Political Strategy Formulation and Implementation in the Ethanol Industry: A Procedural Model

Despite the importance of political strategies for firm survival and performance, there are few studies that focus on what is effectively the process that companies use to formulate and execute these types of strategies. We have conducted a qualitative study, using content analysis through categorization to analyze data from interviews with political-strategy decision makers from Brazilian Ethanol companies, as well as secondary data on the sector. Based on the data, this article suggests a model for the process of formulating and implementing political strategy, discussing the details of this process in theoretical terms. Among the peculiarities of the political strategy process, the most important are the amount of activities conducted outside the firm, the prevalence of collective action and the complexity of evaluating political strategy results.