Declínio organizacional em pequenas empresas

Abstract

The survival of small organizations is a relevant condition for a country's economy. Its socioeconomic importance is widely discussed in the literature due to the generation of jobs, participation in the gross domestic product and due to its high mortality rates. In this thesis, I propose to identify the influence of actions of support to small companies to reduce the possibility of organizational decline and the role of these supporting actions, treated as complementary assets, for their survival. It will be conducted through three studies, independent in the elaboration, but complementary because they address the same theme: a bibliometric survey, to assess the structure and trends of study about the theme; a study to identify the mechanism of action over causes and effects of attributes related to decline, and finally an empirical study to verify the causal relationships of decline. The contribution of this work will be to expand the knowledge of the decline process in small organizations by identifying their main components, how they impact this process and the actions to neutralize it. This thesis has implications for three different audiences. First, it enables academics and students to better understand the factors that influence the decline, the field structure, the research trends, and more relevant work. Secondly, entrepreneurs and managers of small organizations for being able to identify the mechanism that caused the decline and the role of mitigation actions. Thirdly, small business support agencies (incubators and development agencies) for being able to identify what kind of support they can provide for small businesses to reduce their mortality.