Lilia Maria Vargas

A dimensão estratégica das redes horizontais de PMEs: teorizações e evidências

The present article reflects upon the interorganizational networks topic, dealing with theoretical and conceptual aspects of the typologies of interorganizational networks and horizontal networks of small and medium organizations (SMOs), leading the debate to the central thesis: the network configuration as a strategic resource for competitiveness of the SMOs. Next, the methodological aspects are presented, as well as the results of a case study developed with a horizontal network of cooperation comprised by 44 SMOs of the clothing industry, located in the South Region of Brazil. Theoretical and empirical evidences indicate that the network configuration allows the SMOs to achieve benefits such as: greater information and knowledge exchange between companies, participation and sales of products in expositions, lobbying, improvement of enterprise processes, participation in conferences and training courses, price bargaining with suppliers, joint marketing, access to new representatives, greater guarantees in providing credit to customers, facilitated sales of inputs between companies, and gains in economies of scale, scope and specialization.

Knowledge creation in small‐firm network

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to aim to understand how the dynamic of knowledge creation takes place within a small‐firm network (SFN).Design/methodology/approach – The research, qualitative in nature, was developed through the case study of the Clothing Industries Association, called AGIVEST, formed by 35 small clothing industries located in southern Brazil. This article attempts to offer a more comprehensive approach towards the creation of organizational knowledge, by shifting from an endogenous process of the individual firm to a multidirectional exogenous process within networks.Findings – The research presents evidence that the context of a cooperation network may provide an environment of collective learning, represented above all by the interaction dynamic that occurs between the firms through the creation of several types of ba (specific context in terms of time, space and relationship), which support the process of knowledge creation.Originality/value – This approach should consider ...

Rationale for internet-mediated communities.

This article discusses the theoretical foundations of Internet-mediated communities (IMCs), i.e., groups of people who share interests and make use at some time of the same Internet tools (for instance, a web site-the special concern of this study) in order to exchange information about the shared interests. From November 1999 to February 2001 a rationale was developed and validated for such communities and their web sites, due to the lack of theory unification in the field. The authors carried out five case studies of widely known IMCs, seven action researches with established groups of people who were given customized web sites to mediate their interaction, and an exploratory research supported by open-ended interviews with those groups. Additional empirical research is now needed to apply the theoretical grounds here developed to varying IMC contexts and to different communication technologies.

Challenges in organizing care networks for the elderly in two regions of Brazil

The global trend of ageing populations is present in Brazil. Brazilian society is going through an intensive process of transformation, where young adults are increasingly fewer, thus raising the question of who will take care of the elderly in the 21st Century? There is an urgent need to establish care networks for the elderly, covering primary care, including care with housing (Healthy Housing), as well as to ensure access to secondary and tertiary levels of care, providing early diagnoses and rapid access to treatment. This article reports two Brazilian experiences: the restructuring of a shelter for elderly indigents, with 500 elderly residents in Rio de Janeiro, which involved a broad process of humanization, with strong physical restructuring of the buildings that dated from 1930; and the process of organizing the care referral line for the elderly within the Conceição Hospital Group, in Rio Grande do Sul State, which included a health care complex with diverse health units, encompassing all stages of care: from primary care to the most complex hospital treatment.

Knowledge transfer in product development: an analysis of Brazilian subsidiaries of multinational corporations

Several studies about knowledge transfer in multinational corporations have found that the process is influenced by factors such as absorptive capacity, tacit knowledge and power relations, all of which impact knowledge sharing strategies between corporate headquarters and foreign subsidiaries. A multiple case study of Brazilian subsidiaries of three multinational corporations using in-depth interviews, based on a conceptual model consisting of four propositions, was conducted to identify factors linked to the knowledge transfer process and to assess their influence on that transfer. The first proposition tries to assess explicit knowledge, primarily through the use of IT tools; the second analyzes the role of the subsidiary within the corporate network and how it influences the degree of knowledge sharing. The third assesses the influence of subsidiary absorptive capacity and the fourth analyzes the impact of worker exchange programs on knowledge sharing between headquarters and foreign subsidiaries. Study results confirm the four propositions and enable the identification of relationships between factors, especially explicit knowledge and worker expatriation as complementary factors in knowledge transfer strategies.

VISÃO SISTÊMICA DO PENSAMENTO SISTÊMICO: USO DE MAPAS CONCEITUAIS

Existem contribuicoes na literatura sobre Pensamento Sistemico (PS), porem apresentadas de forma dispersa impedindo a visualizacao do relacionamento entre elas e o acumulo de conhecimentos produzidos na area. Este artigo busca evidenciar as principais teorias e metodologias ligadas a estruturacao do PS e seus relacionamentos, a partir de um levantamento retrospectivo de 1960 a 2010. A Gestao do Conhecimento (GC), embora seja mais utilizada por empresas, pode ser aplicada para construcao de novos conhecimentos, atraves do uso de diferentes ferramentas. Para organizar e relacionar os diferentes conceitos e autores foi utilizada a ferramenta mapas conceituais. Esses mapas permitem representar graficamente conceitos, sendo uteis na localizacao e identificacao de relacionamentos entre teorias e conceitos, o que pode levar a formacao de novos conhecimentos. Os resultados da busca permitiram elaborar um mapa com os conhecimentos acumulados sobre o PS, o que possibilitou uma visao mais ampla sobre o tema.

Proposition Schématique du Processus de Création de la Connaissance avec la Stratégie Interorganisationelle de Grappes Industrielles

Les entreprises recherchent des actifs dans un processus de creation de la connaissance, qui vont au-dela des axes economiques. La lacune dans la litterature sur ce sujet a entraine l’interet a focaliser le processus de creation de la connaissance dans les entreprises localisees en clusters industriels. Cet essai theorique a, comme objectif central, la proposition d’un schema conceptuel du processus de creation de la connaissance a l’interieur des entreprises des clusters industriels. Apres la categorisation semantique en quatre axes des elements trouves dans la litterature, il a ete possible de proposer un processus de la creation de la connaissance qui considere l’allocation des actifs tangibles et intangibles, a priori et a posteriori dans ce processus, dans une forme plus ample et dynamique.