Social Actors and Organizational Field: Discursive Strategies and Resource Mobilization on the Construction of Aviculture Complex in the Agro Industrial Cooperative Copagril

Abstract

This research's objective is to analyze how social actors utilized discursive strategies and mobilized resources in the process of adopting a diversification strategy, even though the latter has already been present in the organizational field. The theoretical basis of this research is the pre-identified ideas of the Institutional Theory, especially the topics that examine the agency and the change such as the Institutional Entrepreneurship. Also described, is the circulation process of the idea by the organizational field, highlighting the role of the conductors and referenced organizations. To understand how this process occurred, an empirical study was conducted with a qualitative approach. The strategy in use was a case study of the construction of the Aviculture Complex in Copagril Cooperative. The paper, based on the Institutional Entrepreneurship study, has analyzed the role played by social actors in two categories: resource mobilization (financial and social) and discourse usage.The analysis demonstrates that the social actors are very much active in the process of a convergent change, being fundamentally important to identify the idea, mobilize resources and build arguments to support the idea presented. The analysis also demonstrates the importance of developing connotations shared by the social actors to support the strategy adopted by the organization. The process of developing connotation was aided by organizations in the field that have already adopted this idea, which can be used as reference. The analysis also highlighted the importance of relational systems as drivers of the idea to the organization and the influence of referenced organizations in the identification process of the idea. The originality of this research is present in the analysis of the role of individuals in the process of adopting an idea already present in the organizational field, thus being different from the institutional entrepreneurship studies that examine the adoption of an innovative idea in the organizational field. Another relevant contribution is the focus on practical work performed by social actors in the process of adopting a strategy, which can create conversation bridges between those who study organizations and those working at these organizations, encouraging the understanding of institutional ideas in non-academic discourses.