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INTERACTIVITY BETWEEN STRATEGIC AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT IN THIRD SECTOR
Revista Pensamento Contemporâneo em Administração, vol. 16, núm. 1, pp. 50-68, 2022
Universidade Federal Fluminense



Recepción: 25 Enero 2022

Aprobación: 26 Abril 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12712/rpca.v16i1.52974

Abstract: The objective of the research was to analyze the contribution of strategic and social management to the development of social projects of a Third Sector organization. This descriptive-explanatory research, of a qualitative nature, carried out semi-structured interviews with the agents involved. The research established the relationship between strategic management and social management in Third Sector Organizations, the highlighting the relevance, inseparability, and importance of interactivity between both, in establishing the trust of partners and the community. The contribution of the research is to update the factors present in the management of Third Sector organizations, crucial for the success of the enterprise.

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship, Non-Governmental Organizations, Public Power.

Resumo: O objetivo da pesquisa foi analisar a contribuição da gestão estratégica e social para o desenvolvimento de projetos sociais de uma organização do Terceiro Setor. Esta pesquisa descritivo-explicativa, de natureza qualitativa realizou entrevistas semiestruturadas junto aos agentes envolvidos. A pesquisa estabeleceu a relação entre a gestão estratégica e a gestão social nas Organizações do Terceiro Setor, evidenciando a relevância, indissociabilidade e importância da interatividade entre ambas, no estabelecimento da confiança dos parceiros e da comunidade. A contribuição da pesquisa está em atualizar os fatores presentes na gestão das organizações do Terceiro Setor, determinantes para o êxito do empreendimento.

Palavras-chave: Empreendedorismo Social, Organizações Não-Governamentais, Poder Público.

Introduction

Contemporary, the Brazilian Third Sector undergoes significant changes, steeply, in the roles played in the formation and recognition of this space, where are presented many challenges in the political, economic, ideological and social. In a highly complex scenario like the current one, innovation becomes a necessary element. In order to overcome the ongoing challenges, the approach of Sukhov (2018) stands out, which proposes the establishment of new ideas as the first step in the process of developing innovations.

As Avritzer (2008) proposes, differently from what happened in the past, particularly in the 1990s, the guarantee of minimum conditions for social well-being was transferred to organized civil society, in its different sectors: health, education, housing, basic sanitation. From this perspective, the benefits of the interaction between strategic management and social management are significant. Among the benefits are the agility of decision making; improved communication; the increase in managerial capacity to make decisions; the promotion of collective conscience and; better understanding of how the company works (Massolin, 2013).

Particularly in Brazil, Constitutional Amendment 95, enacted in December 2016, froze public spending for twenty years in order to guarantee the realization of primary surpluses, to the detriment of its consequences in terms of deterioration in the capacity to generate employment and income in the country and, also, despite its impacts on social policies aimed at the most needy (Marques & Nakatami, 2019).

Assuming a "minimum State" in which the Government shares responsibility for the social well-being of the population with other social actors, such as: Third Sector Organizations - TSO or social organizations, start the need to identify the adequacy of combating inequalities social (Vasconcelos & Slomski, 2017).

The performance of the Third Sector faces limitations related to precariousness, or even the lack of management tools based on strategic planning (Marques & Nakatani, 2019). As a result of changes in the socioeconomic scenario, the TSOs manager is subjected to intense pressures both in the internal and external environment, as fundraising, legitimacy in society, partnerships with private companies and the government itself needs to ensure the consolidation of partnerships for the success of the enterprise.

On the one hand, strategic planning and strategic management are instruments of business competition (Porter, 1999; Barney, 2001) while social management does not aim to win over consumers, but rather to meet the minimum needs of socially underserved groups in different areas (Avitzer, 2008).

As a reference in the use of strategic management and social management in the TSOs, the Ramacrisna Institute (Ramacrisna, 2020), with sixty-two years of existence, located in the municipality of Betim, Minas Gerais, is an instructive case of assistance to the needy population in its surroundings. The institution's performance is focused on serving children, adolescents, young people and adults, through its various social projects created in partnerships with its relationship network, with the public authorities, with the private sector, with education entities and also with the community.

Thus, the objective of the research is to understand which factors resulting from the interactivity between social management and strategic management can contribute to the effectiveness in the management of TSOs?

The contribution of the research is to provide subsidies to understand the evolution and improvement of social management in TSOs in relation to factors that are present in our contemporaneity in dealing with people in vulnerable situations.

Theorical Framework

The theoretical framework of this research presents the concepts that promote social protection in the neoliberal molds, resulting from the premises of the Washington Consensus (Espíndola, 2019) and its impacts on the TSOs. Following, are the contrasting aspects presented and at the same time, further established between the social and strategic management in the writings of their different theoretical. Finally, based on the literature review and the responses of those surveyed, are listed the current challenges facing the managers to integrate social management to strategic management, interactivity dynamic com views the effectiveness of the project social protection in the liberal molds in TSO.

Traditionally, the TSOs was moved the, almost exclusively for social action based on solidarity values and was not emphasized the administration of the enterprise in the classic sense.

Among the s authors who talk about the emergence of TSOs, Iwamoto and Cançado (2020) discuss the evolution and theoretical TSO of the research tradition in the field of social management, which concept the managing social and proletarian democracy of local character to emphasize that, in its early days, the management social is contrasted to the management strategy as different character bureaucratic technician. Social management, in turn, proposed one management more participatory, dialogical, in which the outlet the decision was subs going by means of different subjects. In other words, since its inception, the contrasts have always been striking, as social management has always been understood as a concept that emphasizes and directs the actions of managers aimed at society and not at the market (Tenório, 1998; 2008).

Contrary to this view, Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2011) highlight the importance of using strategic management, as it does not arise by itself, because it involves people and mainly the managers, who implement the strategies. Strategic management includes understanding the organization's strategic position, making strategic choices for the future, and managing strategy in action.

Understand the strategic management like as the guidance and the actions of organizations to achieve long-term results (Kaplan & Norton, 1997, Mintzberg, Ahlstrand & Lampel, 2009) and at the same time meeting the expectations of stakeholders in terms efficiency and effectiveness (Drucker, 2002). The social management is interpreted as a process of collective decision - making, aiming the common good of society and meeting their needs, working in social support in sectors of activity that would be of track racing was the state (Cançado, Vilella & Sausen, 2016).

The possibility of interaction between the two concepts is critically questioned by several authors. In defense of the understanding that the relationships between strategic management and social management are incompatible and, particularly the adoption of neoliberal assumptions in the management of TSOs, the position of Rodrigues & Brzezinski (2013) disagree about the possibility of interaction between strategic management and social management by conceiving that the elements of the emancipation of people in vulnerable situations are incompatible with the instrumental and utilitarian emphasis of strategic management with its stakeholders.

In this same line, Pimentel & Pimentel (2010) consider this interaction as a logical perversity, since the raison d'être of a non-governmental organization must start from the principle of love for others, that is, a life mission based on responsibility and solidarity as a form of conduct that has as its primary characteristic, the social view of the needs of others and not the idea of the market (Tavares, 2010).

However, it should be noted that with the significant increase in the number of non-governmental organizations, the lack of inspection and the consequent increase in fraud and irregularities became evident, which caused some discredit of these organizations (Salamon & Sokolowski, 2016), dependents on budget funds that, in the past, came mainly from government agencies.

Therefore, in this line of reasoning in which the contrasts are evidenced, on the one hand, social management constitutes a mode of management that is radically opposed to strategic management, on the other hand, a stricter control cannot be dispensed in order to adapt to the requirements of this new scenario.

Interactivity between Strategic Management and Social Management

To restore the legitimacy and reputation, in the 1990s, incorporating the strategic management of social management has become indispensable as a basis structural organization social (Ribas et al., 2020), that was accompanied by a strong movement toward the professionalization of the sector, which culminated in social entrepreneurship (Oliveira, 2011).

The relevance of the actions of the Third Sector, during the National Forum of Philanthropic Institutions - FONIF (2017), was made explicit when it was demonstrated that for each R$ 1.00 (one real) of tax exemption granted to entities, a return of six times more free services and attendances for society. The prominence achieved made it essential to professionalize management and measure results (FONIF, 2017). The Table 1 shows the current characteristics of the Third Sector Organizations.

Table 1.
Current Characteristics of the Third Sector Organizations

Source: authors, based on Tenorio (2003), Quinteiro (2006), Oliveira (2011) and Ribas et al. (2020).

Table 1 presents some of the main characteristics of TSOs, in which the management does not necessarily have to follow specific models and the results do not turn to the commercial aspects. In this perspective, the TSOs must contemplate their stakeholders such as private companies (Thomson & Perry, 2006). In this sense, without neglecting the social purpose of the institution, as stated by Borges (2020) to list the current challenges of the third sector (Table 2), conceives m be necessary to build a management model that integrates strategic management to social management in the allocation of resources, such as: raising investments, partnerships with the government and private companies, among procedures.

In order to assess the possibility of integrating a social management model that makes use of strategic management, it is necessary to examine the operating modes of these two modes of management. Among these contrasts, it's can highlight competition versus cooperation, market versus social interest, performance improvement versus participation/well-living.

For didactic and explanatory purposes of the analysis, it is necessary to separate, on the one hand, the strategic management related to the hierarchical and utilitarian conception, on the other, the social management that defends collective decisions of a public character. This schematic dichotomy is necessary given the vast array of possible decision and control mechanisms, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2.
Schematic dichotomy of the principles of strategic management and social management.

Source: authors.

If designed monolithically, as shown in the Table 2, the s models of social management and strategic management are incompatible about the decision - making model, therefore, a priori, strategic management is characterized by being a model hierarchical and bureaucratic, while social management tends to adopt a collective decision model (Cançado, Vilella & Sausen, 2016).

The strategic management is a fundamental part of the innovative process, and can mean the beginning of this process, identifying viable opportunities for the organizations, while the social aspects turn to provide quality of life for those assisted. Strategic management, by adopting the salience model (Mitchell, Agle & Wood, 1997) seeks to contemplate the most relevant agents involved in the enterprise resulting from the degree of power, legitimacy, and urgency they have, while the original model by Freeman (1984) it proposed equal attention to all stakeholders. In general, these two strategic management models aimed to achieve a better competitive performance of a company in the market.

By transcending the contrasts in the scope of dynamic interactivity, the competition versus cooperation contrast becomes coopetition; the market versus social interest binomial refers to the establishment of partnerships; the improvement in performance versus participation/well living refers to the issue of professionalization.

In defense of the interaction between strategic management and social management, Drucker (2002) and Guerra & Teodósio (2014) point out that, despite the conceptual proximity to the premises of the administration, the nature d the TSOs sets m If more hybrid than properly functional-bureaucratic. In this sense, social management, although not directed towards competition, can adopt a strategic logic of dealing at the same time with its target audience and also with other organizations and actors relevant to its performance.

As it is a theme still under consolidation within the academy, the different views of different authors on the subject are clear, which also generates debate about whether or not the philanthropic perspective is an area of knowledge relevant to the field of administration itself. Table 3 presents the current challenges of TSOs.

Table 3.
Current challenges of Third Sector Organizations

Source: Borges (2020, p. 169).

It is observed that the challenges listed in Table 3 are procedures paramount manager's role in establishing and stakeholder engagement, to consolidate the reputation of the institution on the market (Santos et al., 2019).

In this line of reasoning, the lined up the search for overcoming the challenges faced today by TSOs, Mushove and Vogel (2005) points out m the need Manager establish partnerships with stakeholders based on their attributes, interrelationships and evaluation of its respective interests related to the system, issue or resource.

From a theoretical point of view, there is still little research on project management, especially with a focus on the engagement of stakeholders who use as the locus of research TSOs who work in partnership with public authorities and private companies. From a practical point of view, research of this nature tends to contribute to social project managers in decision-making, in which it is found to be important to dialogue and public partnerships with non-profit entities and organizations, as this has generated positive impacts on development local social and economic (Dutra et al, 2020).

In both perspectives, the manager of the enterprise, first, to identify the influences of stakeholders in a project (Aragones-Beltran, Garcia Melon, & Montesinos-Valera, 2017) , since, in its operation, tend to be in agents with strong motivation to get involved in planning and implementing change (Pandi-Perumal et al., 2015).

Therefore, this process of strategic management of social, Persson and Neto (2020) conceive that the engagement of stakeholders in the TSOs requires the development of strategic planning in order to integrate the instrumental elements of strategic management and the merits of management social to achieve a management quality and effectiveness. On the one hand, it means remaining sustainable by presenting strategic results and achieving social results in serving people in vulnerable situations.

Methodology

The choice of the Ramacrisna Institute makes this case study special because it constitutes an instructive example of Third Sector Organization TSO which, in its sixty-two years of existence, has evolved over time to adapt to the new demands of the context.

The research is characterized by being descriptive-explanatory, qualitative in nature and single case study. Among the possibilities that turn to qualitative analysis, the perspective of Creswell (2010) allows a closer approach to the research problem, since it provides a description and analysis, as detailed as possible, of a case that presents some particularity that the makes it special (Pereira et al., 2018).

The interview was chosen as an appropriate instrument for data collection, as it is understood that flexibility enhances data collection to characterize the evolution of Ramacrisna Institute management in terms of legitimacy with the community through transparency, quality and provision of services in which the articulation with the public power and private companies is evident. It is noteworthy that the interview is adopted as the main investigation technique in the most diverse fields of social sciences in which it is intended to deepen the analysis in a case study.

The sample consisted of two external stakeholders (partners), named S1 and S2, the Ramacrisna Institute superintendent, named SPV; the institute's project manager, named G1, and three internal stakeholders (collaborators), named C1, C2 and C3.

A técnica de análise dos dados ocorreu por meio da abordagem indutivo-construtivista da Análise de Conteúdo, na qual as categorias foram construídas ao longo do processo de análise e resultaram de um processo de sistematização progressiva e analógica em que os títulos das categorias ou fatores aparecem ao final da análise (Guba & Lincoln, 1991).

Results

Based on documental research, and from the reading and rereading of the texts generated by the transcription of the interviews, it was possible to observe the changes over time and to identify the main strategic and social elements present in the Institute's management. The survey data are summarized in Table 4.

Table 4.
Characteristics of the Ramacrisna Institute

Source: Research data.

General characteristics

The IR was founded in 1959, headquartered in the city of Betim, in the state of Minas Gerais, it is a non-economic social institution, with no religious or even party ties. It arose with the purpose of promoting the social inclusion of children in situations of abandonment and vulnerability, and who did not have opportunities for adequate education and nutrition within their social environment (Ramacrisna, 2009).

From the perspective of Vivekananda's (2014) teachings, the main understanding was that the change in condition and the improvement of life, accompanied by the creation of opportunities for children aiming for a better future, could only occur through quality education and care support, which, ideally, would make the children free and able to follow their own destiny.

Institute Phases

The history and actions of the Ramacrisna Institute can be divided into two distinct phases, from its foundation in 1959 to 1994 and from 1994 to the present day.

First phase: Emphasis on social management

In the first years of its existence, the Institute acted strongly in the inclusion of children abandoned by their parents, due to the social conditions of abandonment in which they found themselves. Among the assistance actions, the children sheltered in the institution received a clean place to sleep, clothes, food and spent their days studying, playing sports and having notions of discipline, based on the philosophical teachings of the Yoga school (Ramacrisna, 2009).

At the beginning of activities, only the interior of the premises had lighting. Around the buildings, there was no artificial light or even structure for paving the streets, which doubled the organizers' efforts to work with the resources they had, and there was also no drinking water to supply the place. Then, an artesian well was built and donated by the then governor Magalhães Pinto, who learned about the founder's work in the 1960s (Ramacrisna, 2009).

In 1963, the Institute's first building was inaugurated, used as a boarding school for children, who spent the whole day studying and carrying out sports, leisure and cultural activities, receiving yoga classes and learning the values based on this philosophy. The following year, the second building was inaugurated, also for this purpose (Ramacrisna, 2019).

In this same period, the institution's first newspaper, called “O Poder” (The Power), was inaugurated, with the typography responsible for the young people welcomed at the Institute, who were learning a profession, in addition to allowing the control of the different audiences that entered the institute.

The Yoga classes for children and young people were taught by the founder himself, who acquired books and works on the theme of scholars from outside the country in order to apply the concepts and ideals of Eastern teachers. He determined in his teachings that the wisdom of doing things (action) overlapped with simple listening and seeing. This concept of action is called Karma Yoga, that is, altruistic action for the benefit of others, without demanding anything in return. “Whatever you have to give the world, give it, but not as a duty. Don't have any thoughts in this direction and don't feel obligated to anything. Everything that is done out of obligation produces attachment” (Vivekananda, 2014, p. 22).

In 1975, with the purpose of increasing the resources to maintain the project, as only donations brought uneasiness for the maintenance of social projects. Alternatives were sought to increase the Ramacrisna Institute’s financial resources, and as the area around the Institute was composed of farms and small farms, the idea of producing wire mesh for fences was put into practice. Initially, the production of the screens was started using a rudimentary machine, moved with a crank. Currently, the institution's screen factory is recognized for the quality of the product and serves the region of Minas Gerais and other states in the country (Ramacrisna, 2009).

Two years later, in 1977, the institution invested in a homemade pasta factory called Pequeno Masseiro (little pasta marker), later called Massas Ramacrisna. The beginning of the institution's operations is related to the donation of equipment for the manufacture of pasta, by an Italian company. Due to competition with foreign products in the food industry, the company ended its activities in 2012 (Ramacrisna, 2009).

From 1989 onwards, the direction of the administration of the Ramacrisna Institute was changed: from the focus of the boarding school model to a model of an institution open to the community (Ramacrisna, 2009). With this new proposal, qualified management professionals were brought to the project, with the purpose of improving administration and supporting the management process and its new direction. During this period, in the early 1990s, the Statute of Children and Adolescents was launched and, as a result, the management understood that the community should be part of the open process, acting in a network of support, participation and contribution to the institute (Ramacrisna, 2009).

Thus, in the last years of the first phase of the Ramacrisna Institute, that is, from 1975 onwards, changes occurred in the management process. And yet, from 1989 onwards, the institution's actions are expanded, the services provided to children are more diversified and, in this expansion, in the perspective of Persson and Neto (2020), the transition from social management to strategic social management begins.

Second phase: Interactivity between social management and strategic management

In July 1993, the institution's statute was changed, mainly to put into practice the projects approved in partnership with the private sector, and also for a succession plan (Ramacrisna, 2009).

Strategic management became part of the institute's management. Financial and administrative management processes were created, with cash flow forecast, new departments and data organization. These elements contributed to the transparency of information and accountability, actions that were required by the new partners for approval of the projects presented.

Also, in 1993, the institution's first organizational chart was presented, with the definition of directors, deliberative council, and fiscal council. Based on these actions, the short, medium and long-term strategic planning of the Ramacrisna Institute begins. As of 1999, the Institute began to develop partnerships with the Municipalities of Betim and Esmeraldas, in order to enhance its actions in the areas of low-cost food, increased education, professional training and social assistance (Ramacrisna, 2009). Thus, by integrating strategic management with social management, it was possible to improve the professional qualification of the administrative team, in the search for better results and more effective management, which would allow for better management of resources. In this context, it was possible to gain more collaborating actors for the projects and, consequently, formulate new management strategies.

In 2008, IR started a partnership with Fundação Dom Cabral, one of the most renowned business schools in the world, allowing the joint construction of knowledge based on the exchange of experiences between organizations (Ramacrisna, 2019). As of 2017, another important milestone in the institution's trajectory was the process of implementing compliance practices, ensuring ethical and transparent relationships with the government, customers, suppliers, employees and society in general (Ramacrisna, 2019).

The institution currently has an area of eight hectares in Bairro Santo Afonso, on the outskirts of the city of Betim, with two buildings, guest house, lounge, four warehouses, cultural center, toy library, serving an average of 3,000 children and young people (Ramacrisna, 2019).

Also, according to data released by Ramacrisna (2019), the institute has a total of 254 employees on its staff, of which 55% are women and 45% are men. Of this total number of employees, 29.5% have already participated in some project of the institute, and 36% of these employees have already had a family member participating in the projects generated by the institution. The average permanence of employees working at the institution is seven years and eleven months (Ramacrisna, 2019).

It should be noted that, in 2020, despite the limitations imposed by Covid 19, more than 16 thousand children, young people and adults benefited from the actions and projects of the IR (Diário do Comércio, 2020). According to the Institute's attendance report, 278 students participated in pedagogical support and digital inclusion actions, in addition to workshops, vocational courses, learning, and various other cultural, job and income generation, sport and leisure activities, among others (Ramacrisna, 2020).

In summary, in this second phase, strategic management was consolidated as a determinant for the institute's reputation with its stakeholders. The Ramacrisna Institute has its accounts verified by an independent external audit, by the Ministry of Justice, INSS and the National Council for Social Assistance, the body responsible for the certification of Non-Governmental Organizations NGOs. The General Assembly is composed of twenty-five members who make up the Board of Directors and Deliberative and Fiscal Councils (Ramacrisna, 2019).

Stakeholders involved in the project

In strategic management, stakeholders correspond to the agents involved in a given enterprise responsible for providing support to organizations in different sectors of activities (Freeman, 1984). Since its foundation and resulting change in the management process to the institute, in November the stakeholders were teaming up to projects that have become increasingly complex and comprehensive.

Are classified in two groups separate. The stakeholder’s lenders are those that contribute exclusively with financial support, supply of equipment and consumables for various social projects. The stakeholder’s social are those who contribute to teaching methods, study support through directly linked cultural exchanges and actions to the community. Table 5 presents the partnerships established with the Ramacrisna Institute

Table 5.
Stakeholders involved in the Ramacrisna Institute’s Projects

Source: research data.

Social, educational and professional projects

The Ramacrisna Institute, together with the support of the private sector, public authorities and the community, develops several projects aimed at children, teenagers, young people and the elderly. Table 6 presents the main projects developed by the Ramacrisna Institute.

Table 6.
Most relevant Social Projects

Source: Survey data

Currently, an average of 113,500 assistances are provided by the Ramacrisna Institute, in partnerships with public and private authorities, within the institution's facilities, or in external projects in the community.

Since started this new management concept, starting in 1994, after the process of structuring the IR for a more strategic and professional model, the number of people served by the institute increased from 130 to 113,500. Based on the two distinct phases of the Ramacrisna Institute (1959-1994) and (1994-2021) it is possible to infer that this accelerated growth corroborates the importance established in the interactivity of strategic management and social management in TSOs (Tenório, 2003; Oliveira, 2011; Guerra & Teodósio, 2014; Vasconcelos & Slomski, 2017; Marques & Nakatami, 2019).

Analysis and Discussion of Results

Traditional management structures no longer respond to the challenges of the present time. The importance of TSO in our contemporaneity and the changes that have occurred in the structure of public power, have provoked a restructuring process that goes beyond social management to ascend to the need to integrate it with the pragmatic aspects of managerial vision and financial rigor (Vasconcelos & Slomski, 2017; Marques & Nakatami, 2019). In other words, actions must be interconnected in such a way that decision-making in terms of finance, social aspects, credibility, sustainability, among other sustainability factors, is in line with the challenges of the present time (Borges, 2020).

With regard to the traditional view of the TSOs, the current format resulting contradicts the position of Rodrigues and Brzezinski (2013), Pimentel and Pimentel (2010) and Tavares (2010), since, in our contemporaneity, it is possible to perceive the need for adequacy of professional management, legitimized in facing current challenges, thus opposing the theory that describes strategic management disconnected from social management.

The Ramacrisna Institute management model promotes dynamic interactivity between social management and strategic management, allowing for a favorable reputation and trust, thus obtaining material and professional resources, in order to create and maintain social projects. This model is already being multiplied to the public authorities and others TSOs, as a consultancy product called GIP Gestão e Inovação em Projetos Ramacrisna (Management and Innovation in Ramacrisna Projects).

The stakeholders involved in the network are private companies, public authorities and national and international educational institutions, which provide financial support, technology and training for the projects developed. On the other hand, they demand accountability from the Ramacrisna Institute, and the promised social results.

In this relationship with its different stakeholders, in which the convergence between strategic and social aspects is evident, the efficient performance of the Ramacrisna Institute is identified in the perspective of Dutra et al (2020) by favoring the local development strategy, through the performance network with the government and civil society organizations.

Convergence between strategic and social aspects

In line with the literature, the research results indicate that in the projects developed by the Ramacrisna Institute, dynamic interactivity is positioned with social management and strategic management models. This context establishes a positive collaboration network, based on the recognition of the NGO and, consequently, assisting in the development of social projects that allow the children, teenagers, young people and adults assisted to be removed from the situation of social vulnerability.

From the interviewees reports and, in line with the cognitive and social perspective initially proposed by Galbraith (1982), through Guerra and Teodósio (2014), Vasconcelos and Slomski (2017) to Borges (2020), it was possible to understand the changes in TSOs, in particular those promoted by the Ramacrisna Institute, in order to continuously integrate strategic and social aspects.

Reaching a favorable reputation facilitates fundraising from stakeholders for the creation and maintenance of social projects to meet the social needs and needs of the community. Thus, the understanding of the interactivity of strategic management and social management becomes essential as it constitutes a complex strategic and social process that involves and at the same time contemplates the different agents involved.

Strategic and social factors in stakeholder relations

The research data, analyzed through the inductive-constructivist approach of Content Analysis, resulted in a progressive and analogical systematization process, in which the factors appear at the end of the analysis (Guba & Lincoln, 1991).

The Ramacrisna’s Institute relations with its different stakeholders are constant practices, holding meetings, meetings, developing projects together, exchanging knowledge and discussing the social results obtained with the projects, in which seven factors are evident, namely: ideology of the founder; transparency and accountability; visibility and skilled labor; education and specialization; core and non-negotiable values and; partnerships and alliances for projects. The seven factors are detailed in the sequence.

Factor 1 of analysis is Founder Ideology. The Ramacrisna Institute, as observed in the bibliographical research, was born from an idea of serving people, altruistically. This finding can also be seen in the manager's speech (G1) who highlights:

[...] the reason was born from teacher Arlindo discomfort, that need to do something for others. He couldn't stand still just looking. This is very personal, I believe, but he managed to infect people around him with this movement, not letting them just watch.

The testimony confirms the concept of volunteering as a collective look at the most diverse social problems, that is, “(...) it is volunteering that aggregates and guarantees the advancement of morals, ethics, respect for others, increasing these spaces physical and conscience, with its gradual and consistent action” (Quinteiro, 2006, p. 228).

The Factor 2 addresses the transparency and accountability: the Ramacrisna Institute since its founding cared about a model of accountability to society, being transparent, as mentioned by the supervisor (SPV).

[...] at that time there was no more professional management, but there was already this thing, so we acquired a lot of this professional management, transparency, accountability.

One of the stakeholders interviewed (S1) corroborates this point in creating a project for the elderly:

[...] So we looked for reputation, credibility, trust, physical space, behind-the-scenes know-how of Ramacrisna, in the financial part, in accountability, so we could have given this first step together.

A policy of accountability and transparency allows for greater fundraising by NGOs, in addition to establishing a measure of efficiency and effectiveness, which are directly related to the performance of the institution (Tenório, 2003).

Factor 3 relates to Visibility and skilled labor. The external stakeholders who contribute to the project mostly seek, in return for the visibility of their brand, name or product, associated with the institute's social projects, which help to maintain or prepare the adolescents and young people benefited by the projects for the labor market, already joining as minor apprentices or professionals trained in the respective companies. Regarding professional qualification, SPV states:

[...] our first partner was Localiza, to set up the workshop. It provided all the tools at the time, so we managed to set up this workshop and it is still training students today.” CEMIG, for example, has an electrical course, so we received a visit from a director of CEMIG, we didn't have the electrical course, and CEMIG misses having a standard that each residence must have to receive the electricity, so she had a lot of disapproval of these standards. So, he told us to take a course in installing pattern-making electrician, do you agree? Of course! They got funding, several volunteers participated and still participate today, so it was an important contribution.

For the execution of these tasks related to professional qualification, there is a need for specialties and techniques belonging to the members of the network, which implies the dependence of these members on each other, in terms of departure and return for the realization of common and convergent goals, being a basic condition for acting collectively (Thomson & Perry, 2006).

Factor 4 identifies Education and Specialization. All of the Ramacrisna institute’s management efforts and strategies are aligned with its emerging purpose. The purpose of serving people is directly linked to the education and specialization of people in situations of vulnerability and social risk, as they understand that through teaching and technical knowledge, they can seek better livelihood conditions, according to SPV:

[...] every beneficiary of the projects has to be studying, this is a priority. If you take it out of school, we don't attend.

One of the beneficiaries of a technical education project by the Ramacrisna Institute and its partners, now works as a collaborator (C3) at the institution, makes his statement:

[...] it was an immense learning experience for me, in my professional career, I learned a lot, and I can only thank these partnerships with the institute, which are excellent. It helped a lot of people.

To provide education and specialization to those served by social projects, the manager must go beyond the merely technical vision to train professionals who are not only technicians, but also citizens who put themselves at the service of the community and who seek to build a society fairer (Jaeger & Fernandes, 2011).

The Factor 5 is associated to the fundamental and non-negotiable values: the Ramacrisna Institute values are the basis of its founding and taken into account in the conduct by the network of collaboration, especially in the search for new alliances, fundraising and transparency. SPV states:

[...] The values ​​of the Income Tax are fundamental; we don't give them up.

As for the question of any project only raising funds when giving up the institution's values, manager G1 states:

[...] we are very strict; we do not accept it.

And, among these values, the participation of employees who assiduously participate in the institution's monitoring and planning meetings, to define the directions, or even correct possible deviations based on evaluated scenarios, is not waived, as reported by C1:

[...] Look, we have some monitoring meetings held here, which I participate, monthly we have these meetings, besides that whenever it is necessary, we meet, we talk. Monthly this is for sure, but always, constantly, we are exchanging information, talking.

Another employee (C2) confirms that he also frequently attends meetings:

[...] I am part of a group that has monthly meetings with a consultant from Fundação Dom Cabral, so we have this moment with everyone, with the vice-presidency, with the superintendence, with the managements, right. From all sectors and some people from each sector.

Participation in planning meetings corresponds to the vision centered on meeting social demands, in which broad participation becomes essential, being an essential characteristic of the Third Sector, which prepares all its social projects in alignment with network partners, whether public, private or the community itself, defining the form and content of these relationships (Oliveira, 2011).

In the line of reasoning of the testimonies presented, it is necessary to emphasize that these peculiarities and values of the possible partners must be in line with the fundamental values of the institute, since the alliances and partnerships are aimed at transforming social action and not merely on administer the institution in the classic sense (Tenório, 2003).

Factor 6 is related to the strategic management of the social: one of the characteristics of professional and strategic management is the practice of strategic planning in the short, medium and long term, analyzing scenarios, whether economic or social. It was verified in the interviews and documents that the Ramacrisna Institute uses strategic planning for its actions and projects. SPV states:

[...] There is a strategic plan that we consider medium term, every five years we plan, and we review this plan annually: the goals we have achieved, and monthly we hold a meeting to analyze what the people are achieving, together with Dom Cabral's consultancy.

However, this planning in NGOs cannot be as formal as that used in private companies, as Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2011) warn, when they state that the strength of NGOs comes from the bases and not exclusively from the leaders, therefore, they cannot be controlled so rigidly and utilitarianly.

Finally, Factor 7 encompasses Partnerships and alliances for projects: there is a solid partnership and alliance with the stakeholders of the projects managed by the Ramacrisna Institute, which allows for easier fundraising and greater appreciation and respect for everyone involved, such as reports SPV:

[...] in 2001 we participated in a call from Petrobras for an important project, with a greater volume of resources, so it was the first large company that we were able to bring to this network. So, there were several projects, and until today we have big projects with Petrobras.

The stakeholder (S2) reiterates this report by stating:

[...] The direction of Ramacrisna Institute currently follows a more professional line of thought and focused on their projects.

Santos et al. (2019) clarifies that these partnerships and alliances, to consolidate, require the elaboration of strategic planning so that the institution remains sustainable and maintains its reputation, as a complex triad is established, consisting of the State, the Third Sector, and the market. Given the above, one can trace a comparative relationship between the variables present in the Ramacrisna Institute and the current challenges TSOs as Table 7.

Table 7.
Relation between strategic and social factors and the challenges of the Third Sector.

Source: authors, using Borges (2020) as a comparative reference.

Among these factors, already discussed in the previous topics, particularly in relation to the item “transparency and accountability” is positioned as a factor increasingly demanded by society and by regulatory bodies, as explained by Brito (2008, p. 106) “As accusations made by newspapers and magazines in the country have left an uncomfortable image about the performance of NGOs in Brazil, in relation to the amount of financial resources that the government and the private sector pass on [...]” In other words, the doubts and suspicions about the suitability of TSOs can be minimized or even eliminated as such organizations demonstrate their results, applications and impacts of the resources received.

In the pursuit of this transparency, manifests its mission, vision and values aimed at strengthening relationships with stakeholders by making public its accountability, documents and reports and, at the same time, promoting welfare, emancipation and the rescue of citizenship, as Table 8.

Table 8.
Transparency: mission, vision and values

Source: Authors based on Ramacrisna Institute (2021).

Finally, as a result of the literature review, document analysis and field research, it was possible to develop a theoretical-empirical model that highlights the need for interactivity between strategic management and social management, according figure 1.


Figure 1.
Compatibility model between strategic management and social management
Source: elaborated by the authors

It can be seen in Figure 1, and in the approach of Guerra and Teodósio (2014), the interactivity between strategic management and social management in the formation of the identity of the Third Sector organization in the Ramacrisna Institute was expanded through the explanation of the mission, vision and values of the organization. This dynamic interactivity refers to the determining factors for the success of the enterprise, such as: pragmatism, democratic vision, collective action, alliances and partnerships

Transparency (Table 8), as an essential element of TSO' reputation with stakeholders, favors the achievement of strategic and social objectives. The strategic objectives with a view to partnerships and alliances aimed at raising revenue, from government agencies and private companies, for the creation and maintenance of social projects, while the social objectives are focused on services related to the education of children, the professionalization of adolescents and support for the elderly, among other projects.

In summary, the interactivity between strategic management and social management becomes a necessary condition for the success of the enterprise. Vasconcelos and Slomski (2017) state that, given the prevalence of the State's incapacity to meet the demands of society that impact the absence of public authorities in relation to social problems, managers must continually innovate. In the contemporary scenario, the performance of the Third Sector is justified by the fact that it assumes articulated commitment with the different agents in order to promote social well-being based on the principles of participation, cooperation, and strategic alliances of articulation involving individuals, public companies, private and community.

Final Considerations

The work sought to present the innovations in the management of TSOs, having as a reference the entrepreneurial performance of the Ramacrisna Institute, based on the results of the research, to critically discuss how TSOs can benefit by integrating strategic management and social management in the development of their projects, highlighting the relevance and inseparability of this integration.

The relationships established by Ramacrisna Institute with donor and funding stakeholders are an instructive example of a TSO committed to the demands of its time. Those members that were interviewed confirm that the interactivity between social management and strategic management are complementary constructions and must be in balance, since, in itself, social management does not have the potential to replace strategic management, nor to become hegemonic, as often happens. with strategic management in private and for-profit ventures.

As observed in the literature review, from the 1990s onwards, the role of NGOs on the national scene strengthened. This strengthening occurred, on the one hand, by the difficulties of the State to satisfactorily meet the requests related to its responsibilities, and on the other hand, due to the logic of the market that contributed to the increase in social inequalities.

In line with this view, another aspect to mention concerns the increasing need to integrate TSOs with market dynamics. In the testimonies, the interviewees expressed being aware that little or nothing is to expect from the government and that, aware of this restriction, TSOs should act with detachment in their volunteer work.

The theoretical framework and field research enabled a greater understanding of the dynamics that are established, in our contemporaneity, between the TSOs and their stakeholders, based on the demands coming from society with an emphasis on partnerships and agreements made with the public administration and civil society organizations.

The work found, initially, that despite the rationality in the principles of strategic management, compared to social management, in everyday practice they become complementary procedures. These procedures characterized as strategic, for example, the image and reputation of the TSOs, become essential for raising funds and, consequently, generating the development of assistance, inclusion and training actions for the citizens in situations of vulnerability.

Using the same reasoning, later, it found that the attraction of donors by TSOs is characterized by constant and differentiated activities, since donations occur in the most varied formats, such as financial, material and provision of voluntary services. Consequently, obtaining the stakeholders trust, whether as donor or funding stakeholders, as explained in this research, corresponds to a primary objective to pursue continuously.

A didactic resource was used in the development of the research, to show the most relevant contents in a synthetic way, with the use of tables in a summarized way and, thus, to facilitate the understanding of the phenomenon under study. This way it is possible to see more clearly the overview of the contents, summarized in figure 1 “Representation of the compatibility model between strategic management and social management”.

More explicitly, based on this model, the determining factors of social management and strategic management were described that allow us to understand how the social work of serving the needy layers of the population (end objectives) can be carried out with greater propriety, by obtaining resources with the public administration, private organizations and civil society itself (objectives - means).

It follows from it that with the help of stakeholders, who act as partners in order to minimize the lack of economic and human resources that commonly affect NGOs, that this complementarity favors the maintenance and development of assistance, social inclusion, and citizenship education.

It is possible to conclude that in the current stage of the economy, increasingly globalized, that NGOs should not be limited only to social management and the use of substantive and communicative reasons (the focus of their activities), but also to act with a strategic management focus and the use of instrumental reason (strategy for obtaining resources). In other words, it is necessary to seek ways to integrate policies, actions and objectives, in all their context with the stakeholders involved.

However, it should be noted that, a dimension that was not addressed, but that touched this research and that, due to its importance, cannot fail to be considered in future studies, concerns contingency elements, in atypical situations such as with Covid 19, when public administration is essential.

Finally, some of the limitations of the study must be stressed, such as the range of the phenomenon, the contingencies in the cooperation cases analyzed that make it difficult to build a homogeneous comparative frame. The fact that this study remained restricted to a single case, begs that other similar studies be conducted to verify the studies conclusions.

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