Application of Porter’s competitive strategies to the restoration sector: the portuguese case of the NUT III do Cávado

Abstract

Several strategic typologies have been developed and analyzed in different industrial contexts and sectors, in terms of their applicability. Porter’s strategic typology is one of the most commonly found in the literature, and the one on which the highest number of studies have been carried out. However, little attention has been paid to the service sector. The aim of this study is to determine the applicability of Porter’s typology to the restoration industry in the NUT III do Cavado (Portugal). According to the questions and objective of the investigation, two types of statistical analysis were used: Factorial analysis, and cluster analysis, to identify the factors determining the strategies, and classify the companies in groups, within the sector analyzed. The results show that in the restoration industry, Porter’s typology is no longer effective in that companies which follow more than one generic strategy present a higher level of performance, and do not conform to the proposals defended by Porter. Key words: Strategy Typology, Restoration Sector, Tourism.