A ação do capital social em social business: um estudo de caso no Instituto da Primeira Infância - IPREDE

Abstract

The social inequalities caused by the lack of public power to attend the needs of the population required efforts for innovative solutions to social problems. In the social context, new types of business emerge and therefore new forms of knowledge and management are also required to solve the social problems that were initially ignored or little relevant. In this work, we aimed to understand more specifically the growth of a new business model: social business. Social businesses emerge as an organization that combines two objectives previously seen as incompatible: financial self-sustainability and social impact generation. The social business area is still under construction and draws on different conceptual influences, although it is a field of research that has been the subject of many discussions and is in search of its relevance in academic literature. As for the object under study, the Institute of Early Childhood (IEC) is dedicated to promoting nutrition and development in early childhood, articulating with actions aimed at strengthening mothers and social inclusion of families. Faced with the importance of social affairs, the research made possible the exploration of constructs aligned with social business, such as its connection with social capital, as well as its relationship with stakeholders. Based on the knowledge on the theme that addressed social affairs and its relation with the development of social capital with its stakeholders, the general objective of this work was established, which consists in analyzing the performance of social capital in the development of IEC. As for the methodological procedures, this is an investigation of a qualitative nature with an interpretive approach. The research process developed through a case study with analysis and interpretations through information provided by IEC managers and Stakeholders (partner companies) that maintains this virtuous relationship with IEC. Interviews were conducted with scripts, guides and documentary research. The analysis of the data was done through the analysis of content, using a social network analysis tool ARS or SNA, of the english expression Social Network Analysis, and were mapped through the software UCINET 6.357, NetDraw 2,814 and ATLAS.ti 8 , whose purpose was to analyze the relationships that individuals establish through their interactions with each other. As the main results, the research revealed that, although the IEC presents characteristics of a social business, mainly regarding the social impact that causes in society, the institution fails to meet one of the main characteristics of a social business: "Self-sustainability financial." study also highlighted the results obtained in the analysis of the structural, relational and cognitive dimensions. It was seen in the structural dimension that an important construct for the construction of social capital is the exchange of information that, despite the managers of the IEC considered important, the structural network evidenced low density, which can cause the deficit information exchange, as some managers of the institution. Regarding the relational dimension, among the aspects analyzed, we highlight the trust. It is perceived that trust for social actions stimulates the development of a relationship that involves credibility. In addition to credibility, the results showed that trust is understood as one of the essential factors for compliance with standards, when well defined and for building social capital. Finally, research findings at general levels have shown that when language and codes are shared, one can expect that the cognitive dimension also improves the relationship, trust, and communication between stakeholders.