Abstract
The sport of surfing has been growing rapidly in popularity worldwide and Brazil is among the countries with the largest surfing population, behind the United States and Australia, however, multinational surf companies are rushing in emerging markets like Brazil to find new opportunities for growth. This paper intends to provide insights on how local companies in these markets can overcome and even take advantage of differences with global competitors by re-thinking their core competencies and business models. Therefore, empirical research applying qualitative case study methodology was developed to investigate the role of strategy in the surf industry - a fairly unexplored research topic. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with the founder and CEO and the executive directors at the Brazilian surf industry leader - Mormaii, were conducted to understand how the 4-decade local company found its way to success. Although the theories: RBV, Core Competencies, and Dynamic Capabilities complement each other and help to explain firms’ performance and strategic choices, in empirical studies strategy has been analyzed only by one or another theory. Therefore, the simultaneous use of these three theories intended to fill this gap in the literature and bring more consistency to the discussion of this case study. As a result, this empirical study illustrates the RBV perspective, which stems from the principle that the source of firms’ competitive advantage lies in their internal resources and capabilities, rather than simply evaluating environmental opportunities and threats in conducting business. It also highlights the role that core competence and dynamic capabilities play in the company’s virtuous circle of sustainable growth and provides practitioners clues for re-thinking their strategies.
Highlights
The surfer stereotype as an idle and irresponsible guy and surf as counterculture has given way to a growing adoption of surfing as a healthy sport and lifestyle
There was no access to wetsuits in Brazil, so Morongo worked in the community health center of Garopaba and in his spare time he began to design and sew his own wetsuits
Morongo installed a little factory in the garage of his house and began manufacturing wetsuits and was born Mormaii - the first wetsuit manufacturer in Brazil (MORMAII, 2015a; EXAME, 2010)
Summary
The surfer stereotype as an idle and irresponsible guy and surf as counterculture has given way to a growing adoption of surfing as a healthy sport and lifestyle. The search for quality of life, well-being and outdoor sports has transformed surfing in one of the action sports most practiced worldwide (BORNE; PONTING, 2015). According to the Surfrider Foundation (2015) all surfers around the globe celebrate on June 20, the International Day of Surfing, bringing along generations and cultures in appreciation of the surf and the environment. The International Surfing Association ISA (2013) estimates there are 35 million surfers globally with 5 million surfers only in Brazil, which is among the countries with the largest number of surfers, behind the United States and Australia. AlmaSurf (2013) estimates that surf is the second most practiced sport in Brazil, only behind soccer
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