In the United States, 20% of newly established small businesses, including small businesses in the life insurance industry, fail within 2 years, and over 50% of them fail during the first 5 years. The purpose of this multiple case study was to identify and explore the strategies that life insurance brokerage owners use to sustain business operations beyond 5 years. Porter's 5 forces model served as the conceptual framework for exploring this subject matter. Owners of 3 separate small life insurance brokerage firms in Texas, who sustained their businesses beyond 5 years, participated in semistructured interviews. A secondary source of data was relevant company documents. Methodological triangulation and member checking assured the reliability and validity of the interpretations. Through thematic analysis and supporting software, 5 themes emerged: exceptional customer service, relationship-building, efficient promotional strategies, regular training of salespersons, and hiring the right employees. The application of the findings of the study could contribute to positive social change by reducing unemployment and thereby catalyzing an economic environment supporting employees, families, and communities.

Submitted by Cristiane Oliveira (cristiane.oliveira@fgv.br) on 2011-05-24T13:29:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 71080100009.pdf: 1036762 bytes, checksum: 893b5d89a98bed04889918f91de73acc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Gisele Isaura Hannickel(gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2011-05-24T13:41:36Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 71080100009.pdf: 1036762 bytes, checksum: 893b5d89a98bed04889918f91de73acc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Gisele Isaura Hannickel(gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2011-05-24T13:43:12Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 71080100009.pdf: 1036762 bytes, checksum: 893b5d89a98bed04889918f91de73acc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2011-05-24T13:46:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 71080100009.pdf: 1036762 bytes, checksum: 893b5d89a98bed04889918f91de73acc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-04-26 / The research focus is to present an integrated analysis model for the behavior pattern of Brazilian banks in the Internet environment. A single case study was conducted at Banco do Brasil. Most interviews took place at Banco do Brasil’s administrative and technology headquarters in the city of Brasília, DF. An Integrated Analysis Model was presented based in many theories and structures of the organizational studies and information systems fields. Findings show that the studied phenomena can be understood with the simultaneous application of all selected theories, proving the complexity of the study object. Research limitations include the fact that this research was focused on a single case and also that it was not possible to run this research with a bigger sample of organizations. Study originality and contribution relies on proposing the Integrated Analysis Model with analysis structures and theories that help to understand the object of study. Future studies may replicate this research in a bigger number of companies to present a richer analysis. / O objetivo deste estudo é propor um modelo de análise integrada para a forma de atuação dos bancos brasileiros no ambiente da Internet. Para tanto foi conduzido um estudo de caso único com o Banco do Brasil. A maioria das entrevistas foi realizada nas sedes administrativa e de tecnologia do banco na cidade de Brasília, DF. Foi proposto um Modelo de Análise Integrada baseado em várias teorias e estruturas da área de estudos organizacionais e sistemas de informação. Entre as descobertas da pesquisa está a constatação de que o fenômeno estudado pode ser satisfatoriamente compreendido com o emprego de todas as teorias selecionadas, comprovando a complexidade do objeto desta pesquisa. O estudo apresentou entre suas limitações o fato de ter sido um estudo de caso único, como também a impossibilidade de se realizar esta pesquisa em amplo espectro, com um número consideravelmente maior de organizações. O ineditismo e a contribuição deste estudo residem no fato de ter proposto um modelo integrado com teorias e estruturas de análise que facilitam a compreensão do fenômeno observado. Em estudos futuros o pesquisador poderia incluir a pesquisa em um número maior de instituições para enriquecer a análise.