摘要:This article presents some important methodological questions related to the project "Economic groups of the Brazilian industry and economy policy: structure, strategies and challenges", 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 (EAESP/FGV). 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.