Study goals
To qualify and classify strategic portfolio products into the BCG Matrix quadrants, analyzing managers' perceptions and identifying recurrent narrative themes. The study also aims to describe a content analysis methodology assisted by generative AI
Relevance / originality
The BCG Matrix, although criticized, persists as a management tool. This study fills the gap of scalable qualitative analyses of the matrix, exploring the narrative context of managerial decision-making using artificial intelligence
Methodology / approach
Exploratory qualitative research with content analysis assisted by generative AI, using Gemini 2.5 Pro to process 20 open-ended questionnaires applied to managers from various sectors. The methodology included data preparation, thematic coding, iterative prompt engineering, and human validation steps
Main results
Managers' perceptions of the "Stars" and "Cash Cows" categories corroborate the matrix theory, with the former being high-growth potential products and the latter the financial pillars of the organization The "Question Marks" are seen as strategic dilemmas and the "Dogs" as products
Theoretical / methodological contributions
The study validates the BCG Matrix as a relevant tool for managerial analysis and demonstrates the practical application of a large language model (Gemini 2 5 Pro) in qualitative research It provides a replicable guide for the efficient and rigorous processing
Social / management contributions
The research offers an in-depth view of how the BCG Matrix shapes managers' strategic narratives and decision-making. Additionally, the AI-assisted methodology can be used by companies for quick and effective analysis of large volumes of qualitative data