Abstract
This article analyzes the alignment between competitive strategies and management of manufacturing costs in small industrial firms for the purpose of obtaining competitive advantages, by means of a descriptive survey with quantitative approach in which the universe was small industrial firms in the transformation segment located in the city of Mossoro, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The main results obtained demonstrate that the integration of competitive strategies with cost management results in advantages, principally for small industrial firms that adopt a stuck-in-the-middle posture with combined priorities for strategic actions by product differentiation and reduction of costs, and that alignment of competitive strategies with cost management is more favorable to small industrial firms that strive for product differentiation and cost leadership simultaneously, or exceptionally focus on differentiation. The results also indicate that competitive advantages emerge both from differentiation and low cost.
Highlights
In a market without frontiers characterized by fierce competition among organizations, the adoption of competitive strategies is necessary for the great majority of firms
Our aim here is to answer the following question: What is the effect of alignment between competitive strategies and cost management to obtain competitive advantages by small manufacturing firms?
The quantitative approach is often used in descriptive studies that seek to identify the relation between variables and the causality between phenomena (GIL, 2008). We applied this approach to measure the degree of relationship of the strategic variables, according to the model of Porter (1985), and cost management, to evidence how much this interaction can contribute to attaining a competitive advantage
Summary
In a market without frontiers characterized by fierce competition among organizations, the adoption of competitive strategies is necessary for the great majority of firms. Liberal economic policies have contributed to this competitive environment These policies were decisive for economic opening and deregulation of the market, leading to greater pressure from imported products and forcing firms to increase productivity, improve quality and develop products with increasingly accessible exchange value. Besides the possible strategies proposed by Porter, the choice of an efficient costcontrol system and an adequate costing method can be a way for firms to face competitive forces, especially by offering high-quality products with accessible exchange value. Both academic works and practical business experience show that achieving a competitive edge results from effective cost management and well-developed strategies. Our aim here is to answer the following question: What is the effect of alignment between competitive strategies and cost management to obtain competitive advantages by small manufacturing firms?
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