It is possible to say that the results of technology innovation efforts in a company are due not only to technical skills, but also to organizational (internal view) and relational (external view) competences. The knowledge of relations among actual competences and the potential of results generation can be an important element to the definition of corporate strategies.This work discusses these relations based on the way in which innovation competences, performance indicators and technology positioning of a Brazilian petrochemical company have evolved from the early 1990s up to 20002. It has been found that the competences (and their use) and the indicators have increased simultaneously. In some cases it was possible to identify a cause-effect relationship. It was also found that the increase in competences and their use contributed to an evolution, even though it was not intentional, of the company's technological positioning.
competences for innovation; technological positioning; brazilian petrochemical industry
