The competitive environment and generic strategy of a family run auditing firm in Brazil : a case study / Werner Trieloff

With the global financial crisis coming to a long awaited, though slow, end and the Fifa Soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympic Games in 2016 having been awarded to Brazil in 2009, 2010 holds many challenges and an ever–diversifying environment in which a Brazilian firm needs to formulate and implement a competitive strategy.Over the last couple of years, Brazil has been a focus point for investors seeking high growth; however, the complex business environment has been a thorn in many international and national firms' side.With this complex environment as the starting point and many new opportunities as the future focus, Brazilian firms need to find accurate and relevant information about their environment, the markets, their competitors and their clients in order to choose the best strategy for the achievement of the overall goal of any company - increasing the wealth of the shareholder.The overall objective of this study is thus to use corporate planning tools to evaluate the internal and external environment of BAF Ltda in order to ensure that the best strategy is chosen and adopted so as to make the most of the opportunities that the coming years will bring.The planning tools utilised in this study are the SWOT and PEST analysis. Both have formed part of the strategic planning process of many firms over the past century and have proved to be a key part in putting together the information needed from which to build a sustainable strategy. This study evaluates both of these planning tools and applies them to the chosen company for this case study.Following on the corporate appraisal of the PEST and SWOT techniques, generic strategies are evaluated and suggested based on the information gathered through the analyses.