One of the key features of the new economy is the change from individual to collective efficiency. The main determinant of the successful delivery of the goods and services demanded by global or regional markets is the joint performance of firms networked as strategic alliances, production or value chains or industrial clusters. The starting point for the development of this study was the idea that participation in an entrepreneurial network influences the conditions for the establishment of the firms' strategies and the formation of competencies. Searching for empirical evidences for that argument, we developed a survey (490 respondents) about the recent evolution of industry in Brazil to see how local firms are redefining their strategies, organization and building relationships to survive and compete in a globalised and networked economy. The outcomes of the research reinforce the importance of networks as a basic concept for the analysis of competitiveness at firm and aggregate levels. Regarding the new organizational architecture of the Brazilian industry, what was observed was the widespread alignment of local firms into value chains led by TNC's and their subsidiaries, a limited number of strategic alliances, and a significant number of isolated firms, unable to respond to the demands of the new competition.
international manufacturing; supply chains; interorganizational networks; brazilian industry
