Bia Brazil: Activewear Made in Brazil to the World

Kotabe, Masaaki; Nunes, Moema Pereira; Steinbruch, Fernanda Kalil

doi:10.1590/1982-7849rac2021190357.en

person Masaaki Kotabe

schoolTemple University, The Fox School of Business, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Masaaki Kotabe Temple University, The Fox School of Business 1801 Liacouras Drive, 559 Alter Hall (006-00), 19122-6008, Philadelphia, PA, United States. E-mail address: mkotabe@temple.edu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1078-4844

0000-0002-1078-4844

person Moema Pereira Nunes

schoolUniversidade FEEVALE, Instituto de Ciências Sociais Aplicadas, Novo Hamburgo, RS, Brazil. Moema Pereira Nunes * Universidade FEEVALE, Instituto de Ciências Sociais Aplicadas RS-239, nº 2755 , Vila Nova, 93352-000, Novo Hamburgo, RS, Brazil. E-mail address: moemanunes@hotmail.com; moema@feevale.br https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9729-9074

0000-0002-9729-9074

person Fernanda Kalil Steinbruch

schoolUniversidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Escola de Administração, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Fernanda Kalil Steinbruch Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Escola de Administração Rua Washington Luiz, nº 855, Centro Histórico, 90010-460, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil E-mail address: fernanda_ks@hotmail.com https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8059-2752

0000-0001-8059-2752

person* Corresponding Author

Masaaki Kotabe

Temple University, The Fox School of Business

1801 Liacouras Drive, 559 Alter Hall (006-00), 19122-6008, Philadelphia, PA, United States.

E-mail address: mkotabe@temple.edu

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1078-4844

Moema Pereira Nunes *

Universidade FEEVALE, Instituto de Ciências Sociais Aplicadas

RS-239, nº 2755 , Vila Nova, 93352-000, Novo Hamburgo, RS, Brazil.

E-mail address: moemanunes@hotmail.com; moema@feevale.br

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9729-9074

Fernanda Kalil Steinbruch

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Escola de Administração

Rua Washington Luiz, nº 855, Centro Histórico, 90010-460, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

E-mail address: fernanda_ks@hotmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8059-2752

Authors' Contributions

1^st author: conceptualization (supporting); formal analysis (supporting); writing-review & editing (supporting).

2^nd author: conceptualization (lead); formal analysis (equal); investigation (equal); project administration (lead); writing-original draft (lead); writing-review & editing (equal).

3^rd author: formal analysis (equal); investigation (equal); writing-original draft (equal).

Conflict of Interests

The authors have stated that there is no conflict of interest.

Editor-in-chief: Wesley Mendes-Da-Silva (Fundação Getulio Vargas, EAESP, Brazil) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5500-4872

Associate Editor: Paula C. P. de S. Chimenti (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, COPPEAD, Brazil) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6492-4072

Segment	Activity	Estimated time
Opening	Instructors can begin the class with some general questions, for example: Who knew the company previously? What is your personal opinion about the company and its products? This will allow students to get involved in the class.	10 minutes
Warm-up (assigned questions)	We recommend that the class be divided into small groups of students to discuss the case based on assigned questions such as: What motivated the entrepreneur to start the business? How was the internationalization process of the company? Which entry modes were used by Bia Brazil to internationalize?	15 minutes
Plenary activity (discussion questions)	Instructors can start the plenary activity based on the discussion questions A, B, C, and D. These questions focus on the analysis of the case based on the two aspects of internationalization: International New Ventures and Born Globals. Instructors should present the questions and request students to apply the academic literature to develop the answers. Instructors must conduct the discussion with students. A list of suggested references for the case analysis is presented after this table. Instructors can recommend students to study these articles in advance in order to analyze the case. Considering time limitation, we recommend the discussion to be conducted in a large group.	80 minutes (20 minutes for each question)
Closing statement (future directions)	Question E can be used as closing statement focusing on the deductive use of the theory to analyze the case. Afterwards, they can focus on the company's trajectory and its future prospects. It is important to encourage students to think about future business strategies. We recommend instructors to invite students to reflect on what they previously studied about the company and to use their previous knowledge to analyze the situation.	20 minutes

Question	Main topics to be discussed
a) For what reasons has the company already started operations aimed at the global market, rather than starting locally?	INV: the proactive international strategy based on value added issues; the development of alternative control over unique resources; early stages - experience and the network of the founders; later stages - continuous use of network relationships to pursue market opportunities. Born Global: rapidly internationalization; flexibility as a competitive advantage; innovative capacity; the development of specific types of knowledge that drove the development of organizational capabilities to support the internationalization and performance in international markets; market opportunities worldwide; the emergence of global niches; technological developments in communications; the emergence of global networks and alliances; organizational capabilities and personal connection of the founder-entrepreneur.
b) In what way did the presence of the manager as an international entrepreneur influence the internationalization process of Bia Brazil Activewear?	INV: the concept of 'the next generation of founders'; international experience; open and different mindset; 'an unusual constellation of competencies' - networks, knowledge, and background; international business experience with knowledge about global environment. Born Globals: global vision; capabilities at the strategy and organizational levels; the view of the world as 'their market'.
c) Starting from exports, Bia Brazil adopted different entry modes during the internationalization process. What are the possible entry modes for an internationalizing company such as Bia Brazil?	Entry modes: export; franchise stores; strategic alliance (USA partner); showroom in Portugal
d) How does the company deal with the need for product adaptation and innovation in the internationalization process?	Company characteristics: firm's international experience; export sales goal for the venture; entry scope. Product/industry characteristics: technology orientation of industry; product uniqueness; cultural specificity of product; type of product. Export market characteristics: similarity of legal requirements; competitiveness of export market; product familiarity of export customers.
e) What difficulties do you believe Bia Brazil Activewear will face in order to consolidate itself with physical units in Brazil?	Lack of experience with physical retail activities. Potential challenges to manage the new stores, especially regarding logistics and promotion. Limited human resources.

Entry mode	International New Ventures	Born Globals	General comments
Export	The choice of the activities that will be internationalized depends on the network developed by the firm and its need of assets from partners. Bia Brazil centralized the production in Brazil. Export remains as a consequence.	Export as the initial entry mode. The maintenance of the focus on sales through exports can be supported by the use of other entry modes.
Franchise stores	The selection of the entry mode is shaped not only by the company interest. It considers interests of other players in the network of relationships. Governance structures such as licensing, franchising, strategic alliances, and networks are adopted. Bia Brazil adopted the use of franchise stores in partnerships with local entrepreneurs as a way to explore their knowledge regarding the local market and retail - a very important asset in the business. Standardization of the company image and the customization of products according with their partners' feedback on products design.	Companies search for market opportunities. Bia Brazil internationalization process was to conduct market selection in a non-systematic way. The search for opportunities worldwide that could be interesting for the company.	Regarding the development of networks with the support of Apex-Brazil, we did not find support to analyze the case based on INV and Born Globals approaches. If instructors want to deeply explore this issue we recommend the investigation of the Networks approach.
Strategic alliance (USA partner)	In order to increase operation abroad, companies need to have some activities coordinated across countries. Bia Brazil uses its partner in USA not just to attend to the local market, but also as a platform to sell to other countries. Brazil USA works as an instrument to sell the company worldwide, as many new clients can get in contact with the company using the US website.	Alliances and joint ventures with key-partners are established to support exports. Companies gradually develop distributors abroad. The partnership developed with the North American representative evolved from a B2B client to strategic partner responsible for the company's website and distribution in USA and surrounding countries.
Showroom in Portugal	INV's theory does not state anything explicitly about foreign direct investments. Besides that, we must consider that this theory supports that the development of the firm depends on its internationalization efforts, so it tends to be intense depending on the need for assets from abroad. Knowing more about an international market may be a need identified by Bia Brazil. Once more, even though it is not clear in the case, instructors can encourage students to think about it.	Born global theory does not state anything explicitly about foreign direct investments.	The establishment of Foreign Direct Investments is not well-explained by the theories used to analyze the case. At this point, we can recommend instructors to invite students to search for other theories that can be used at this analysis, as the Uppsala Internationalization Process Model. According to this approach, companies starts to internationalize through exports, followed by contractual agreements as joint ventures. As the company gains experimental knowledge in foreign markets, wholly owned investments abroad are made.

Dimension	Variable	Bia Brazil
Company characteristics	Firm's international experience	A strong international experience supports the efforts to adapt products. Several changes have been required since the beginning of their exports. The willingness to adapt has influenced Bia Brazil strategy - to be open to adapt the products for markets' need.
	Export sales goal for the venture	Export is the main revenue source. The company knows that it needs to offer what customers want to be competitive.
	Entry scope	Products represent a potential scope economy for their retail customers. They attend to several needs of athletes or practitioners of physical activities. Regarding export's costs, different products can be exported together.
Product/industry characteristics	Technology orientation of industry	The activewear industry has improved technology in the last decades. Examples of technologies: anti-odor, breathable, and more comfortable fabrics for physical activity.
	Product uniqueness	Activewear outfits cannot be considered unique products. Sometimes their raw materials and the way they are used can give uniqueness for the company.
	Cultural specificity of product	The main driver of product adaptation for Bia Brazil products. They need to adapt colors, patterns, sizes, and even design to be competitive in many countries. The cultural specificity changes every year and it is mandatory for the company to follow the trends. The need for religious adaptation occurs less often. However, when it happens, products need to be adapted significantly.
	Type of product	The way women want to dress for exercise changes very frequently. New designs and fashion trends require the development of new products constantly. In addition to belonging to the same segment, activewear, the specific products must be changed.
Export market	Similarity of legal requirements	There is a low level of legal differences in different countries.
	Competitiveness of export market	Quality and the capability to launch new patterns and products are the main competitive advantages. The competitiveness of Bia Brazil depends on its capacity to innovate, not product adaptation.
	Product familiarity of export customers	Activewear outfits are used worldwide, especially influenced by the fashion industry and the export markets. Bia Brazil does not need to promote product familiarity to its customers.

Bia Brazil: Activewear Made in Brazil to the World

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