Matrix of Strategic Entrepreneurship Process in Small and Medium Enterprises of the Brazilian and Canadian Aeronautical Industry

Abstract

The central proposal of this paper is to study the process of strategic entrepreneurship in small and medium enterprises in the Brazilian and Canadian aeronautical industry. The research was based on the qualitative approach with multiple case studies, following the recommendations of Eisenhardt (1989). The study addressed the reality of four small and medium technology-based companies in the aeronautical industry, being two Brazilian and two Canadian. Data were collected with in-depth semi-structured interviews, lasting approximately 2h and 40min, with owner-managers and analyzed with Atlas-ti software. The analysis took place in depth in each case and then in a comparative way between the cases in search of similarities and differences that led to the formation of valid results for the whole sample studied. Finally and based on the analysis of the results, it was concluded that the companies analyzed, through the process of strategic entrepreneurship, obtained a competitive advantage, since they incorporated to the entrepreneurial activity, strategic partnerships and the development of innovation as activities to be developed in a continuous, identifying the innovative elements of production chains in which companies viewed greater potential for profit and ultimately worked together with customers to develop and improve processes and products. This allowed the Brazilian and Canadian SMEs to identify and explore new opportunities in the face of the greater circulation of tacit and explicit knowledge in the productive chain and the execution of R&D together.