Ambiente coletivo de aprendizagem no ecossistema de negócios de impacto social do Nordeste do Brasil

Abstract

This study explored the interorganizational dynamics of the social impact business ecosystem in Northeast Brazil, with the overall aim of analyzing how interorganizational relationships among the ecosystem’s key enablers contribute to the development of a Collective Learning Environment. The specific objectives were: (a) to understand the context of action of the enablers within the Northeast Social Impact Business Ecosystem; (b) to characterize the processes of interorganizational learning in the Collective Learning Environment of the Social Impact Business Ecosystem in Northeast Brazil; (c) to identify the barriers that hinder the formation of a Collective Learning Environment; (d) to highlight the determining factors for the dynamics of the Collective Learning Environment in the Social Impact Business Ecosystem; and (e) to propose a reference framework that characterizes the Collective Learning Environment of the Social Impact Ecosystem. Adopting a qualitative approach, the research involved interviews with managers and coordinators of ecosystem enablers, complemented by document analysis and data from specialized platforms. Data analysis was conducted through a comprehensive and interpretative examination of the participants’ narratives, enabling the identification of emerging categories from the discourses, as well as the grouping of patterns and shared meanings among participants. This process revealed the predominant types of learning within the ecosystem and provided an understanding of how these processes are interconnected through formal, informal, and social practices. The results show that ecosystem enablers perform multiple roles involving articulation, capacity-building, and acceleration, and that their actions mobilize three structuring components of the Collective Learning Environment: abiotic (resources, methodologies, spaces, and technologies), biotic (actors and their interactions), and symbolic (identity, belonging, narratives, and language). These elements were systematized into an empirical framework that highlights interorganizational learning as a social and contextual phenomenon. This thesis broadens the understanding of mechanisms that foster interorganizational learning in social impact contexts, while also enabling a reading of the ecosystem through the lens of learning.