Purpose: Today, organizations must be able to create innovative strategies, and creative performance depends on knowing what hinders or stimulates creativity. This paper aims to determine which factors in the workplace environment positively or negatively affect creativity by analyzing individuals’ perceptions in a sample of Brazilian industrial companies. Design/methodology/approach: The discussion is based on the componential theory of creativity and the use of a recognized research instrument (KEYS). A regression analysis was carried out, using eight environmental factors related to creativity. The purpose of the collection is to observe the statistical relationships between the scales of the factors and the results related to creativity. Findings: Among the eight factors of the original componential theory, only three were found to have a significant impact on the creative process: organizational incentives, challenging work and support from the work group. Research limitations/implications: The sample in this study was relatively small, and a larger sample will be required to undertake factor analysis. Practical implications: Possible implications for the management of innovation in the Brazilian context are discussed in light of these results. Originality/value: This study contributed to the production of knowledge, still scarce in the country, about the search for creative solutions through the work environment by confirming which factors are significant and determinants of creative performance and challenging factors that had already been proven by other studies in non-Brazilian contexts.

Paper aims The aim is to analyze the role of motivation of work teams in production lines in the operational results obtained with the implementation of a Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program in a single company. Originality The areas of industrial production and maintenance require that human factors influencing performance be continuously investigated and cannot focus exclusively on the reliability of equipment and systems. Studies that contemplate these factors are relatively scarce but of great value for companies and society. Research method This is an exploratory case study that used a measurement of motivation with two teams of employees who participated in the implementation of TPM, comparing it to measures of operational performance. Unstructured interviews and nonparticipant observation were also used for data collection. Main findings The level of motivation of the team was positively associated with a change in operational performance, and the implementation of TPM had a positive impact on performance. Implications for theory and practice This study contributes to the behavioral operations management literature by showing empirical evidence that operational results may depend on motivated workers during TPM implementation. Managers must pay attention to the factors that determine the motivation of work teams when implementing improvement programs.

Purpose: This empirical and exploratory study analyzed the role of interaction with the innovation environment and of the organizational learning capacity (OLC) development stage in startups in Northeast Brazil based on the perception of managers of these companies.Design/methodology/approach: This was a quantitative study. Questionnaires were sent electronically to the managers of startups in the nine states of Northeast Brazil. A total of 54 managers participated, composing a non-probabilistic sample. The data collected were analyzed by multiple linear regressions.Findings: The results obtained seek to evidence whether the interaction of startups in Northeast Brazil with the startup ecosystem and the development stage in which these companies are found are associated with OLC. The results confirmed the hypothesis that higher startup development stages are positively associated with higher levels of OLC in the sample. A negative association was identified between the manufacturing startup type and the OLC level, and the level of interaction with the innovation environment was still infrequent.Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to the literature on the determinants of organizational learning and to startup managers who wish to more effectively promote this learning. Implications of the findings are discussed.Practical implications: This study contributes to the literature on the determinants of organizational learning and to startup managers who wish to more effectively promote this learning. Implications of the findings are discussed.Originality/value: Studies on Brazilian startups are still relatively scarce, especially studies that focus on learning capacity. No other studies addressing the hypotheses tested here were found.

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of the motivational factor on the results obtained after implementing a lean manufacturing system in a multinational consumer goods manufacturing company. Key performance indicator data were collected from three production lines during periods before and after lean manufacturing implementation. Unstructured interviews were conducted, and the Motivation and Work Meaning Inventory (MWMI) instrument was applied. The motivational factors were then correlated with the performance indicators. The results provide evidence to support the hypothesis, based on the literature, that the motivational factor in work teams in a lean implementation process will affect the degree of success of the process. It was also confirmed that after implementation of the program, there was a significant improvement in the lines’ operational performance.