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There still is a scarcity of studies examining the dynamics of the accumulation of innovative capabilities. This paper examines such issue in eight software companies in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, finding that: there were inter and intra-company differences in terms of speeds of capability accumulation for specific technological functions; younger companies have accumulated capabilities more rapidly; speeds of capability tended to decrease as companies accumulated more innovative levels of capabilities, offering a prospect for the acceleration of the innovation process. Such evidence is to deepen our understanding of the firm-level technological accumulation process,= and provide some notion of the time needed to obtain the benefits from efforts on learning and innovative capability building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theme of competitiveness has been subject of research in different academic realms, such as economy, strategy, operations management and organization studies. As expected, each of these disciplines deal with competitiveness according to its own perspectives and theoretical background. In this essay, we seek to integrate a number of different perspectives, encompassing diverse analysis' levels. As leitmotiv, we take the competitive capability of Brazilian companies vis-à-vis the present business environment. The paper is based on the current literature. Emphasis is given to studies focusing the Brazilian context. Our main objective is to offer a general framework about competitiveness in the Brazilian context. We also speculate on how Brazilian firms could improve their competitiveness. Finally, we indicate limitations of the study and indicate directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]