Análise estrutural das redes de relacionamentos de empresas no processo de incubação: um estudo comparativo antes e durante o período de graduação

Abstract

In Brazil, there is an attempt to better leverage the development of small and medium-sized companies that strive for innovation through interaction between companies, research institutions and government agencies in innovation environments or habitats. Innovation habitats can be formed through pre-incubators, business incubators, smart cities, innovation centers, accelerators, coworkings, technology parks, local productive arrangements, industrial and business clusters, prototyping laboratories and technological innovation centers ( PIETROSKI et al., 2010; MACHADO, 2018; TEXEIRA, 2018). Among these habitats, the focus of this study is incubators. From this, the research question is defined: What are the characteristics of the relationship networks of companies incubated in an incubator in the state of Ceará before and during the graduation period? The general objective is to analyze the networks of relationships of companies incubated in an incubator in the state of Ceará before and during the graduation period. To achieve the objectives two questionnaires were applied in an incubator in Ceará. The first was applied in the fourth quarter of 2019, with 100% of the population residing in the incubator, and the second, in December 2020, with the incubated companies that continued in the incubation process, the new entrants and dropouts. For the analysis of the network, the Ucinet 6.0 software was used and for the generation of graphics, Netdraw. The results showed that the centrality of the network does not necessarily happen due to the length of stay in the network. The external agents of the first network were more centralized in partners, being changed to the customer network in the second moment, which confirms that as the cycles evolve, the type of relationships also changes. The relationship of the incubated companies with the management of the incubator became more frequent and stronger during the graduation period. Finally, a table was drawn up showing the benefits offered by the incubator in the public notice of the public notice and those that the incubated companies mention during the incubation period.