A dinâmica de colaboração entre startups e empresas consolidadas: um estudo sob a ótica de microfundamentos

Abstract

Collaboration has been garnering the interest of the academic community over the past decades. This strategy aims to gain access to external resources, which may often be unavailable or out of reach for the organization. The purpose of collaboration is to achieve competitive advantages and market survival. Accordingly, corporations engage with startups to facilitate the innovation process and solve problems, while startups engage to access external resources and for the ease of entering markets. However, little is known about the collaboration process from the perspective of startups. It is argued that specific microfoundations are mobilized over time to manage and ensure the outcomes of collaboration. This study aims to analyze how startups establish a specific set of microfoundations to collaborate with corporations. To achieve this general objective, a multiple case study was conducted based on the collaborative relationship between eight startups and an agro-industrial cooperative. The analysis considered interviews with open-ended questions regarding the collaboration process as the primary data source. The compiled data were transcribed and analyzed using content analysis and coding techniques. The main findings highlight different microfoundations mobilized throughout the stages of the collaboration process: (1) Preparation/Initiation, (2) Collaboration, and (3) Outcomes. Additionally, a pre-initial stage was identified, emphasizing the active involvement of individuals within the activities of an innovation ecosystem. It was found that startups develop routines and processes to adapt their technology and solutions based on the needs identified by the established company. Furthermore, multiple characteristics at both the individual and startup levels influence the collaboration and context levels, and the impact of contextual factors (e.g., innovation ecosystem, political and regional incentives) on the process was also noted. Collaboration from the startups' perspective is shaped by their characteristics, which span different levels and phases of the process, as well as by the startup's ability to adapt its structures in response to opportunities and stimuli from the external environment.