i beslutsprocessen.

There is a growing need to better understand environmental decision making in the context of climate change and limited renewable resources. This dissertation deepens our understanding of such decision making by focusing on strategic green decisions, which can be defined as the individual and collaborative green decisions within or between organizations that help organizations improve their operating position, adapt to changes in their external institutional environments, and simultaneously generate environmental benefits. The particular focus is on decisions related to energy in the North American context. The research draws on and contributes to organizational theory with the aim of better understanding those factors that motivate and/or facilitate green decisions by organizations, especially social economy organizations—an area of only limited research to date. Two complementary empirical studies address the overarching research goal. The first study focuses on understanding the nature and extent of the association between organizational attributes and those factors that motivate and/or facilitate a green energy decision. Insights are based on a bi-national survey of 212 organizations that voluntarily began to purchase green electricity between 1999 and 2008. Findings indicate that important influences are similar across organizational types. Survey results highlight the importance of organizational culture and internal champions—both individually and in combination—in making the initial decision to purchase green electricity, despite its relatively higher price. These two factors, as well as strategic benefits, emerge as the dominant explanations for why organizations expand their green energy purchases. The relative importance and particular roles of these factors vary across organizational and decision types. The second empirical study extends our understanding of how organizations adapt to external changes while maintaining the capacity to innovate in order to address their core objectives. The focus is on the residential energy services market, and is based on 12 interviews with the executive directors of non-profit environmental service organizations (ESOs) that are part of a national network called Green Communities Canada. These organizations survived a funding shock by creating new services and diversifying funding sources with actions that collectively can be referred to as ‘green collaborative entrepreneurship’; collaborative because it was facilitated by strategic partnerships with businesses and local governments, as well as the cross-national social capital network connecting the ESOs. The important motivating factors of green collaborative entrepreneurship were the green values and objectives that drive these organizations. The facilitating factors of green collaborative entrepreneurship included human capital, social capital and strategic partnerships, which acted as dynamic capabilities because of their flexibility to help increase the level of entrepreneurship when necessary for organizational survival, and yet, scale-up and deliver core programs during stable funding periods. The dissertation provides important insights into broad questions related to green decisions, especially for organizations that are affected by political policy cycles. The findings highlight that organizations are able to be more environmentally sustainable while also improving their own strategic performance by making green decisions that either provide the capacity to adapt to exogenous change for survival, or to create endogenous change for competitive advantage. The research contributes to our understanding of societal transitions to sustainable development by highlighting two green decisions that are occurring in the social economy. The dissertation contributes to organizational theory and in particular the traditional corporate literature by including multiple organizational types. Sustainability researchers should focus on green decisions that both enhance organizational stability and ecological sustainability if they wish to better understand creative green solutions from organizations.

I likhet med i andra länder har det i Sverige under vissa högkonjunkturer uppstått ett så betydande kapitalöverskott, att den finansiella marknaden fått problem att bemästra flödena. Konsekvensen har blivit att den aggregerade risknivån ökat i takt med stigande tillgångspriser. När väl en kontraktion uppstått, har det saknats kapital för att i ordnade former bemästra de nya ekonomiska förutsättningarna. Det är den utvecklingen som föregått kriserna 1878/79, 1921/22 och 1991/92. Temporära insatser har då måst ske vid sidan av det befintliga institutionella systemet. Forskningen ger för Sveriges del en kriskronologi för det finansiella området med krisåren 1763, 1817/18, 1857/58, 1878/79, 1907/08, 1921/22, 1932/33 och 1991/92. Det har vid kriserna 1878/79, 1921/22 och 1991/92 förelegat ett betydande hot om kollaps av det finansiella systemet. Vid dessa tre tillfällen har det efter förhandlingar mellan bankerna och staten kommit att skapas temporära krishanteringsorganisationer – Järnvägshypoteksfonden 1879, AB Kreditkassan 1922 samt Securum AB 1992 – vid sidan om den svenska Riksbanken. Kriserna har hävts med hjälp av de temporärt skapade krisorganisationerna, vilka samtliga har haft en Lender of Last Resort-funktion. Krishanteringstekniken vid krisen 1921/22 kan ses som en vidareutveckling av den som kommit till användning 1878/79. Även om bakgrunden till krisen 1991/92 skiljer sig åt från de två här tidigare nämnda tillfällena, kom tekniken med överflyttandet av tyngande engagemang till ett nytt bolag att likna den teknik som användes redan av AB Kreditkassan. Trots detta betydde tidigare svenska erfarenheter mindre för krisen 1991/92 i detta fall. Idéerna till Securum hämtades istället från senare tids bankkrishantering i USA med inrättandet av så kallade ”bad banks”. Syftet med denna avhandling är att med en institutionell ansats klarlägga och analysera hur de två första av dessa tre finansiella kriser har hanterats. Avhandlingen belyser i detalj det förhandlingsdrama mellan statens och marknadens aktörer som föregått inrättandet av respektive krisorganisation.

Media criticism is studied as a concept, as critical expression and as a force for social change. The concept of media criticism is developed in relation to different forms of critical practice, theory about criticism and critique and as a part of theories about media accountability. Media criticism as a force of social change is approached by exploring concepts for the analysis of social and cultural forms of media criticism. Four kinds of media texts published in Sweden between 1998 and 2013 were analysed to investigate critical expression: television columns, reflective books on journalism written by journalists, debate articles and letters to the editor. They were studied in terms of how they address actors, content and forms of critique and responsiveness. The methodology used was reflexive interpretation mainly driven by insight, but also with an emancipative intention. Qualitative text analysis was the major method used, combined with quantitative content analysis. The concept of media criticism is developed on three levels as normative and institutional, focused on established norms and values, norm shaping and formative, focused on establishing new norms and values and openness and practice, making it possible for many people to contribute to critique. Media criticism can further be specified in three dimensions comprising its intentions, the object of critique and the process of critique. Taken together they establish different forms of criticality in which a communicative intention is seen as essential.  The dissertation shows that media criticism should be given a more independent role in relation to the media accountability frame. Critical cultures and practices should be analysed in their relations to accountability cultures and practices. The concepts of institution, formative and formation were used for analysing the social and cultural forms of media criticism, where institutions are understood as the stable forms of media criticism, formatives as the changeable forms and formations as the combination of the two. Criticism and critical practice potentially have an important role to play for change in the media, journalism and society by addressing issues in an open and reflexive way. The approach to media criticism developed in the dissertation is termed critical institutionalism and aims to bridge the gap between critical social science, the sociology of critique and institutional analysis as applied in media studies.

Cette thèse a pour objet, d’une part, de décrire les pratiques du budget quand l’outil est utilisé dans un rôle de communication financière, et d’autre part, d’observer si, dans ce cadre-là, il conserve ses fonctions de gestion interne de l’organisation. Au travers d’une enquête qualitative menée auprès de dix-huit groupes français, puis d’une enquête quantitative auprès de 53 sociétés du SBF 250, nous avons étudié les principales caractéristiques du budget dans un rôle de communication financière.Nous avons montré que les pratiques du processus budgétaire étaient modifiées par la nécessité de rendre compte de cette nouvelle fonction du budget, au regard notamment de l’implication des acteurs, du rapprochement de la comptabilité de gestion et des IFRS et de l’importance des re-prévisions. / The purpose of this thesis is, on one hand, to describe the budgeting practices when the budget is used in a role of financial disclosure, and on the other hand, to observe if, in this case, it maintains its functions of internal management of the organization.Through a qualitative survey of eighteen French groups, and then through a quantitative survey of 53 firms of the SBF 250, we studied the main characteristics of the budget in a role of financial disclosure.We showed that the practices of the budget process were modified by the need to report this new function, particularly with regard to the attention of the actors, the link between management accounting and the IFRS and the primacy of the forecasts.

L'objectif de ce travail est d'étudier les conséquences que génère le tourisme dans un pays « jeune » et en voie de développement comme le Kirghizstan. Avec son héritage soviétique, il se développe en intégrant les règles du marché. Le tourisme de masse attire plus d'un million de touristes chaque été au lac de montagne d'Issyk-Koul. La population locale, de moins de 300 000 habitants, propose des services à destination des touristes. La source de son attractivité particulière, et en même temps sa fragilité, est son écosystème unique. De ce fait, notre problématique se situe à l'intersection des questions en relation avec l'écologie (écosystème très fragile), l'économie (population locale très dépendante du tourisme) et la gestion des ressources environnementales par les structures étatiques. Dans ce document, nous posons la question : la mise en place d'un tourisme durable à Issyk-Koul, au Kirghizstan, est-elle possible ? La qualité des institutions du pays permettra-t-elle de l'accompagner et la soutenir ? Dans notre étude, le contexte kirghize sera analysé à travers la théorie des institutions. Le tourisme au Kirghizstan se développe rapidement mais de façon chaotique, sans réglementation ni soutien de la part de l'Etat. Tandis que les « règles » sont éditées et acceptées officiellement, elles ne sont pas respectés ni par les entreprises, ni par la population. La mise en place et la réalisation des « règles » apparaissent comme un élément important, lié à la faiblesse des institutions, car souvent peu développées. Nous expliquerons cette situation, d'un côté, par la particularité du secteur touristique pluridisciplinaire, qui reste difficilement gérable par des acteurs publics inexpérimentés ; et d'autre part, nous mettrons en évidence la quasi-absence des politiques publiques (au niveau national et local) pour la promotion du tourisme à l'international et son développement. Le travail de recherche consiste non seulement à définir les problèmes et les risques que peut causer le tourisme, mais aussi tenter d'apporter les solutions et des voies d'amélioration sur la gouvernance, où l'intervention des organismes publics est cruciale. Dans ce nouveau marché touristique qui prend de plus en plus d'ampleur, le concept de tourisme durable peut aider le Kirghizstan à devenir une destination internationale à long terme. Nous essayons de réorienter le tourisme de masse qui se développe actuellement vers le tourisme durable. Le tourisme actuel à Issyk-Koul exige une forte participation et intervention des organismes étatiques afin d'orienter le tourisme dans une voie durable. D'importants investissements dans le développement d'infrastructures touristiques seront vains si elles mettent en péril la qualité environnementale du site d'Issyk-Koul. / The thesis is about researching of the consequences of the tourism development in the Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz tourism has a soviet history as well as a development appropriating the market rules, where the tourism had taken his place. The mass tourism attracts more than one million persons to the mountain lake named Issyk-Kul on 1600 meters above the sea level. The advantage and at the same time it's weakness is the unique nature of the lake. The confrontation appeared between the ecology (fragile environment), the economy (local population very dependent from tourism) and the control of natural resources by government structure. From this perspective, the author is answering the question: is it possible to develop the sustainable tourism in Issyk-Kul, in Kyrgyzstan? Could the local institutions realize and establish the new rules of a sustainable development? The author tries to answer these questions and to understand the local process with the new institutional theory, for the reason that the tourism is developing well but in the chaotic way without support and regulation of the government. In reality, the «rules» were edited and accepted officially but in the realization stage, they are not respected by the population and local organizations. The institutions are being weak are not much developed. The author will try to explain this situation by the originality and complexity of the tourist sector and by absence of the State governance (in local and national level) in the tourism promotion in international area and without any helps/supports for local tourism companies. This thesis tries not only to definite problems and risks of tourism but to give solutions and ways to ameliorate the State governance, policy and interventions which are important for any tourist sector. In this new market, Kyrgyz tourism can find excellent place with the concept of sustainable tourism and become a competitive international destination in the long-term perspective.

O propósito desta pesquisa é estudar características dos sistemas de custos gerenciais (SCG), sendo elas o método de custeio utilizado pelas empresas, as ferramentas de gestão em uso, os principais objetivos do sistema de custos gerenciais e o suporte provido pelo ERP (software de gestão). Estas características são analisadas a luz das pressões isomórficas de convergência e do decoupling, discutindo as implicações destas por meio de pesquisa bibliográfica expondo conceitos das práticas de custos gerenciais e o paradoxo das pressões isomórficas de convergência e o decoupling. Esta pesquisa explora dados coletados por meio de questionário com 27 subsidiárias de empresas alemãs operantes no Brasil, de grande e médio porte, dos setores automobilístico e de máquinas e equipamentos, afim de identificar as práticas do sistema de custos gerenciais em uso, a presença de evidências complementares do isomorfismo e do decoupling. A análise dos dados foi realizada de forma qualitativa e quantitativa (estatística descritiva) a luz da revisão bibliográfica apresentada, buscou-se consolidar conhecimentos que contribuem com o provimento ao meio acadêmico e profissional com uma ampla descrição das características gerais dos sistemas de gerenciamento de custos empregados por subsidiárias de empresas alemãs, uma população economicamente relevante e pouco explorada em estudos anteriores. Dentre os principais achados, ressalta-se que quanto maior o isomorfismo coercitivo, menor o decoupling das práticas do sistema de custos gerenciais. O baixo nível de decoupling demonstra ainda ter influência sobre a baixa divergência nos objetivos do sistema de custos gerenciais. Ainda a respeito das propriedades do sistema de custos gerenciais, é importante destacar que a maior parcela das subsidiárias utiliza o método de custeio por absorção para tomada de decisão e o orçamento e o custo padrão são ferramentas de gestão institucionalizadas na maioria das empresas. Como objetivo principal do SCG, a redução de custos é uma unanimidade, seguida por aumento da transparência, facilitação da formação de preço e fomento de melhorias de processo. Elementos do isomorfismo coercitivo e mimético são apresentados em todas as subsidiárias, sendo na maioria delas de maneira expressiva. O isomorfismo em sua forma normativa mostra-se presente na maioria delas. / The purpose of this research is to analyze aspects of Costs Management System (CMS), these being the costing method used by companies, the management tools in use, the main objectives of cost management system and the support provided by ERP (software management). These features are analyzed through the light of isomorphic convergence pressures and the occurrence of decoupling, discussing these implications applying the bibliographical research showing the management cost practical concepts and the paradox of isomorphic pressures of convergence and the decoupling. This research explores data obtained through a questionnaire with 27 senior executives of subsidiaries of German companies in Brazil of large and medium-size, in the automotive and machinery equipment industry with the objective of identifying management cost practices in use, evidences of the isomorphism and the decoupling. The data analyses was made through quantitative and qualitative ways applying the bibliographical research, searching to consolidate knowledge that provides the academic and professional field with a large description of the main features of cost management system in use by German subsidiaries working in Brazil, a population with economic relevance but not being showed in former research. Concerning the main findings, it is noteworthy that the bigger the isomorphic coercion found in the subsidiaries, smaller the decoupling of the cost management practices investigated. The smaller level of decoupling shows also an influence on the smaller level of divergence in the goals to the cost management system. Still about the cost management system features it is important to highlight that the large portion of subsidiaries apply the absorption cost method by decision making and the budget and cost standard are the most used management tools and are institutionalized in almost all companies. The cost reduction shows up as the main objective of the CMS, followed by increasing transparency, facilitating pricing and incentive to process improvements. Coercive isomorphism elements are presented in almost all subsidiaries, the mimetic and normative isomorphism also have remarkable presence. Evidence of isomorphic coercion and isomorphism mimetic are presented by all subsidiaries, being in the most of them very expressive. The isomorphism normative are present in the most part of subsidiaries.

Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2017-04-05T15:20:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Christian Daniel Falaster.pdf: 1455919 bytes, checksum: a4a21544b78854b98012330aa46bc0c9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-05T15:20:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Christian Daniel Falaster.pdf: 1455919 bytes, checksum: a4a21544b78854b98012330aa46bc0c9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-20 / Nesta tese, eu proponho uma análise de como os ambientes institucionais ineficientes encontrados na América Latina influenciam as respostas estratégicas das empresas estrangeiras. Em específico, são realizados três estudos distintos e interconectados, cada um com um desenvolvimento conceitual e métodos próprios. O primeiro estudo investiga a existência de duas dimensões nas ineficiências institucionais, uma generalizada e a outra arbitrária, e como estas dimensões impactam nas decisões de modo de entrada das empresas. O segundo investiga como as diferenças institucionais entre regiões influenciam as estratégias de modo de entrada. O terceiro compara o desempenho de empresas locais e estrangeiras em ambientes institucionalmente ineficientes e indica em que circunstâncias as estrangeiras podem desempenhar melhor do que as domésticas. Por fim, este estudo contribui para a teoria institucional em negócios internacionais por explicar parte da complexidade dos ambientes institucionalmente ineficientes e como as empresas reagem para se adaptarem a estes ambientes. / In this thesis, I propose an analysis of how the inefficient institutional environments found in Latin America influence the strategic responses of foreign firms. Specifically, I develop three distinct and interconnected studies, each with its own conceptual development and methods. The first study investigates the existence of two dimensions in institutional inefficiencies, one pervasive and the other arbitrary, and how these dimensions impact on the decisions of entry mode. The second study investigates how the institutional differences between regions influence the strategies of entry mode. The third compares the performance of local and foreign firms in institutionally inefficient environments and indicates under what circumstances foreign firms can perform better than domestic ones. Finally, this thesis contributes to institutional theory in international business by explaining part of the complexity of institutionally inefficient environments and how firms strategically react to adapt to these environments.

Os três artigos desta tese tratam especificamente de grupos empresariais e sua interação com valor, fatores institucionais e planejamento tributário. O primeiro trata do efeito da formação de grupos empresariais no valor de mercado das empresas, que, apesar do avanço na literatura sobre o tema, a falta de consenso quanto ao seu efeito o torna contemporâneo e sua resposta necessária. Os autores assumem que as estratégias empresariais variam entre setores e são influenciadas por fatores do ambiente institucional em que elas estão inseridas, para então avançar as estratégias metodológicas adotadas até então pela literatura; os resultados obtidos através do Propensity Score Matching (PSM), ferramenta capaz de avaliar a relação causal entre a formação de grupos empresariais e valor de mercado, sugerem que o efeito da formação de grupos empresariais no valor de mercado das empresas, em linha com o entendimento prévio de diferentes em estratégias para diferentes setores, varia entre os setores, e as empresas do setor de serviços apresentam valores mercado menores quando decidem pela constituição de grupos empresariais. Sob a influência desta descoberta, o segundo artigo buscou os motivos que levariam essas empresas a se organizar em grupos empresariais, visto que esta obviamente não é uma decisão econômica de maximização de valor. Utilizando-se da teoria institucional, o segundo artigo se propôs a avaliar se essa é uma decisão influenciada por fatores institucionais, visto que a teoria institucional afirma que o ambiente institucional ao qual as empresas estão submetidas pode influenciar no desenvolvimento de estrutura formais em uma organização, em alguns casos mais profundamente que as pressões de mercado ou econômicas. Os resultados suportam a hipótese de que fatores institucionais presentes no ambiente empresarial, quando combinados, direcionam as decisões das empresas em se organizarem em grupos empresariais, mesmo que essa decisão resulte em menor valor de mercado. Os resultados anteriores foram decisivos para o desenvolvimento do terceiro artigo. Neste artigo, a formação de grupos empresariais foi considerada como uma estratégia de planejamento tributário capaz de reduzir custos tributários, mas não de agregar valor ao acionista. Os resultados apresentados neste artigo indicam que: i) em conformidade com pesquisas anteriores, as empresas se organizam em grupos empresariais em resposta a incentivos fiscais; e ii) essa decisão, por ser uma prática institucionalizada, não é capaz de gerar valor superior às que optaram por outra forma de organização. A estratégia metodológica adotada neste artigo abre uma infinidade de oportunidades para novas pesquisas de causa e efeito na área contábil, como o gerenciamento de resultados e problemas de agência. A combinação dos três artigos nos permite concluir que o planejamento tributário deve ser entendido como parte do processo de decisão e não um ato isolado, cujo único objetivo é o de minimizar o custo tributário das empresas; desta forma, seus resultados devem ser avaliados além das guias de recolhimento dos tributos. Os resultados apresentados nos três artigos são estatisticamente significativos, e os testes de robustez aplicados confirmam que as estratégias adotadas nos artigos foram adequadas. / The three papers in this thesis deal specifically with business groups and their interaction with value, institutional factors and tax planning. The first one deals with the effect of the decision on the formation of business groups in the market value of companies; despite the advances in the literature on the subject, the lack of consensus as to its effect makes it contemporary and its response necessary. The authors assume that business strategies vary between sectors and are influenced by factors of the institutional environment in which they are inserted to advance the methodological strategies that have been adopted in the literature; the results obtained through Propensity Score Matching (PSM), a tool capable of evaluating the causal relationship between the decision to form business groups and market value, suggest that the effect of forming business groups on the value of companies, in line with the previous understanding of different strategies in different sectors, varies between sectors and companies in the service sector have lower market values when deciding to set up business groups. Under the influence of this finding, the second paper sought the reasons that would lead these companies to be organized into business groups, since it obviously was not an economic decision to maximize value. Using the institutional theory, the second article proposed to evaluate if this is a decision influenced by institutional factors, since the theory affirms that the institutional environment to which the companies are submitted can influence the development of the formal structure in an organization, in some cases more deeply than market or economic pressures. The results confirm the hypothesis that institutional factors present in the business environment, when combined, direct the decisions of companies to organize themselves into business groups even if this decision results in lower market value. The previous results were decisive for the development of the third paper. In this paper, the formation of business groups was considered as a tax planning strategy capable of reducing tax costs, but not of adding value to the shareholder. The results presented in this article indicate that: i) according to previous research, companies organize themselves into business groups in response to fiscal incentives; and ii) this decision, being an institutionalized practice, is not capable of generating value higher than opted for another form of organization. The methodological strategy adopted in this article opens up a plethora of opportunities for new cause and effect research in accounting, such as results management and agency problems. The combination of the three papers allows us to conclude that tax planning should be understood as part of the decision process and not an isolated act, whose only objective is to minimize the tax cost of the companies; in this way, their results must be evaluated in addition to the guides of collection of taxes. The results presented in the three papers are statistically significant and the robustness tests applied confirm that the strategies adopted in the papers were adequate.