Fatores contingenciais, estratégia competitiva e desempenho financeiro: um estudo em empresas de países membros do BRICS e do G7

Abstract

This thesis aimed to analyze the relationship between the competitive strategy (cost leadership or differentiation) with the contingency factors (environmental uncertainty, level of competition, size and age of organization) on the financial performance of firms, considering the environment in which they are located (countries of BRICS or G7). To achieve this aim, it was necessary to evaluate the relationship among competitive strategy and the financial performance of firms, considering the environment in which they operate; verify the contingency factors that affect financial performance, according to organizational environment; identify the competitive strategy that makes sustainable the financial performance of firms; and investigate the relationship between competitive strategies and contingency factors, according to the organizational environment. For this purpose, an empirical-analytical research was developed in order to evaluate the relationship between the investigated variables. The research samples was composed by 775 companies (5,425 observations), 172 located in China, 33 in India, 48 in Germany, 25 in Canada, 307 in the United States of America, 169 in Japan and 21 in the United Kingdom. The data were collected from the Thomson Reuters Eikon® database and, when necessary, on the website and in the financial statements of firms on Internet. To estimate the relationship between the research variables, dynamic panel data models were used. The results showed that, only for the BRICS environment, the cost leadership strategy positively affects the financial performance of firms. This evidence points out that the cost leadership strategy increases the financial results of organizations. The results found suggests that, for companies located in BRICS countries (China and India), the cost leadership strategy seems to decrease the effects of uncertainty and age of the organization on the return of assets, and differentiation strategy moderates the influence of organization’s age on financial performance. Already the environment of the G7 member countries, the evidence also showed that cost leadership strategy can reduce the influence of uncertainty and that the differentiation strategy moderates the effects of size on the financial performance of firms. Lastly, it was concluded that competitive strategies can moderate the effects of contingency factors on the financial performance of companies, depending on the environment in which the organization operates, as provided for in the research thesis. Moreover, these results demonstrated the applicability of the contingency theory, indicating that firms must adapt to the context in which they operate, as well as that competitive strategy can be used as a means to moderate the influences of contingency factors on organizational performance.