Relational Capability and Strategic Alliances for Research and Development/Capacidade Relacional e Aliancas Estrategicas de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento

• Published in: RAC - Revista de Administracao Contemporanea 2020-05, Vol.24 (3), p.201
• Main Authors: Preusler, Taisa Scariot, da Costa, Priscila Rezende, Crespi, Tatiane Baseggio, Porto, Geciane Silveira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1415-6555
• DOI: 10.1590/1982-7849rac2020180181

Context: the Brazilian Agricultural Research Organization has played an important role in research and development to generate innovations. Many of these innovations are generated through research and development alliances with external partners. This stimulates the potential for relationship capability, i.e., a strategic management construct of alliances with procedural proposals that have not yet been verified empirically. Objective: the general aim of the study was to explore how relationship capability processes can help to generate innovations. Methods: qualitative research was conducted using the case study method, based on interviews, document analysis and observation. Three strategic research and development alliances involving the Brazilian Agricultural Research Organization and external partners constituted the analysis corpus. Results: the principal contribution to the advance of knowledge was an interorganizational model for generating innovations based on strategic research and development alliances, founded on the empirical evidence of the relationship capability processes of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Organization and its external partners. Conclusion: this new model provides greater clarity regarding how a public research company absorbs knowledge and unprecedented evidence of the processes of institutionalization and the overflow of relationship capability. Keywords: agricultural innovation; strategic alliances for research and development; relational capability. JEL Code: L1, L2, O32. Contexto: a Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria tem exercido importante papel em pesquisa e desenvolvimento para a geracao de inovacoes. Grande parte dessas inovacoes e devida as aliancas de pesquisa e desenvolvimento com parceiros externos, estimulando potencialmente a capacidade relacional, isto e, um construto de gestao estrategica de aliancas, com proposicoes processuais ainda nao verificadas empiricamente. Objetivo: o objetivo geral deste estudo foi explorar como os processos da capacidade relacional podem contribuir para a geracao de inovacoes. Metodos: realizou-se uma pesquisa qualitativa, utilizando o metodo de estudo de caso, a partir de entrevistas, analise documental e observacao. Tres aliancas estrategicas de pesquisa e desenvolvimento, envolvendo a Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria e parceiros externos, constituiram o corpus de analise. Resultados: a principal contribuicao para o avanco do conhecimento foi um modelo in