The turnaround of the company with a focus on resources and capabilities: a case study in the food business

Resumen

The purpose of this article is to show what happens to the resources and strategic capabilities involved in a turnaround process aiming at creating value for the company's customers from the perspective of the Resource Based View - RBV. We adopted the qualitative research method of exploratory descriptive character for the case study of a company that is one of the main multinationals that operate globally in the ingredients market for food industry, working in the business-to-business segment. Eight executives from the sales, marketing, research and development, pricing and profitability and supply chain areas that worked at the company were interviewed at the time of the turnaround, with the application of a standardized script with open questions. The data were treated with the use of Content Analysis. It was found that the difficulty of perceiving the changes in the market caused by increased competition and product costs and the lack of knowledge of customer needs were highlighted as the causes of the decline, both attributed to the deficiency of the company's management in anticipating and adapting the strategies to changes in the external scenario. The turnaround began with changes in the company's leadership team, which led to the review of the strategies that allowed the resumption of competitive advantage. The results of the research indicate that the resources, commercial team and technical knowledge, and the capabilities, mindset change and synergy between the company's areas were decisive for the success of the strategies adopted.