Management practices and competitiveness: A multisector study in the Brazilian industry

Abstract The Practice-Based View (PBV) is an insightful approach among alternative theories of firm competitiveness. However, it hardly addresses industry level effects on the adoption of management practices and consequent performance impacts. We investigate if industrial sectors that are technologically sophisticated, more exposed to competition, and receiving greater government support adopt more advanced management practices and achieve superior performance. We built an intentional sample in seven industrial sectors, representative of the diversity of local industry, by selecting ten firms in each sector following specific criteria. Data collected following the method proposed by Bloom and Van Reenen was analyzed through Ordinary Least Squares regressions designed to assess our hypotheses. The outcomes confirm previous findings and reveal two insights. First, governmental support does not necessarily enhance management practices at the firm level. Second, the relationship between practices and performance seems to be jeopardized by the turbulence of the local business environment. We contribute to the PBV by shedding light on the implications of the sectoral perspective for the analysis of best practices adoption and performance impacts.摘要 基于实践的视角（Practice-Based View，PBV）是企业竞争力各类替代理论中颇具洞见的研究路径。然而，该视角鲜有探讨产业层面因素对管理实践采纳行为及由此产生的绩效影响。本研究旨在探究：技术复杂度更高、竞争暴露程度更强且获得更多政府扶持的工业行业，是否会采纳更先进的管理实践并取得更优的绩效表现。本研究选取符合特定标准的企业，在代表本地产业多样性的7个工业行业中各选取10家企业，构建意向性研究样本。研究采用布鲁姆与范里宁（Bloom and Van Reenen）提出的数据收集方法，通过设计普通最小二乘回归模型对采集到的数据进行分析，以验证本研究的假设。研究结果既验证了既往研究结论，又揭示了两项新的学术洞见：其一，政府扶持未必能提升企业层面的管理实践水平；其二，管理实践与绩效间的关联似乎会因本地商业环境的动荡性而受到削弱。本研究通过阐明产业层面视角对最佳管理实践采纳及绩效影响分析的理论意义，拓展了基于实践的视角的研究内涵。