Vanessa Theis

A Study of Innovation Management at Braskem

In the current economic climate, companies must seek new ways to manage innovation, which has recently become a key method of differentiation in competitive markets. The general goal of this article was to study the process of innovation management in a petrochemical company. A case study performed at Braskem showed that the ability to manage and use knowledge is the major drive of technological innovation. The evidence obtained also showed that partnerships with academic and research institutions have a direct impact on organizational R&D, accelerating results and reducing costs.

Comprehensive analysis of innovation in R&D as a cultural practice

The main objective of this study is to analyze to what extent innovation has been disseminated as an organizational practice in three technological companies. Using a qualitative approach and narrative analysis, was investigated the construction of innovation practices adopted in the R&D area of organizations in the southern region of Brazil, which enables their reinterpretation as cultural practices. The analysis of the narratives provided by the interviewees revealed that innovation seems to become more effective from the moment when its practice is internalized by collaborators and is established as an organizational practice. In the three cases under study was possible to observe that the organizational practices for innovation are more strongly based on the culture of those companies that already have a history of innovation for their products and processes, and in which the role of the founder, as an innovating entrepreneur, is fundamental to maintain these practices, although he might not be seen as an organizational myth.