COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF A FRANCHISEE IN THE SOFTWARE MARKET: THE CASE OF TOTVS

ABSTRACT In highly competitive technology markets, such as the market in which Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) service providers do business, it has become of fundamental importance to understand the factors that create competitive advantages. This paper presents the support from the theoretical frameworks offered by the Resource-based View (RBV) and the Market-based View (MBV) to attempt to explain the competitive advantage held by Totvs Curitiba, a franchise of Totvs, which in turn is a Brazilian company that is a market leader in ERP service provision. In methodological terms, this is a Case Study for which data was collected during interviews and by observation and review of secondary documentary sources. The results suggest that the franchise’s market-leading position was built on a relationship, which is identifiable in the results of this study, between the strategies adopted, resources controlled and competences developed.