In today's world competition, the ability to innovate can be considered essential for corporate survival and a source of competitive advantages. This research aimed to outline an inter-relationship diagnostic among the main variables of performance and the capacity to innovate in companies working in the red ceramic industry in the city of Campos dos Goytacazes, north of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. .A multiple case studies with exploratory and descriptive purposes was carried out in five companies with different characteristics. A semi-structured questionnaire was applied to the companies' managers, people who were familiar with the business. Data collected were analyzed using content analysis in order to identify variables and factors necessary to construct a questionnaire. A survey research was conducted and these data were analyzed using nonparametric techniques to ratify the initial information, and to identify possible relationships among variables. The level of agreement among the answers furnished by the 20 companies studied was checked using Kendall concordance coefficient. The level of novelty was found low in the Campos dos Goytacazes Red Ceramic Cluster. This deficiency originate from factors such as unskilled labor, lack of innovative vision, low cooperation, lack of incentives and programs to encourage innovation.
innovation; competitiveness; red ceramic
