Redes empresariais de cooperação : o estudo caso do arranjo produtivo de confecções da Rua do Uruguai, Salvador, Bahia

Abstract

Cooperative business networks can be generally defined as a multidimensional clustering of firms who interrelate in order to increase their competitive capacity. The formation of such clusters is strongly connected to the culture of creating bonds of confidence among actors, to the sharing of strategic intentions and to the nature of resources used by its members during their interactions. Against this background, this research focuses on three aspects of inter-firm cooperation networks: strategic management, risk management and information and communication management. The aim of this work is to describe the elements of management that contribute to the formation of these networks and how they are related to innovation performance and cooperative profile. We used case studies as a method of empirical analysis of the organization of industrial firms in networks, as seen in the case of the sector-oriented nuclei and associative patterns taking place in the Uruguay Street Textile Cluster, in the city of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, between 2004-2005. The importance of this research becomes evident when considering the aforementioned challenges faced by small businesses, i.e. competitiveness and innovation versus lack of cooperation culture. The textile sector was chosen as object due to the prevalence of micro- and small-sized firms which develop their manufacturing activities in all regions of the state of Bahia, as well as the important role it plays in supplying local products and creating jobs.