Competitividade no setor têxtil: as lavanderias industriais de beneficiamento de jeans de Toritama

Abstract

The Agreste Clothing Hub is responsible for generating wealth and allocating an important part of the state's workforce. Toritama, one of the most important municipalities in the region, is dedicated to producing and processing jeans and employs more than 15 thousand people directly in these activities. Jeans processing laundries are responsible for adding value to production, but maintain a lack of innovation, typical of a late capitalist environment, and difficulty in competing. The objective of this research is to analyze the competitiveness characteristics of the Pemambuco clothing cluster based on a case study. To this end, this research was divided into two specific objectives, each comprising an essay. The first essay sought to understand the competitiveness construct in the segment studied through a systematic literature review. The Scopus and Web of Science databases were used to search for articles in English between 2012 and 2022. In the second test, an almost systematic literature review was carried out, giving an overview of competitiveness indicators in the textile and clothing sector , which made up the collection instrument. It was possible to understand the indicators for the competitiveness construct. Therefore, observing the characteristics of the competition environment and the stage of competitiveness through the application of an online questionnaire, in addition to a telephone call and field visit. With the case study, it was verified that the company's potential to compete is unexplored in its entirety. The results of this research are an important source of data that aim to encourage discussions and the formulation of public policies that develop competitiveness in the segment studied, not only in the Cluster in question. The limitation is due to the fact that it is a case study, that is, it is not possible to make generalizations about the phenomenon, nor the productive space studied. It is suggested to carry out work that seeks to understand the whole, based on a Survey with a representative sample of the reality of industrial jeans processing laundries in the region.