Entrepreneurship and competitive performance of micro and small business in Maranhão

Abstract

The research purpose is to evaluate the performance in management actions of working entrepreneurs in the food and beverage segments in the state of Maranhão with the goal of achieving a satisfactory competitive performance. About the theoretical framework, the research is of a qualitative nature, made in a descriptive and explanatory way; it’s also of a field nature, carried out with 90 entrepreneurs of micro and small businesses; the interviewees evaluated themselves in relation to their performances in the administration of crucial topics like: costs, productivity, competitiveness, and investments/expansion. The results show low conviction of the initiatives adopted by the entrepreneurs and a propensity to assign a greater importance to some questions, relegating other to a second level. In general terms, the self-evaluation made by the interviewees reveals the absence of some essential characteristics to the entrepreneur. The findings: The research contributes to the studies about the performance of entrepreneurs associated with the satisfactory competitive performance as a purpose. The research demonstrates the interrelation existing in the field of studies of the entrepreneurship in Maranhão. This investigation contributes to the deepening of effective application in management actions by entrepreneurs of Maranhão to the achievement of the competitive performance. The paper also reports strategical evidence of entrepreneur performance, although it may be useful to conduct a comparative analysis with other realities.