A inovação gerencial em empresas nascentes a partir da relação entre a inovação aberta e a capacidade absortiva: um estudo no ambiente de inovação de empresas de base tecnológica de Uberlândia-MG

Abstract

Although innovation has a strong connection with technology, recent studies reveal that non-technological innovation has become a factor with a strong potential to contribute to the performance of organizations (KON, 2016). One of the fundamental elements for the generation of innovation is the absorptive capacity, which corresponds to the capacity of an organization to identify, acquire and accumulate internal and external knowledge, in order to apply it in the improvement of its products and services (COHEN; LEVINTHAL, 1990). Another relevant element is the environment where innovation is generated, considering that organizational collaborative practices have become increasingly intense in so-called innovation environments, where the open innovation model is often practiced (CHESBROUGH, 2003). This study aimed to examine how the bases for the development of management innovation in technology-based startups are formed, based on the concept of open innovation, in partnerships between these companies and consolidated companies, operating in the collective innovation environment of the city of Uberlândia - MG, UberHub. In order to carry out the study, in addition to documentary research, semi-structured interviews were conducted, based on three different routes, with: agents involved in the innovation environment; managers of an established company and managers of technology-based start-ups. The interviews were recorded, later transcribed, and on this material (documentary research and transcriptions, content analysis was carried out from which the categories and subcategories of analysis emerged. The results revealed that: i) the innovation environment of Uberlândia - MG, UberHub, presents evidence of being configured as an inter-organizational network; ii) the elements that make up the basis for the creation of management innovation in operational aspects, in management processes and in the organizational structure are the innovation environment - through collective initiatives, information dissemination and resource sharing; the relationship of the consolidated company with the new companies, being a source of training, inspiration and generation of opportunities; the initiative of new companies seeking to create their own solutions to their reality; and the interaction that occurs between new companies, through a relationship of collaboration and knowledge sharing, the last not pointed out in the literature. In addition, based on the relationships between the companies, the gain of the consolidated company is not limited only to the technological innovations that new companies can bring, but also to the learning that this relationship can generate. This study contributed to the advancement in the discussion about management innovation, relating it to the open innovation model and the absorptive capacity of new technology-based companies. One of the limitations of this study was due to the fact that the data were collected at only a certain moment, preventing the monitoring and analysis of these relationships over time. Other studies can be carried out in order to deepen the analysis of the innovation environment in Uberlândia in order to investigate aspects such as: nature and purpose of training events and spaces for knowledge sharing; and the impacts of using collaborative spaces on the productivity and innovation of technology-based companies. The technological product of this dissertation is configured as a teaching plan that can serve as a basis for the application of a training course aimed at managers of new companies.