A Liderança Setorial Na Cadeia Do Biodiesel: Uma Análise À Luz Do Conceito De Vantagem Competitiva

Leading companies of the industry sector demonstrate their competencies through performance. The biggest challenge of the nonleading companies is to understand the difference in the actions of the leading companies in order to maintain this position, that is, mimic them or develop new capabilities. This paper aimed at identifying which are the factors that make the companies reach and maintain competitive advantage in the biodiesel industry. For this, we applied an exploratory qualitative methodology in which five different data collection tools were used. We identified five factors related to the creation of competitive advantage in the biodiesel sector. These factors are: supply chain management focused on the anticipated or postponed purchase and on the diversification of raw-material; supply chain management focused on the reduction in the costs of inputs; cost and industrial yields management; ICMS tax pickups; and proximity of customers and differentiated logistics structures. After identifying the factors, six companies, recognized in the market by their industrial capacity usage and market share, were chosen. In all these companies, there was at least one of the factors that generates competitive advantage. This paper has academic and practical implications since it clearly delimitates the factors that are capable of leading companies toward a leadership position.