Pequenas e médias empresas têxteis e vestuaristas face às mudanças nas condições de concorrência

Resumo

In the 90's Brazil liberalized its external trade and held its currency
overvalued for many years. The results included a sharp increase of imports
and, as a consequence, major pressures for restructuring in several
economic activities. Such is the broader context of this paper, which
investigates how the small and medium sized entreprises (SMEs) of the
textile and clothing industries operating in Santa Catarina Were affected
by the new competitive conditions, and how they reacted to them. Based
on field research, by means of interviews In 65 SMEs located in various
regions, the article is structured as follows: firstly, it focuses the increase
of brazilian Imports of textile and clothing products, indicating the meaning
of this for the firms Interviewed; next, It looks Into the problem of
restructuring as Implemented by the SMEs, emphasizing features
concerning technology and organization of production, and points to the
different competitive positions of the firms; thirdly, It considers the
Importance of the regions, seen as production and socio-institutional
environments, to the firms' performances. In the final comments, It Is
stressed the need for measures seeking to support and promote the SMEs
and their corresponding spaces of production.