Mercado brasileiro de medicamentos genéricos: análise do desemprenho de uma subsidiária de laboratório estrangeiro

The pharmaceutical industry is a segment that is dominated by transnational companies. This characteristic is visible in Brazil, where there are only three domestic laboratories in the top ten pharmaceutical companies list. From the 1970s onwards, the world pharmaceutical market went through deep changes caused mainly to the increase of regulatory control and patent expiration that led to the advent of generic medicaments. In 1999, it was published the law that allowed the introduction of generic medicaments in Brazil, creating a new market that is currently dominated by domestic laboratories. This dissertation proposes to identify the reasons for a subsidiary of foreign laboratory does not achieve the leadership of this market. The literature is based on international political economy and international business concepts that means, relations between subsidiary and head office, domestic and foreign companies and government. Four propositions are presented and tested through multiple sources of evidences. The empirical research was mainly grounded in interviews with key persons and participant observation that allowed access to information, which would be not available for scientific investigation. The results indicate that the relationships considered in this study affect the subsidiary performance in generic medicament market in regard to its ability to make decisions, price competitiveness and wide portfolio creation. The respondents considered those three aspects as success critical factors. The results can be used for future research, aiming to wide the focus of the study about domestic laboratory dominance in generic medicament markets. Another suggestion is to follow this market evolution regarding to the internationalization process of domestic laboratories.

Iguatemi: creating opportunities for international luxury brands in Brazil

The Brazilian luxury goods market has been registering substantial growth with many international brands establishing presence in the country. When entering the market, the perfect location seems for most of them to be found in Iguatemi Group’s Shopping Malls. This research focuses the topic of Luxury Market and Retail, in the form of a case study on Iguatemi Group, which tries to understand How is Iguatemi Group creating opportunities for International Luxury Brands in Brazil? To understand the context of the case, the text explores the Brazilian market evolution, its attraction factors and challenges, the location choice methodology used by international luxury brands, and finally, how is the Iguatemi Group creating opportunities for these brands in Brazil. For doing so, a multiple-methods approach was followed so to achieve a non-biased result. In-depth interviews were conducted with Iguatemi’s managers, international luxury brands’ managers and experts in luxury market and retail; non-participant observation was held, and documentation was examined. The research found that the entry of International Luxury Brands in Brazil started about 20 years ago, mainly explained by the positive structural economic reforms Brazil experienced in this period. 60% of the studied brands chose São Paulo’s Iguatemi malls as first location, in particular Iguatemi São Paulo and JK Iguatemi. The preference over these locations relies mainly on the reputation of the Iguatemi brand and on its positioning in the market which seems to be aligned to that of these brands. From its side, Iguatemi has started actively gathering international luxury brands into the market since 15 years ago, and has intensified its action by creating iRetail, an internal company to the group representing some international luxury brands in Brazil, which have, thus, exclusive locations in its malls. The role of Iguatemi, hence, goes beyond that of a real estate company, by approaching the market with a 360° strategy. These findings contribute for academic purposes, in the extent to which they propose a so far rather unexplored topic, and for managerial purposes by describing a best practice in the shopping center sector. However, the study does not mean to be generalized. Consumers’ perspectives on Iguatemi Group were not addressed; rather, the research took a business to business approach.

Linkages between growth, poverty and the labour market

From a methodological point of view, this paper makes two contributions to the literature. One contribution is the proposal of a new measure of pro-poor growth. This new measure provides the linkage between growth rates in mean income and in income inequality. In this context, growth is defined as pro-poor (or anti-poor) if there is a gain (or loss) in the growth rate due to a decrease (or increase) in inequality. The other contribution is a decomposition methodology that explores linkages growth patterns, and labour market performances. Through the decomposition analysis, growth in per capita income is explained in terms of four labour market components: the employment rate, hours of work, the labour force participation rate, and productivity. The proposed methodology are then applied to the Brazilian National Household Survey (PNAD) covering the period 1995-2004. The paper analyzes the evolution of Brazilian social indicators based on per capita income exploring links with adverse labour market performance.

The market strategies alternatives of an e-business start-up in Brazil

The e-business market is one of the fastest growing markets in Brazil, with e-business sales accounting for BRL 14.8 billion in 2010 and a growth of 40% per year (+1000% over the past 7 years). Sales-event clubs and collective bargaining websites are one of the most dynamic segments of the e-business market: the number of new players is increasing rapidly, with over 1200 collective bargaining websites currently operating in Brazil. In that context, growth and differentiation seem to be two key success factors for Coquelux. According to webshopper (23rd Edition, e-bit), growth can be achieved by targeting middle and low-income consumers from class C, who represent 50% of the total e-commerce sales. But Coquelux, which is specialized in desire and luxury brands, has built its reputation and competitive advantage through its “exclusivity”, by targeting wealthier consumers from classes A and B who are attracted by its fashionable and high-end positioning. The evolution (growth?) of this market and the development of its competition naturally raise a strategic question for Coquelux’s managers: can Coquelux grow and still maintain its competitive advantage? Should it grow by expanding its consumer base to class C? If so, how? Consumers from classes A, B or C must be targeted through the same online communication channels. Recent studies from the ABEP/ABIPEME emphasized the importance of social networks as a tool for converting new clients and gaining their loyalty, regardless of their social class. However, high-income and low-income e-consumers do not have the same consumption habits, do not respond to the same type of marketing strategies, and most importantly, do not share the same values. Thus, it seems difficult to expand Coquelux’s consumer base to class C without changing its marketing strategies and altering its image Three options were identified for Coquelux: reinforcing its leadership on the luxury segment and focusing on a small niche market (1), which would threaten its survival in the long run; completely changing its strategy and competing for a mass market through commercial brands (2), which requires major financial investments that managers don’t have access to; or finding an intermediary solution (3). This thesis’ recommendation for the third option consists in focusing on premium brands (rather than luxury) in order to increase sales volume (Coquelux’s most profitable sales happened with local desire brands) with products that appeal to class B but also attract the emerging class C which is looking for brand recognition. It could thus implement a slow entry strategy towards the mass market without damaging its main competitive advantage.

The Brazilian real state market in 2012: robust growth or speculative bubble?

A forte alta dos imóveis no Brasil nos últimos anos iniciou um debate sobre a possível existência de uma bolha especulativa. Dada a recente crise do crédito nos Estados Unidos, é factível questionar se a situação atual no Brasil pode ser comparada à crise americana. Considerando argumentos quantitativos e fundamentais, examina-se o contexto imobiliário brasileiro e questiona-se a sustentabilidade em um futuro próximo. Primeiramente, analisou-se a taxa de aluguel e o nível de acesso aos imóveis e também utilizou-se um modelo do custo real para ver se o mercado está em equilíbrio o não. Depois examinou-se alguns fatores fundamentais que afetam o preço dos imóveis – oferta e demanda, crédito e regulação, fatores culturais – para encontrar evidências que justificam o aumento dos preços dos imóveis. A partir dessas observações tentou-se chegar a uma conclusão sobre a evolução dos preços no mercado imobiliário brasileiro. Enquanto os dados sugerem que os preços dos imóveis estão supervalorizados em comparação ao preço dos aluguéis, há evidências de uma legítima demanda por novos imóveis na emergente classe média brasileira. Um risco maior pode estar no mercado de crédito, altamente alavancado em relação ao consumidor brasileiro. No entanto, não se encontrou evidências que sugerem mais do que uma temporária estabilização ou correção no preço dos imóveis.

Linkages between pro-poor growth, social programmes and labour market : the recent Brazilian experience

From a methodological point of view, this paper makes two contlibutions to the literature. One contribution is the proposal of a new measure of pro-poor growth. This new measure provides the linkage between growth rates in mean income and in income inequality. In this context, growth is defined as pro-poor (or anti-poor) if there is a gain (or loss) in the growth rate due to a decrease (or increase) in inequality. The other contribution is a decomposition methodology that explores linkages between three dimensions: growth pattems, labour market performances. and social policies. Through the decomposition analysis, growth in per capita income is explained in terms of four labour market components: the employment rate. hours of work, the labour force participation rate. and productivity. We also assess the contribution of different nonlabour income sources to growth patterns. The proposed methodologies are then applied to the Brazilian National Household Survey (PNAD) covering the period 1995-2004. The paper analyzes the evolution of Brazilian social indicators based on per capita income exploring links with adverse labour market performance and social policy change, with particular emphasis on the expansion of targeted cash transfers and devising more propoor social security benefits.

Entry on the Brazilian renewable power market: a case study

Conferências internacionais sobre o clima, bem como crescente conscientização sobre as questões de sustentabilidade lançaram luz sobre o papel fundamental que as energias renováveis poderiam desempenhar na transição energética. Ao contrário de combustíveis fósseis, elas podem ser regeneradas em um curto período de tempo e, por conseguinte, espera-se que sejam uma parte da solução para reduzir o aquecimento global. O Brasil sempre teve um forte setor hidrelétrico, mas agora está na vanguarda em relação a todas as outras fontes de energias alternativas, como energia eólica, biomassa o energia solar. Estas indústrias são uma promessa para um futuro próspero, graças ao potencial natural do país, bem como uma legislação de apoio, e estão atraindo muitas empresas locais e internacionais. Este estudo tem como objetivo preencher uma lacuna na literatura analisando o exemplo de uma empresa estrangeira que entra no mercado da energia renovável no Brasil. Baseando-se na literatura como um fundo conceptual, um único estudo de caso têm sido realizados para delinear todos os aspectos do processo de entrada. Neste desenvolvimento, relações causais entre as orientações estratégicas e a evolução do negócio foram identificadas. Esta pesquisa traz uma contribuição para as discussões acadêmicas sobre as dinâmicas de entrada no setor de energia renovável através de evidências do mercado brasileiro.