Formação da estrutura de redes sociais e inovação : um estudo na Incubadora Tecnológica de Maringá

Abstract

Studies about the formation and evolution of social networks, and how they affect economic action, have been highlighted in research in Economic Sociology and Administration. It is a dynamic look at the networks, which allows a better understanding of their impacts on organizations. For the analysis about the relation between networks and economic action under this dynamic perspective, we chose to use the innovation, an economic action form that has been related to networks in the literature, due to its relationships with the exchange of information. The purpose of this article is to discuss how the formation and evolution of social networks influence innovation in incubated technology-based firms at Technology Incubator in Maringá. We conducted a multiple-case study in three companies in different incubation periods. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with members of the incubatee firms, to identify which relationships were important at the beginning of the incubation period and how these relationships have developed over time. Furthermore, we discussed the role of the incubator as a broker in relationships development, showing a different perception between incubator and incubatees. We found different patterns of relationships in organizations, and these relationships bring different types of support and information. Were also identified different types of legitimacy according to organization performance (market legitimacy versus academic legitimacy). The study showed how the social ties are formed and how they break down over time, showing that organizations with more diverse relationships have greater access to different resources and tend to innovate more.