Potential absorptive capacity |
Acquisition |
Knowledge is acquired and developed in its entirety at R&D centers abroad. In this case, the Brazilian subsidiary is totally dependent on this external knowledge. |
The search for knowledge is entirely centered on the headquarters in the USA and Italy. Due to a strategic decision by the parent company abroad, the Brazilian operation, temporarily, will not be able to develop new products until previous investments are financially recovered. |
The company maintains an R&D center at the office of its parent company in the United States, where it maintains training programs and alignments with the various R&D units around the world. This information derives, in addition to the internal work of PhD's, from the firm's interaction with suppliers, customers, universities, and research centers. |
Assimilation |
After the knowledge is absorbed from the outside, it is internalized. However, knowledge is not dynamically assimilated among the firm's departments. To a certain extent, there is a centralization of information in a few leaders. |
The management team in Brazil frequently meets to discuss market trends, innovations, and the company's performance as a whole. Improvements are incorporated into the production processes, generating improvements in products. |
The company maintains a rotation program for employees from different plants in the world, working temporarily in the R&D located at the office of its parent company. This routine allows for a greater flow of information and assimila-tion of knowledge. In addition, daily and weekly meetings are held by the teams. |
Realized absorptive capacity |
Transformation |
New knowledge from abroad is considered for incorporation into organizational practices. This is done with the support of a management system that aligns all employees. |
Managers, together with their teams, consider new information to transform and adapt the routines that need to be reworked. |
New routines from abroad are easily incorporated, readapted, and generate new routines. In some cases, this transformation comes up against the limit of the operation of customers, who are unable to modify their production structures due to high implementation costs. |
Exploitation |
New knowledge is easily exploited by the company, modifying routines when necessary. |
Although the company considers new information in order to transform its routines and apply them, many improvements come up against the strategic limitation imposed by the head office on the Brazilian subsidiary. |
The new knowledge is adapted and exploited in the organization, supported by a management process that controls all innovations. |
Management practices |
Operation |
It has control of the entire operation through KPIs. There is a system of goals that covers all employees. The employees' performance is measured through these goals. A training plan is designed for those who do not reach the goals. |
The company does not have a lean manufacturing system in place in all countries (it does not have the system in the Brazilian subsidiary). Results are measured periodically, and employees who do not achieve results, after specific training, are dismissed. |
The company adopts lean manufacturing practices in a standardized manner at all plants around the world. Daily, there are meetings between supervisors and their teams to align goals and results. Performance problems do not harm the firm, as daily meetings are used to correct errors and increase the chances of getting the intended results. |
Performance |
There are financial and non-financial goals, deployed at all levels. They are routinely charged, generating internal competition between departments, which is also used as promotion criteria. |
The financial and non-financial goals are deployed worldwide up to the level of supervision of each subsidiary. The goals guide the employee's actions. Short, medium, and long-term goals are managed. |
The goals are aligned with the company's long-term plan, distributed to all plants and descending to all levels. In general, they are not easy to reach. However, it motivates employees due to the award system linked to this system. |
Incentives |
Although there is no bonus system that rewards good performances, they feed the employee's promotion opportunity. |
The company maintains a worldwide training plan for attracting talent. Although employees do not have a formal career plan, they are remunerated with bonuses in view of the results achieved. |
The company has a system that controls results vs. targets linked to the bonus payment program. In order to seek greater efficiency, the firm is judicious in the selection and hiring of talents. |
Results |
Productivity |
The company presented an accumulated increase in productivity of 67.02% between 2013 and 2017. 2013 🡪 2014: 1.11% 2014 🡪 2015: 35.53% 2015 🡪 2016: 0.77% 2016 🡪 2017: 29.61% |
In the accumulated years between 2013 and 2017, there was an increase in productivity of 37.22%. 2013 🡪 2014: -1.08% 2014 🡪 2015: 21.16% 2015 🡪 2016: -4.03% 2016 🡪 2017: 21.17% |
The company showed accumulated productivity growth of 7.35% between 2013 and 2017. 2013 🡪 2014: 1.38% 2014 🡪 2015: 6.91% 2015 🡪 2016: -4.33% 2016 🡪 2017: 3.39% |