Is it necessary to be big to compete in agribusiness? A case study on innovation in a rice processing agroindustry

  • Carlos Otávio Zamberlan Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul - UEMS
  • Paulo Dabdab Waquil Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS
  • Hélio Henkin Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS

Abstract

In the State of Rio Grande do Sul, it is possible to check a tendency of market concentration in the rice processing sector, for the processing requires production scale due to high fixed costs, which tends to eliminate companies with smaller industrial structures from the market. This study aims to examine the possibility of a rice industry, which is not based on production scale, being able to remain on the market. For this we used the case study of a processing industry working with non-traditional varieties. This study is qualitative and used content analysis and lexical navigation to analyze the collected data. It was concluded that there are ways of acting in a market where the scale gains are a competitive advantage. It just takes focus on the market, to generate innovations and act managing relationships within the supply chain.

Author Biographies

Carlos Otávio Zamberlan, Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul - UEMS
Doutorando em Economia pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS; Docente de Administração na Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul - UEMS/Ponta Porã-MS; E-mail: otaviozamberlan@terra
Paulo Dabdab Waquil, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS
Doutor em Economia; Docente do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Desenvolvimento Rural da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS; E-mail: waquil@ufrgs.br
Hélio Henkin, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS
Doutor em Economia; Docente do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Economia do Desenvolvimento na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS; E-mail: helio.henkin@ufrgs.br
Published
2011-12-08
Section
Agrobusiness