ASSOCIATE NETS AS ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATION: A CASE STUDY OF A SUPERMARKET NETWORK

Abstract

In the contemporary organizational environment, competitive as it is, the companies find the need of acting in a joint and associated way, trying to gain advantages in the negotiations and to add value to their products and services in benefit of their clients. In this way, they use, as an enterprise development possibility, the organizational innovation models based in association, in complementarities and sharing, presupposed of the gathering of small and medium organizations. It is highlighted that the companies’ network represents an innovative way of organizational management, formed with the intention of gaining competitiveness in the global market. This article has as its objective to analyze the associated networks’ value chain, taking as an example the supermarket “Central Mais”, localized in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Therefore, it is observed that the organization examined, an association of small and medium supermarkets, obtained bigger profits adding value to the different activities done throughout the chain.