Relacionamentos interorganizacionais de cooperação : um estudo sobre os empreendedores associados ao sindicato dos cabeleireiros e similares autônomos do estado de Sergipe

Abstract

Social, cultural, technological changes, and above all in the form of work development, have fostered the construction of new ways of performing work activities and created a dynamic interaction that emerges in the form of cooperation networks. The meaning of working in connection networks translates the idea of people connecting with people, interconnecting resources and skills to collaborate on common goals and obtain, through network collaboration, satisfactory results for all (LIPNACK; STAMPS, 1992; CASTELLS, 1999). Entrepreneurs in the beauty sector associated with a trade union seek institutional support that allows them to develop their activities within an environment of integration provided by a network of cooperation. This sector is integrated through connections in a network of relationships, according to Bouzón (2010), and translates into an entrepreneurship that is dynamic and on a comprehensive scale, as it permeates all social strata. By combining entrepreneurship with associativism and seeking to expand their interorganizational relationships, these entrepreneurs can achieve economic performance and an increase in social relationships that were previously limited or inexistent due to the lack of adequate strategic resources to associate these elements. With the purpose of contributing to studies in the area of cooperation networks, this research aims to analyze how social and economic relations behave between entrepreneurs in the beauty sector linked to SINDICAB - Union of Hairdressers and Similar Autonomous in the State of Sergipe. The methodology used in this study is qualitative in nature and is exploratory and descriptive. Data were collected from the analysis units belonging to the classes of entrepreneurs linked to SINDICAB, through semi-structured interviews and secondary data collected from union documents, media, websites, magazines and social networks available for research. For careful analysis of the collected material, the content analysis technique was used with three phases already established: preanalysis; exploration of the material; and the treatment of results, inference and interpretation (BARDIN, 2011). Data were treated observing the classification defined by the analysis categories. The categories of analysis elements are: the characteristics of the profiles of the entrepreneur and the organization; the cooperative relationships between entrepreneurs linked to the union; the social relations present in joint actions between entrepreneurs linked to the union; the occurrence of competitive factors indicated in network theory. As conclusive results, it can be stated that the individual and collective benefits built within the union cooperation network are based mainly on the developed social relations and on the possibility that its members acquire to keep up-to-date in the knowledge and practices that are essential for exercising their professions and managing their businesses. The network's organizational efficiency could be proven by the competitive gains obtained by its participants in their individual and joint actions.