PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT AS CONDITIONING FACTOR OF COMPETITIVENESS OF COFFEE IN THE MINAS GERAIS CERRADO

Abstract

Knowledge of good agricultural practices for innovation and use of technology in the management of coffee production allows us to advance in the competitive positioning of companies. This study involved rural properties of the Cerrado of Minas Gerais with conventional production systems and sought to highlight the opportunities to improve competitiveness in coffee production. A literature review addressed topics that include knowledge as a factor of production with added value, innovation, use of technology and entrepreneurship. The managers of four large scale coffee producing properties were interviewed using a questionnaire composed of 51 questions that reflect the production management of these producers. The results indicate that the management of production in the farms investigated presents initiatives that help in the promotion of innovation and technology in production, but still need to adopt practices of improvement of social capital represented in the concern with training and selective harvest that lead to the use of the opportunity to sell of value-added production.