Longevidade em organizações empresariais brasileiras : o caso da Lojas Renner S.A.

Abstract

The main theme of this thesis is organizational longevity. Studies about companies located in the united states and in europe indicate that the average organizational life span is decreasing and that the life cycle of organizations is becoming smaller that the average for human beings. Within the brazilian context, specifically, economical turbulences occurred during the 1980s and the 1990s contributed to the closure of many firms. Researches about the brazilian business atmosphere indicate that, in certain sectors, more than 80% of the firms that existed in 1973 and that were in the list of the biggest 500 were no longer present in the 2005 list . One of the most affected sectors was retail. Traditional companies of this segment were not able to face environmental and sectorial changes, and discontinued their activities. Others, however, overcame difficulties and thrive. In order to identify how a firm prospered in an environment in which others failed, the present thesis was designed to perform a longitudinal case study. The main objective was to identify how lojas renner a retail firm that completes 90 years in 2012 faced difficulties and prospered in a sector in which other companies disappeared during the last 30 years. Data collection came mainly from interviews with six top executives that were responsible for the strategic decisions taken during the last 45 years of the history of the firm. Additionally, all annual reports in the period of 1979-2009 were analyzed and a search in newspapers and magazines was performed. The results indicate that the company overcame adversities and prospered not just because it identified a favorable position with respect to competitive forces of the sector, but, also, because it made coherent strategic choices. The firm reorganize activities, developed new capacities and competences and innovated in its base of resources. Furthermore, the firm was able to develop analytic, detailed and properly organized processes based not only in its own knowledge, but, also, in the attraction and acquisition of. The results also showed that the theoretical guideposts, initially considered as alternatives, when adopted together could explain in a more appropriate manner how the firm was able to recover and prosper in a turbulent environment.