Decline of a large brazilian company: The case of Gradiente

Authors

  • Alexandre Pavan Torres Sotelino Torres
  • Fernando Antonio Serra Universidade Nove de Julho - UNINOVE HSM Educação
  • Martinho Ribeiro Almeida FEA USP
  • Manuel Portugal Ferreira Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão do Instituto Politécnico de Leiria

Keywords:

declínio organizacional, Gradiente, estratégia

Abstract

This article describes the organizational decline of Gradiente. The case was studied over aperiod of thirty years, using secondary data retrieved and organized using Atlas.ti. 1472 documentswere examined. We used case study methodology to present a substantive theory of Gradiente. Results revealed five factors accountable for the decline: (1) inertia in a changing environment, (2) lack of organizational resources and the inability to absorb shocks, (3) errorsin decision making, (4) governmental protection mechanisms and the relation with the level of competition, and (5) resources held by the firm to face competition. The main limitation of this study is the method used, constrained to a single case study. Despite the importance of researching decline, the extant research has been scarce. This study contributes to a better understanding of the decline process during a long period of time. Even being a single case, it seems to represent the situation of several companies in Brazil during 1990’s.

Keywords: organizational decline, Gradiente, strategy.

Author Biographies

Alexandre Pavan Torres, Sotelino Torres

Doutor em Engenharia pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Fernando Antonio Serra, Universidade Nove de Julho - UNINOVE HSM Educação

Doutor em Engenharia pela PUC-Rio, Professor do Programa de Pós-graduação da UNINOVE. Diretor da HSM Educação.

Martinho Ribeiro Almeida, FEA USP

Doutor em Administração pela USP

Manuel Portugal Ferreira, Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão do Instituto Politécnico de Leiria

PhD em Business Administration pela Universidade de Utah

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Published

2013-08-25

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 3 (2013): jul/sep

Section

Articles

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