A governanca no arranjo produtivo local metal-mecânico automotivo da serra gaúcha

Abstract

This work analyses the governance of the local productive arrangement (APL) named Metalmecânico Automotivo da Serra Gaúcha (APLMMA), which includes more than 2,700 firms, most of them small and micro enterprises, comprising the second largest metal-mechanic conglomeration in Brazil. The main purpose of the research is to study the type of governance of the APLMMA. The specific goals are: a) to recover the history of the APLMMA; b) to establish a relationship between existing theories about governance and what is practiced inside the APLMMA; c) to identify and analyze a governance model that can fit other APL's. The governance of the APLMMA is carry out by epresentatives of six local and regional entities, which plan and implement useful activities for the APL. The exploratory research was carried out thru a single case study, by using semi-structured interviews applied to six representatives, as well as other sources of information such as APLMMA documents research, literature, and simple observation. Content analysis was done on the collected data, resulting on a categorization of elements followed by a comparison with the review of literature. The main results show that despite the fact that the APLMMA is considered a national prime example, it cannot be considered a full-grown APL. It can rather be labeled an APL under construction. The results also indicate that the term governance may not be the most adequate sentence to be used for a research on APL's, once most of the researchers do not use this term and most of the literature publication is related to productive chain itself. It is apparent that the APLMMA could benefit from past experiences with regional development agencies in Italy and in the state of Santa Catarina (Brazil), in order to improve its own management system as well as to promote regional development. Finally, limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are addressed.