Public policies, management strategies, and the sustainable and competitive management model in handicrafts

Abstract This article addresses the theme sustainable and competitive craft management supported by public policies. It fills the gap in the identified literature of the absence of management models for a sector that strives for personalization, productive specialization and social inclusion of people who have artistic attitude. The study aims to analyze cooperation as a determinant of management strategies and their impacts on the model of sustainable and competitive management in the activity of crafts. Thus, the research questions are: is cooperation a determinant of management strategies? Does cooperation impact on the sustainable and competitive management model of artisanal activity? Its elaboration was supported by the theoretical background from the postulates of the Strategic Decision Theory (SDT). Specially look for the attributes cooperation, competition and sustainable management. From a questionnaire, we collected data from 156 artisans registered with the Department of Social Assistance in the municipality of Chapeco, Brazil (SEASC). The study’s hypotheses were tested based on confirmatory factor analysis, analysis of the main components, multiple linear regressions and logistic regressions. The results indicate that cooperation positively influences craft market strategies. In addition, improvement strategies in the management of handicrafts positively influence market strategies and support sustainable and competitive management models for this activity. On the other hand, there was no evidence that cooperation influences the management of handicrafts, nor did it support the hypothesis that market strategies support models of sustainable and competitive management of handicrafts. The challenge of making crafts sustainable and competitive is directly associated with making strategic decisions, including results from the articulation of the actors in the researched network, mainly for the creation of market strategies and the management of crafts. The results emphasize that public policies encourage cooperation and, therefore, should be considered a strategic factor that strengthens the activity through social inclusion, job creation, income and quality of life of the artisan. The study contributions to the literature because it analyzes cooperation as a determinant of management strategies for a poorly explored productive segment, despite being considered inclusive, differentiated, which generates high added value and values personal skills and competences that go beyond academic knowledge.