This article presents some important methodological questions related to the project "Economic groups of the Brazilian industry and economy policy: structure, strategies and chollenqes". a joint research involving the Instituto de Economia da Universidade Estadual de Campinas and Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo da Fundação Getúlio Vargas (EAESPIFGV). It analises the corporate strategies of these groups based upon the concepts of sinergy, core competences and core products and the possibility of creating a useful tipology to study corporate control and diversification strategies as well. The human resources management is considered a relevant element to understand the strategical behavior of economic groups.
business groups; corporate strategies; sinergy; core business; core competences