Social Advancement as a Critical Success Factor in a Model …
27
5 Methodology
The research was conducted having systems thinking (Senge 2000) as the epistemological approach. According to Morgan and Smircich (1980), the epistemological
approach on systems considers reality as a process of change and highlights the
importance of the monitoring process and how a phenomenon changes over time
concerning its context. In this case, the most appropriate research methods are those
that capture the processes of change through historical analysis.
According to Dülfer (1994), the General Systems Theory is suitable for the study
of cooperative societies, since it allows the independent analysis of objects that
constitute sub-systems and the subsequent integration of these sub-systems in a
supra-system.
The research was conducted, seeking the development of a model that could identify the factors involved in the process of translation and control of strategy, as well as
their interrelations in system dynamics qualitative language. Social advancement, as
discussed in this paper, was one of the processes analyzed, Other analyzed processes
to design the model were the technological advancement and economic performance
of the members; the commitment between members and cooperative; the capitalization of cooperative; the cooperative education and the cooperative’s organizational
culture; the professionalization and cooperative’s efficiency; and the balance between
cooperative and members. The whole model was designed by Barreiros (2012) as
recommended by system dynamics qualitative language, through closed reinforcing
or balancing loops, integrating the variables with their causal relations, feedbacks,
and delays.
It was used the qualitative research strategy, collecting data through interviews
and document checking. The research was conducted in two stages. Initially, interviews were conducted with five experts in cooperatives of the Paraná Cooperatives
Organization—Ocepar.
From the results of interviews with experts, an instrumental case study was
conducted in Agro-industrial Agraria Cooperative—Agraria. According to Stake
(2005), the instrumental case study is recommended when studying a particular
case, to understand the phenomenon in question.
Data collection for the case study in Agraria was made by document analysis
and interviews with a purposive sample of twelve managers of the cooperative. The
choice of respondents was based on intentional theoretical criteria, searching for
people who could adequately express the meanings associated with the research
problem, as recommended by Warren (2002).
Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis, co-occurrences analysis of
registration units in different context units, and structural analysis, in order to enable
better understanding of the links among analytical categories and their view as a
system composed by interdependent parts that indicate that the change in a category
can influence the whole set (Bardin 2010).
27
5 Methodology
The research was conducted having systems thinking (Senge 2000) as the epistemological approach. According to Morgan and Smircich (1980), the epistemological
approach on systems considers reality as a process of change and highlights the
importance of the monitoring process and how a phenomenon changes over time
concerning its context. In this case, the most appropriate research methods are those
that capture the processes of change through historical analysis.
According to Dülfer (1994), the General Systems Theory is suitable for the study
of cooperative societies, since it allows the independent analysis of objects that
constitute sub-systems and the subsequent integration of these sub-systems in a
supra-system.
The research was conducted, seeking the development of a model that could identify the factors involved in the process of translation and control of strategy, as well as
their interrelations in system dynamics qualitative language. Social advancement, as
discussed in this paper, was one of the processes analyzed, Other analyzed processes
to design the model were the technological advancement and economic performance
of the members; the commitment between members and cooperative; the capitalization of cooperative; the cooperative education and the cooperative’s organizational
culture; the professionalization and cooperative’s efficiency; and the balance between
cooperative and members. The whole model was designed by Barreiros (2012) as
recommended by system dynamics qualitative language, through closed reinforcing
or balancing loops, integrating the variables with their causal relations, feedbacks,
and delays.
It was used the qualitative research strategy, collecting data through interviews
and document checking. The research was conducted in two stages. Initially, interviews were conducted with five experts in cooperatives of the Paraná Cooperatives
Organization—Ocepar.
From the results of interviews with experts, an instrumental case study was
conducted in Agro-industrial Agraria Cooperative—Agraria. According to Stake
(2005), the instrumental case study is recommended when studying a particular
case, to understand the phenomenon in question.
Data collection for the case study in Agraria was made by document analysis
and interviews with a purposive sample of twelve managers of the cooperative. The
choice of respondents was based on intentional theoretical criteria, searching for
people who could adequately express the meanings associated with the research
problem, as recommended by Warren (2002).
Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis, co-occurrences analysis of
registration units in different context units, and structural analysis, in order to enable
better understanding of the links among analytical categories and their view as a
system composed by interdependent parts that indicate that the change in a category
can influence the whole set (Bardin 2010).