Coping with risk: a grounded theory for strategic management of small firms in turbulent environments highly influenced by the government



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Rodrigo Bandeira-de-Mello
Cristiano José Castro de Almeida Cunha

Abstract

When one considers a context in which the government drives institutional and disruptive economic changes, affecting the strategic management of small firms, mainstream literature provides scant information with enough groundedness to explain firms' behaviors. The present research is an in-depth case study, following the assumptions and procedures of Grounded Theory methodology, with the purpose of generating a set of hypothesis to explain strategic management of small building firms, according to what has emerged as relevant for the managers. Primary data were gathered through non-structured interviews with five managers to investigate why and how the firm has adapted to environmental changes in the last 20 years. A total of 595 minutes of interviews were analyzed using ATLAS/ti software. The core category that emerged from data was coping with risk. For the managers, to strategically manage the firm is to deal successfully with a difficult situation that threats firm survival. The developed grounded theory explains under what environmental and internal conditions patterns of coping with risk are used. Existing literature related to strategic management were confronted to the findings; most of them helped to explain the phenomena in some way, but none was able to grasp what was going on in terms of control and of relevance to the actors.

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How to Cite
Bandeira-de-Mello, R., & Cunha, C. J. C. de A. (1). Coping with risk: a grounded theory for strategic management of small firms in turbulent environments highly influenced by the government. Journal of Contemporary Administration, 8(spe), 157-179. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1415-65552004000500009
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Author Biographies

Rodrigo Bandeira-de-Mello, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Doutor em Engenharia de Produção pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Professor e Pesquisador do Programa de Mestrado Acadêmico em Administração da Universidade do Vale do Itajaí. Suas áreas de interesse em pesquisa são estratégia e vantagem competitiva, análise macro-organizacional, gestão estratégica do conhecimento, métodos de pesquisa qualitativa.

Cristiano José Castro de Almeida Cunha, Universidade Técnica de Aachen

Doutor em Ciências Econômicas e Sociais pela Universidade Técnica de Aachen, Alemanha. Professor do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Suas áreas de interesse em pesquisa são adaptação estratégica, aprendizagem gerencial, planejamento estratégico.