andré germano vasques - departamento de engenharia florestal ...

THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE STRATEGICAL ORIENTATION OF THE FOREST
COMPANY IN BRAZIL - AN APPLICATION OF THE THEORY OF PORTER
ABSTRACT
The Forest companies, in the particularity of their activities, are entailed to several
other economy sectors and need a strategic alignment that gives a competitive
positioning time on time to establish a successful result due to environment
turbulences. Nevertheless, the long term productive cycle, in Forest activity,
determines the need to be prepared for facing the business environment difficulties,
which demands the oriented decision for a well-defined strategy to guarantee the
competitiveness. The development of this research objectified the analysis of the
strategic orientation of Forest companies, based on Porter (1980) generic strategies.
For so much, it was applied the method of exploratory quantitative research
complemented by analytic methods with the multi-variable analysis, through the
factorial analysis and cluster analysis. In the applicative context, the research relied
on closed questionnaires structuring and variables for analysis, determined by Dess
and Davis (1984) adjusted for by forest activity. The results analysis process
considered the classification of participants companies in the research, which ones
comprehended 35,7% of the approach, meaning, 40 companies in a universe of
112.This characterized the Brazilian Forest sector, because the representativity in
terms of segments by business size, planted area and connected to vertical
processes relied on 34% of participants companies being of paper and cellulose
sector, 30% of planting forests and forest products commercialization segment, and
28% of forest companies of solid wooden production sector. The applied factorial
analysis, through the “Varimax” rotation method to extract the relation factors of
analyzed variables, had the confirmation of distribution normality and homogeneity
data, by the Bartlett’s sphericity test. It was also determined Cronbach’s alpha,
confirming the reliability of the analyzed scale. The results indicated the identified
strategic alignment, for the participant companies grouping, representatives
companies for Forest sector, being a hybrid strategy composed by the differentiation
in generic strategy with a tenuous combination with the focus generic strategy. This
combination suggests clearly the focus in customers, in market, because it
characterizes a light specialization. This verification demonstrates maturation in terms
of management line, because such strategic alignment indicates a perception of the
environment dynamic where for the forest companies their business happen.
Key words: competitiviness, generic strategies, strategical orientation, forest
business.
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