Cooperation in the Cluster of Santa Rita do Sapucaí

• Autor(a) principal: de Sousa, Ana Rosa
• Data de Publicação: 2014
• Outros Autores: de Brito, Mozar José, da Silva, Paulo José, Araújo, Uajará Pessoa
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: RAM. Revista de Administração Mackenzie
• Texto Completo: https://editorarevistas.mackenzie.br/index.php/RAM/article/view/4801
• topic: Cooperation. Trust. Cluster. Governance. Santa Rita do Sapucaí.; Cooperación. Confianza. APL. Gobernanza. Santa Rita do Sapucaí.; Cooperação. Confiança. APL. Governança. Santa Rita do Sapucaí.

In this paper we present the main results of a research that investigated the explanatory constructs of cooperation among the firms belonging to the Local Production Arrangement (LPA) located in Santa Rita do Sapucaí City, Minas Gerais State. Firstly, some aspects about the genesis, development and contemporary configuration of that arrangement were pointed out. Subsequently, we propose a theoretical and methodological framework which worked as a reference to provide the explanations of the relationships between the constructs of cooperation, trust, benefits, and others. The multivariate techniques factor analysis and polynomial regression were applied to test and validate this proposal. The research results showed correlations which suggest the positive perceptions of managers regarding to the governance of the production arrangement, as well as the benefits from cooperation. In the managers’ perception, the benefits generate individual and collective advantages for the firms researched. Finally, the results contradict some formulations of the theoretical and methodological framework used to explain the relationships of trust built up among the firms operating in the same territory. The results suggest also that the APL Santa Rita would be a good example of the relevance of two institutional elements: the governance (in this case, the Union of the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Industry of the Vale da Eletrônica – SINDIVEL – and the local government) and, the mediation of educational entities which provide the qualification of the labor force and, play a role of business incubators as well. It seems appropriate to attribute the APL setting up and even its development to the role played by these entities, combined with the actions of the visionary people who were in charge of its management. As any other research, this study has its limitations. Among others, is the cross-section of the data setting. While it is supposed the relevance of taking into account the historical dynamic; it is presented a punctual analysis.