As Informações no contexto histórico da humanidade

                                                             Moacir da Cruz Rocha

As invenções e descobertas feitas pelo homem são caracterizadas pela apreensão em facilitar a sua vida. Quando se refere à produção, a preocupação é no sentido de diminuir os esforços necessários para a produção de bens para seu próprio consumo, objetivando melhorar o desempenho e aumentar a produtividade, sem desprezar a eficiência e qualidade dos produtos.

Em relação à comunicação, registra-se o Alfabeto, como importante invento dos Gregos por volta do ano 700 antes de Cristo, fato fundamental para a construção do conhecimento e, em particular, para a compreensão e discernimento da Filosofia e das Ciências. A escrita provocou incomparável transformação na forma de comunicação dos homens, apoiada pela invenção do papel pelos chineses, e mais tarde impulsionada pela invenção da imprensa.

Desde os tempos primitivos o homem preocupa-se com a ampliação de sua capacidade de trabalho mental (...). Assim, o desenvolvimento da atividade humana exigiu sempre que o homem criasse dispositivos de registro e processamento da informação, como forma de interferir no, adaptar-se ao, e controlar o meio em que vive (YOSSEF, 1995, p.10-11).

Por sua vez, Barreto (1995) acrescenta que o fluxo de informação e sua distribuição ampliada e eqüitativa tem sido um sonho dos homens desde remotas épocas. Desde a escrita o homem vem provocando proezas tecnológicas que geram mudanças em sua visão e relação com o mundo da informação.

As redes de saber podem ser consideradas finita ou infinita, já que cada um de seus pontos de formação pode ser ligado ou religado a qualquer outro, o seu procedimento de conexão é um contínuo processo de correção das conexões. A rede do saber seria sempre ilimitada, pois a sua estrutura é consecutivamente diferente da estrutura que era um momento antes e a cada vez se pode percorrer o caminho de acordo com trilhas diferentes. A distribuição do conhecimento dita, ‘em rede’, é algo observado desde o século XVII passando por antigas instituições e grupos de estudiosos.

Mas na idade média, que consideramos aqui como o período entre o fim do Império Romano e o nascimento da civilização da Grécia e Roma, algo entre os anos 900 e 1300 a informação era privilegio dos eruditos e estava retida pelos muros dos mosteiros cuidada e vigiada pelos monges (BARRETO, 1995, p. 3).

O livre fluxo de informação e sua distribuição eqüitativa tem sido um sonho de diversos homens em diferentes épocas. A rede de saber universal foi uma preocupação observada desde a Academia de Lince, a primeira sociedade Científica da Europa, criada em 1603, na Itália, por Frederico Cesi. Galileu Galileu foi um dos seus mais relevantes membros, nela ingressando em 1611.

A Royal Society, fundada em Londres em 28 de novembro de 1660, foi reconhecida oficialmente em 1662. A Academia de Ciências de Paris foi criada em 1666; a de Berlim é de 1700 (BARRETO, 1995).

A procura pela adequada distribuição do conhecimento produzido pela humanidade vem desde o século XVII passando por antigas instituições e grupos europeus e americanos do norte, como a construção da Enciclopédia de Diderot e D’Alembert, por exemplo. Ainda na Itália tem-se a Accademia del Cimento, em Florença criada em 1651, essa se destacou por semear os primeiros observatórios meteorológicos do mundo por diversos países da Europa, equipados com os instrumentos inventados por Galileu, o cientista dos séculos XVI e XVII.

A criação das academias de Londres (em 1665), de Paris (em 1666) e de Berlim (em 1700) ocorreu quando essas cidades começaram a destacar-se pela criação de conhecimento científico, substituindo lentamente em relevância científica as italianas, que em meados do século XIX começavam a decair.

A meta das primeiras academias era o de possibilitar a qualquer pessoa do povo saber o que era ciência e como eram feitas as descobertas científicas, já que em suas reuniões se praticava geralmente a realização de experimentos para que os leigos as vissem (BARRETO, 1995, p. 4).

As redes de distribuição de saber, começando com as enciclopédias, procuram pela organização do conhecimento, mesmo considerando, que na enciclopédia a codificação do saber se dá em uma língua modelo e com conteúdos em universos particulares de linguagem. De uma representação enciclopédica nunca se extrai uma revelação definitiva do conhecimento ou sua exibição global.

Importante acrescentar que as inovações tecnológicas são fatores de transformação da humanidade, agindo diretamente sobre o destino dos homens. A história mais recente registra a 2ª Revolução Industrial no século XIX, que aliada às fontes geradoras de energia como petróleo, eletricidade, são exemplos de transformações ocorridas, que provocaram grande impacto na vida das populações do mundo, na medida em que permitiu aumentar a velocidade da produção, reduzindo as distâncias em virtude da melhoria dos meios de transporte, e da invenção do telefone, permitindo a comunicação à distância.

O uso da eletricidade contribuiu, entre outras coisas, tais como, a introdução da imprensa rotativa aumentando a velocidade de impressão, além de permitir a automação de outras tarefas feitas manualmente como dobras e encadernação. Contribuiu também para a sistematização do processamento de dados pelo pioneiro Herman Hollerith, através do aperfeiçoamento de máquinas eletromecânicas leitoras de cartão perfurados, usadas para tabular informações, e que passaram a ter grande utilização nas atividades comerciais e bancárias. Mais recentemente, em meados do século XX passou-se a presenciar a extraordinária revolução provocada pela Informática (YOSSEF, 1995).

Barreto (1995) acredita que a área de ciência da informação se renova ao sabor das inovações na tecnologia sendo preferível ocupar-se com a sua historiografia que com sua epistemologia. Dessa maneira, contar a história de como se atuava no passado é didático e essencial para o entendimento da evolução das práticas da área e para a formação dos seus profissionais.

A Tecnologia da Informação (TI) tem importante marco em 1946 quando é desenvolvido o primeiro computador eletrônico (ENIAC[1]), com objetivo de elaborar cálculos de grande complexidade, modesto se for considerada as proporções alcançadas na atualidade.

 Do primeiro computador em meados do século XX até o inicio do século XXI, se observa uma rápida evolução destes equipamentos, e, principalmente, se for considerada a capacidade de integração com os meios de comunicação, permitindo que os dados processados em grande velocidade, pudessem ser transmitidos através das redes de comunicação, fazendo com que qualquer informação seja conhecida em qualquer parte do mundo praticamente no mesmo instante em que é gerada.

O domínio das tecnologias e a utilização delas por grandes corporações impulsionaram a globalização econômica, proporcionando a integração instantânea dos mercados, facilitando a comunicação entre unidades de uma mesma corporação multinacional, aproximando suas unidades produtivas da unidade administrativa independente de suas localizações físicas, aumentando consideravelmente a velocidade das transações comerciais, e consequentemente aumentando lucros, reduzindo custos e emprego de mão-de-obra.

Neste contexto, um dos principais instrumentos é a rede mundial de computadores, a Internet[2], mais claro exemplo de integração de tecnologias de informação e comunicação, reunindo os recursos de transmissão de dados, voz e imagem. Outras tecnologias de informação e comunicação já vinham sendo utilizadas, como o rádio, telefone, televisão, além da mídia impressa, que permanecem constituindo importantes meios de comunicação e permitindo que a informação chegue até as pessoas para que as mesmas possam formar sua própria opinião, além de adquirir novos conhecimentos. Portanto, estar à margem do conhecimento e domínio das tecnologias de informação é o mesmo que estar a margem do mundo atual e sofrer as desigualdades social, econômica e política.

De acordo com entendimento de Yossef (1995), se por um lado o domínio das tecnologias de informação contribuem para o desenvolvimento e bem estar das pessoas produzindo riquezas e proporcionando melhor qualidade de vida, já do lado das populações mais pobres, que não conseguem atingir as condições mínimas necessárias para utilização destes recursos, seja por falta de conhecimento ou qualquer outro motivo, veem-se mais acentuadas ainda as desigualdades e a falta de oportunidades, fazendo com que os mais pobres fiquem cada vez mais dependentes.

 Entretanto, para aqueles para quem as oportunidades não faltam, assistir televisão, falar ao telefone, movimentar a conta no terminal bancário, verificar multas de trânsito, comprar produtos, trocar mensagens com qualquer lugar do mundo, estudar, pesquisar, são algumas das atividades cotidianas, em todo o planeta, e também no Brasil. Rapidamente, as pessoas se adaptam a essas novidades e passam, normalmente sem um entendimento mais profundo e sem grandes questionamentos, a viver numa nova sociedade, a da Informação (WILHELM, 2002).

A revolução da tecnologia da informação e a reestruturação do capitalismo introduziram uma nova forma de sociedade, a sociedade em rede, que é caracterizada pela globalização das atividades econômicas decisivas do ponto de vista estratégico; por sua forma de organização em redes; pela flexibilidade de instabilidade do emprego e a individualização da mão-de-obra; por uma cultura de virtualidade real construída a partir de um sistema de mídia onipresente, interligado e diversificado e também pela transformação das bases materiais da vida - o tempo e o espaço - mediante a criação de um espaço de fluxos e de uma referência intemporal como expressões das atividades.

Essa nova forma de organização social, dentro de sua globalidade, que penetra em todos os níveis da sociedade, está sendo difundida em todo o mundo, do mesmo modo que o capitalismo industrial. Admirável ou não, trata-se na verdade de um mundo novo (CASTELLS, 1999 p. 17).

De acordo com Wiener (apud KUMAR 1997, p.19), a informação é um requisito para a sobrevivência no meio social. É através dela que se estabelece o intercâmbio entre o homem e o ambiente no qual está inserido. A comunicação e o controle, portanto, na medida em que fazem parte da vida em sociedade, são parte integrante da essência da vida interior do homem.

Para Barreto 91995), o ideal compartilhado seria o de se construir uma sociedade do conhecimento não apenas uma sociedade da informação. É um erro confundir a sociedade da informação com a sociedade do conhecimento. A sociedade da informação é uma utopia de realização tecnológica e a do conhecimento uma esperança de realização do saber.

A Sociedade do conhecimento contribui para que o indivíduo se realize na sua realidade vivencial, essa compreende configurações éticas e culturais e dimensões políticas. A sociedade da informação, por outro lado, está limitada a um avanço de novas técnicas devotadas para guardar, recuperar e transferir a informação.

A sociedade da informação, em nenhum momento pretendeu ser a única responsável pelo conhecimento originado na sociedade. A sociedade da informação, de igual maneira, agrega as redes de informação, que são conformações com vigor dinâmico para uma ação de geração de conhecimento.

Por outro lado, salienta Barreto (1995), a velocidade e modalidade de acesso à informação modificam a sensibilidade e competência cognitiva do ser humano. A convergência da narrativa para uma base digital inseriu imagem e som na estrutura de informação.

O limite da tecnologia se dará consecutivamente, quando a inovação criada pela tecnologia, deixar de trabalhar em benefício do indivíduo e se voltar contra ele para lhe causar problemas. As novas tecnologias de informação de tão intensas produzem medo, porque aumentam, de forma considerável, os poderes do homem. Algumas vezes o transformam em objeto destes poderes. O mundo digital, por exemplo, cria facilidades para as atividades cotidianas, as atividades de pesquisa e de ensino, mas cria, também, monstros que assombram a segurança e a privacidade.

Na atualidade, muito se tem pensado neste novo tempo cibernético sobre a questão referente ao valor da tecnologia da informação quando ponderado contra a possibilidade de uma existência mais simples e com mais felicidade. Qual é o papel da informação em formato eletrônico no grande dilema da existência do ser humano atual. Quanto da informação se orienta para formar uma inteligência coletiva e quanto para uma inteligência de competição e de provocação de consumo em favor do mercado. Questiona-se se essas transformações se associam a felicidade do ser humano na simplicidade dos seus espaços de convivência.

REFERÊNCIAS BIBLIOGRÁFICAS

BARRETO, Aldo de Albuquerque. Uma quase história da ciência da informação. DataGramaZero - Revista de Ciência da Informação - v.9 n.2 abr/08.

CASTELLS, Manuel. O poder da identidade. v.ll. 2. ed. São Paulo: Paz e Terra, 1999.

KUMAR, krishan. Da sociedade pós-industrial à pós-moderna: novas teorias sobre o mundo contemporâneo. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar, 1997.

WILHELM, Anthony. A Internet e a participação política nos Estados Unidos. In EISEMBERG, José; CEPIK, Marco. Internet e política: teoria e prática da democracia eletrônica. Belo Horizonte: Ed. UFMG, 2002.

YOSSEF, Antonio Nicolau; FERNANDES, Vicente Paz. Informática e Sociedade. São Paulo: Ática, 1995.

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[1] Computador e Integrador Numérico Eletrônico

[2]INTERNET - Rede de computadores por meio da qual qualquer comunidade pode se comunicar e trocar informações. O vocábulo inter vem da palavra interligada e o net de network, malha de comunicação que começou a ser definida em 1958 e chamava-se ARPANET. Foi criada por uma instituição militar americana (Pentágono) associada a cientistas, com a finalidade de proteger os EUA da ameaça comunista (WILHELM, 2002).

Reflective Analysis on Leadership

In many years running businesses, there is one thing I have consistently experienced, and that is, leaders need to convince others of the merit of their ideas, and engage them into actions toward that vision, inspiring and motivating. However, along the way, there were many situations that I have struggled to overcome obstacles, which has led me to rethink about leadership as a dynamic process.

For the past 10 years I have been on a journey to learn from leaders who are able to find the best in themselves and in turn inspire, engage, and mobilize others, even in the most demanding circumstances, and in fact leaders that get the best results are those who have the capability to adapt to changing circumstances (Obolensky 2010). Besides, I have perceived the importance of formal learning, by which theoretical support allowed me to develop a critical understanding of leadership in organizational contexts, and more important, it helped me to develop insights that undoubtedly contributed to my growth as a person and as a leader.

This essay presents a reflection on my personal journey and a critical analysis of leadership, based on my work experience for over 10 years in leadership positions combined with my formal education. Here I chronicle the development of my thinking on leadership, discussing the dynamics between formal and informal leadership structures and leadership as a state of mind.

Over the last decade, the flux of organizations and people, with different culture and values, has increased considerably. Globalization has created a world market for skilled professionals. International corporations have been among the first to take advantage of this globalism by restructuring their approach to their workforce and their way of doing business. Hence, in a world where the differences of distance, culture and language are of less and less relevance, leaders have to be more and more contextual, finding meaning in work, converting emotions such as fear or stress into opportunity, leveraging connections and community, acting in the face of risk, and sustaining the energy that is the life force of change. Heifetz (1998) suggests that only contextual leaders are able to make and implement decisions to help individuals and organizations adapt and thrive in complex and competitive environments. Indeed, in this complex living system, leaders must be visionary, creative, inspiring, innovative, and courageous to explore new opportunities (Dubrin, Daglish & Miller 2006). The ability to lead effectively is a rare quality, and it has become more and more difficult to find genuine leaders.

Despite the anti-leadership argument, in which it is defended that leaders does not influence organizational outcomes (Dubrin 2010), I strongly believe that the individual leadership style is an essential fact in organizational performance. Furthermore, when considering the impact of leadership, and how to improve the leadership culture, it is crucial to deliberately analyze all the key factors that may influence outcomes, evidencing the need of ongoing adjustments and synchronizations between every component of the organization’s internal and external environment (Hollenbeck and Hall 2004).

One of the events through my career that have shaped my perspective on leadership was when I worked through the merging of two companies, in which operations were shut down and transferred to the acquiring company, and many people lost their jobs. Contractor and Lorange (1998) argue that interactions between two companies can be complicated especially when there is lack of knowledge of the capabilities of each business.

Working as operations manager at that time, my role was to elaborate a long-term strategy for the growth of key business areas from process and technology perspective. Thus, I started concentrating in identifying problems and developing solution for them. However, unfortunately, I soon realized that my engagement in embracing new ideas was not aligned with the interest of some shareholders and even with some managers. Burnes (2009) suggests that the relationship among stakeholders is crucial to determine and control the strategic direction and performance of any organization.

I confess that I was very enthusiastic to be an operation manager of a big company. In my mind, I was there to bring strategic changes to the business and I could not see any impediment to develop great projects. But truly, this was not the case. The new company was highly bureaucratic and its decision-making processes were extremely slow. Staff did not have access to their managers for direction and many projects were not being completed. Situations that demanded urgent decisions simply failed because there was no clarity as to who had decision-making authority. Additionally, many meetings where called to make the same decision, because often one of the key persons was not present, and the group could not discuss the issue. I gradually perceived that there was no engagement of the top management in the decision-making processes, and also it seemed to me that, despite the organizational belief of collaboration, there were no discussions and no knowledge sharing. Ireland and Miller (2004) state that the decision making process requires constant refinement of knowledge gained from previous experiences. Moreover, formal analysis of techniques, behaviours, personal characteristics and power politics are all important parts of the decision making process (Blake 2008).

While I was brought into the new company to help in the development of innovative operations strategies, I realized that interest in changes was driven solely by the immediate short-term demands of specific clients or executives, not by what could really impact the status quo.  Thus, I decided to write to the President of the company pointing him the problems in the way we were working and it ultimately resulted in a reorganization, in which I became an internal consultant. The President, my grandfather, was a genuine leader; he was passionate about the business and the people involved in its activities. But for him, and I agree, the fact of being relative does not qualify anyone to be a good leader. Of course my grandfather gave me the opportunity to do something bigger, however my passion and attitude undoubtedly were decisive to start my career as a leader. In fact, passion motivates self-expression, providing a deep foundation in values (Bass and Riggio 2006). Naturally I become more and more involved in my family’s business.

According to Dubrin (2010) some personal traits of effective leaders are closely associated with task accomplishment such as passion for the work and the people, emotional intelligence, flexibility and adaptability, internal locus of control, and courage.  My grandfather recognized my leadership qualities when I acted as an adaptive leader, setting strategies on both the customer’s needs and the strengths of the company, attempting to bring all of the different parts and people of the organization together to work towards a common goal (Obolensky 2010).

The beginning of my career was extremely difficult, yet significant in shaping my views of leadership. It was a period of a deep self-searching as I left a middle manager position to be part of the board of directors of the company that my grandfather built. I did not see that as a boom in my career, but a big change of my responsibilities to the future of our family. Indeed, this was a period of deep reflection on my sense of identity, personal integrity and my values; a period when I started understanding that leadership involves formulating an exciting vision to direct an organization, dealing with change, inspiration, motivation and influence (Dubrin (2010).

In fact, there are many definitions for leadership, which is largely about inspiring confidence and supporting people through the achievement of common goals. But one of my favorite comes from Sun Tzu in the Art of War: “The way [of leadership] means inducing the people to have the same aim as the leadership, so that they will share death and share life, without fear of danger” (Tzu, 2005, p.43). For Sun Tzu, leadership is a strategy that stimulates relationships that involve a shared vision and collaborative actions that transcend personal self-interest, where follower and leader are connected and prepared to both enjoying benefits and taking risks.

I interpret this merging as the beginning of my generation in the company, in which leadership was seeing as a strategy, recognizing the importance of relationships to constantly adjust and synchronize every component of the organization’s internal and external environment (Hollenbeck and Hall 2004). Tozer (2012, p.96) argues that leaders need to be good at ‘system thinking’, which is the ability to analyze activities, moving forwards and backwards along the chain of cause and effect, in order to identify and understand systems.

Additionally, my readings about systems thinking and human communications led me to adopt the principle that more flexibility means more power to exercise influence on the system (Senge et al. 1999). The idea reinforced the importance of self-command, suggesting that the person who has the greatest command on their own behaviour and attitudes is able to exercise the most influence with others. Bass and Riggio (2006) supported this notion emphasizing that transformational change occurs when people choose to change themselves, often by choosing behaviour that is self-sacrificing in nature. I decided to learn to be a person I would admire, and develop my personal flexibility and positive attitude.

Unfortunately, when I think about people and the kind of attitude we have towards our own attitudes, I see far too many people having a half-hearted attitude.  I think we all know that we should have a positive attitude, but we do not fully own the responsibility for that.

I remember my first class in the Army when I was eighteen, the commandant asked us to write down the word A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E and note underneath each letter the numerical place in the alphabet that each letter represents. That class made me understand that, as the result, we are hundred percent responsible for the choice of our attitude, positive or negative.

A leader must possess a positive attitude because it is infectious. This is why I prefer to have the unofficial title of CMIHL [Chief Make It Happen Leader] over my official title in my organization. My official title does not really define much about the way I will choose to do what I am supposed to do in the organization.

In fact, every person on a team has an official job title that defines what they are supposed to do in their job; however, a team value for possessing a positive attitude with a corresponding heart conviction will actually help inspire each person on a team to be someone who will serve others with a positive attitude (Anderson 2001).

The decision to change myself liberated me from self-concept that delivered value from titles and power roles (Gardner 2006).  Besides it drove me to explore leadership outside the mainstream hierarchical power structure that could mandate actions through positional authority. Being part of the board of directors of my family’s company, it really opened my mind and made me feel free to exercise my leadership in a variety of ways. Additionally, it made me to see the business as an intermixed system of relationships, a living organism in a complex living system. Burnes (2009) defends that organizations are no longer perceived as a static system, filled with cogs. They are now regarded as self-organising systems in a complex organizational life support system (Bar-Yam 1997), where it has been incorporated the human social dimension of organizational life (Burnes 2009).

For many times I found myself imagining the ebb and flow of people as they move about their work, all the process of activities that enable this living organism to thrive in such complex environment. Senior and Swailes (2010) suggest that organizations are complex dynamic systems where activities do not happen in a linear manner demanding people’s ability to self-organize.  

I realized that we could be more attentive to the signs of turmoil that very often resulted in a disruption of activities, when minor problems exacerbated others that could become major problems. I saw myself discerning critic of our company processes and operations, attempting to identify the systemic pain point proactively, therefore finding solutions to the pain points before they become chaos.

Indeed I perceived that people do not worry about situations that have not reached yet the pain point, and how a proactive approach could reduce the impact to effectiveness and efficiency of business performance through better processes.    This made me understand that the ability to see and overcome limiting beliefs to jump into a self-transcending construction (Allen et al. 2011), is a crucial skill of leaders who have to decide when to act for best advantage, since knowing accurately when to take actions, will lead to best effects (Needham 2008).

Furthermore, as organizations are increasingly confronted with complexity inherent in this new generation of globalised system (De Wit and Meyer 2010), it is evident that the ability of changing themselves, as well as the adaptability to a changing environment may be decisive to attain and maintain business advantages (Duhaime et al. 2012).

My view about leadership were always firmly aligned with the idea that effective leaders are those who convince others of the merit of their ideas, and engage them into actions toward that vision, inspiring and motivating. Thus, based on my belief I often attempt to express my ideas for the future, and frequently perceived that many others could not think that far, and were not able to see the future I was envisioning. I realized that our managers were failing to align individual actions with long-term goals, which should occur at all levels of the organization (Jaques 2006), not only stimulated by senior executives. Moreover considering the complexity of business environment, people need to be more involved in long-term goals. Relating this strategy to time horizon, Jaques (2006, p. 24) states ‘the picture of the future that people vaguely think and talk about, but can actually deal with, forecast and control by doing things on a scale that they can feel comfortable. My leadership studies gave the opportunity to ‘recognize the range of factors that motivate each employee’ (Chreptaviciene and Starkute 2012, p. 164) and use this to achieve competitive advantage.

Every organization at some point will face disequilibrium. A certain amount of disequilibrium helps fuel change in an organization (Plowman et al. 2007), but too much can cause people to fight, flee or freeze. Likewise, too little disequilibrium does not provoke people to ask uncomfortable questions and make difficult decisions. Companies must find the right balances so that disturbance is productive rather than destructive. Depersonalizing conflict is important to maintaining the right level of disequilibrium (Plowman et al. 2007). Disagreements should be focused on the issues, but it is important to understand the viewpoints of interested parties as well. A culture of courageous conversation should be instilled so people feel free to discuss difficult topics (Mone & London 2010). Thus, disequilibrium is an important state in the dynamics of an organization, and only resonant leaders can provide crucial insights to clarify the situation and address emotional issues.

I was one of the leaders called to speak to the employees immediately after the announcement that some operations will shut down and many people will inevitably lose their job. That was a real test to me. After months of talk about the benefits of the merge, more than 45 people were told that they were losing their job of years. Everyone was devastated. I realized that at that very moment my role was to comfort people and give them hope to continue their lives and so I did it. Thus, I gradually perceived that despite the shocking news, they started trying to find solutions instead of crying. That showed me the power of emotional intelligence and therefore contributed to my personal development.

Boyatzis and McKee (2005) suggest that resonant leaders have the ability to manage the feeling and emotions that motivate groups to achieve goals, evoking strong emotions and inspiring people through their positive thoughts and clear vision. Moreover resonant leaders are alike to have a high degree of emotional intelligence, developing their resonance through compassion, hope, mindfulness, and maintaining their resonance through the process of renewal (McKee at al. 2008).

Additionally, this disequilibrium made me immerge into a deep organizational analysis (Plowman et al. 2007), driving me to the conclusion that our company assessing risks and our leaders were not proactively anticipating and influence changes before problems become critical, which is fundamental as organizations operates in complex adaptive systems (De Wit & Meyer 2010).

In fact, leadership is a continuous process that enables knowledge sharing and promotes the maintenance of good intelligence moving through the organization (Dubrin 2010). Hence, I understood that organizational structures exercise strong influence on leadership, as ineffective structures in the systems are not able to promote the development of employees’ capabilities into their work and communication flow (Jaques 2006). Further, leadership should be used to generate more leadership deep in the organization, because organizations are highly interdependent and it may not be the executive team alone that identifies the best way into the future (Jaques 2006).

Another situation that I experienced and really contributed to my thinking about leadership happened when I started working in this company as an operations assistant manager. At that time, studying production engineering, I was very passionate about processes and technology, and so I identified that our company could invest more in a system to better control our operations as well as improve communication between our branches. Everyone saw my suggestions as unrealistic therefore, despite my convincement about the benefits that it could bring to my family’s business, my ideas were not considered. Nowadays, I see my company always engaged in operations improvement, as without updated technology in this complex living system it is impossible to thrive.

This experience reinforced the principle that the process of leadership starts when a person, regardless its formal or informal authority, identify a particular need and choose to take actions even in the face of obstacles (Needham 2008).  In certain circumstances an actor can emerge and take actions that would be interpreted as leadership (Quinn 2004).

I have come to see leadership as a state of mind. Leaders can develop a state of mind that enhances leadership capacities. It starts with me, and a belief in myself. A belief in new possibilities, a belief in my abilities to make changes in the world, and an appreciation that I cannot do it all on my own. My reflections as a leader have helped me grow and learn as a person, making me understand that all we need is motivation, inspiration, and sometimes be a dreaming kid.

When we are kids everything we wish is much easier than it looks like. Building our own fortune, reach the moon, have the dream job, travelling around the world. The funny thing is that, we grow and most of those desires remain with us for a long time. Some of them will continue be only dreams, others may become reality. However, to make it happen we need to answer a simple question: What do we want to be when we grow up? Knowing this answer will not be the end of our search, but the starting point for several others. It is through this question ​​that our future begins to be drawn. It is this question that turns crazy plans into something quite possible.

With me is not different, just like everyone I want the improbable, the surprising, the innovative. I want to do what no one else would be able to accomplish, I want to go so far that nobody can reach me, I want to be the discoverer of a new era, or who knows, the discoverer of a new time. Actually, what I really want is to fulfill my desires, and like in a child's game, win everything seemed improbable; the dream job, the perfect family, and why not? Travelling into the space.

Being a leader I gained experience to grow in humility, mature, having responsibilities. Leadership tests my capacity to innovate, and be ahead of the time in which I live. It has taught me to not regret my luck. It has taught me that I must be a dreaming person, and experience the new, looking at the realization of my desires every day, doing what I like to do, not just what brings me money. As a leader I learned to be loyal to my values, and always do the best in what I am engaged, because I am solely responsible for my destiny.

Finally, as a leader I have learnt that we all can be everything we want to be and when tough times come, I can set back and simply answer that question: what do I want to be when I grow up?

 

 

References

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Anderson, D 2001, Beyond change management: advanced strategies for today's transformational Leaders, 2nd edn, Wiley, the United States of America.

Bass, BM & Riggio, RE 2006, Transformational leadership, 2nd edn, Lawrence Erlbaum associates, London.

Blake, C 2008, The art of decisions: how to manage in an uncertain world, Prentice Hall, Great Britain.

Bar-Yam, Y 1997, Dynamics of complex systems, Addison Wesley, England.

Bodenhamer, BG & Hall, LM 1999, The user’s manual for the brain vol.1, crown house publishing, United Kingdom.

Boyatzis, R. E & McKee A 2005, Resonant leadership: renewing yourself and connecting with others through mindfulness, hope and compassion, Harvard Business School Press, United States of America.

Burnes, B 2009, Managing change, 5th edn, Prentice Hall, England.

Chreptaviciene, V, & Starkute, J 2012, ‘Relationship between career and competency: verification of theoretical model validity’, Engineering Economics, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 163-173, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 15 May 2013.

Contractor, F, & Lorange, P 1988, Cooperative strategies in international business, Lexington books, Toronto.

De Witt, B & Meyer, R 2010, Strategy: process, content, context: an international perspective, 4th edn, Cenege learning, Andover.

Dubrin, A. W 2010, Leadership research, findings, practice and skills, 6th edn, Cenage Learning, New York.

Dubrin, A, Dalglish, C, Miller, P 2006 Leadership, 2nd edn., John Wiley & Sons, Milton.

Duhaime, I. M, Stimpert, L & Chesley, J. A 2012 Strategic thinking: today’s business imperative, Taylor and Francis, New York.

Gardner, H 2006 Changing minds: the art and science of changing our own and other people's minds, Harvard business school publishing, the United States of America.

Heifetz, RA 1998, Leadership without easy answers, Harvard University Press, United States of America.

Hollenbeck, G. P & Hall, D. T., 2004, ‘Self-confidence and leader performance’, Organizational Dynamics, vol. 33, no. 3 pp. 254-269. Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 15 May 2013.

Ireland, R & Miller, C 2004, ‘Decision-making and firm success’, Academy of Management Executive, vol. 18, no.4, pp. 8-12, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 15 May 2013.

Jaques, E 2006, Requisite Organization: a total system for effective managerial organization and managerial leadership for the 21st century, 2nd edn, Cason Hall & Co Pub, Baltimore.

McKee, A, Boyatzis, RE & Johnston, F 2008, Becoming a resonant leader: develop your emotional intelligence, renew your relationships, sustain your effectiveness, Harvard Business Press, The United States of America.

Mone, EM & London, M 2010, Employee engagement: through effective performance management-a practical guide for managers-, Routledge, New York.

                                          

Needham, A W 2008, Courage at the top: igniting the leadership fire, Penguin group, New Zealand.

Obolensky, N 2010, Complex adaptive leadership: embracing paradox and uncertainty, Gower publishing limited, England.

Plowman, DA, Solansky, S, Beck, TE, Baker LK, Kulkami M & Villarreal, DT 2007, ‘The role of leadership in emergent, self-organization’, The leadership quarterly, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 341-356, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 10 May 2013.

Quinn, RE 2004, Building the bridge as you walk on it: a guide for leading change, Jossey-bass, San Francisco.

Senge, PM, Kleiner, A, Roberts, C, Ross, R & Smith, B 1999, The dance of change: the challenges to sustaining momentum in learning organizations, 1st edn, Doubleday business, New York.  

Senior, B & Swailes, S 2010, Organizational change, 4th edn, Pearson Education Limited, Essex, UK.

Tzu, S 2005, The art of war, Shambhala, Boston.

Tozer, J 2012, Leading through leaders: driving strategy, execution and changeI, Kogan Page Limited, London, UK

STRATEGY AND DECISION MAKING

Individual Assignment Coversheet
DETAILS OF ASSIGNMENT
STUDENT NAME Alex Daniel Salomao da Cruz Rocha ID NUMBER 1796097
EMAIL ADDRESS 1796097@student.swin.edu.au PHONE CONTACT 0430318190
UNIT CODE * NAME MBM701 – STRATEGY AND DECISION MAKING
ASSESSMENT TITLE Assessment 3
TUTOR’S NAME: Dr. Ian Allsop DATE OF SUBMISSION: 9 June 2013
.
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□ This assignment does not contain any material that has previously been submitted for assessment at this or any other
university.
□ This is an original piece of work and no part has been completed by any other student than signed below.
□ I have read and understood the avoiding plagiarism guidelines at
http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ltas/plagiarism/students.htm and no part of this work has been copied or paraphrased from
any other source except where this has been clearly acknowledged in the body of the assignment and included in the
reference list.
□ I have retained a copy of this assignment in the event of it becoming lost or damaged.
□ (optional) I agree to a copy of the assignment being retained as an exemplar for future students (subject to identifying
details being removed).
Student
acknowledgement ( by
typing your name you
agree to the above):
Alex Daniel Salomao da Cruz Rocha Date: 9th June 2013
DETAILS OF FEEDBACK
2
Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
INTRODUCTION 4
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS 5
INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT 5
INDUSTRY CONTEXT 5
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT 6
JBS’S PURPOSE 7
SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES AND RISKS EXPOSURE 7
JBS’S RESPONSIBLE SOURCING STRATEGY 8
QUALITY CONTROL PROGRAMMES AT FARMS LEVEL 9
JBS’S SUPPLIER CODE FOR MEAT AND EDIBLE ANIMAL BYPRODUCTS PROCUREMENT 9
COURSE OF ACTIONS 10
ADAPTIVE APPROACH VS RATIONAL APPROACH 11
CONCLUSION 13
REFERENCES 14
3
Executive Summary
Potential businesses impacts have never been more concerned and multifaceted.
Globalization has led organizations to concentrate in maximizing operations by redefining
their strategies and sharing organizational wide understanding of risks.
Moreover, the increased difficulty to drive accountability for risks across the entire business
activity demands a continuous analysis to address social and environmental issues in this
complex world.
As an organization that proud itself for its global reach, JBS SA recognizes the importance of
promoting sustainable initiatives into its business operations. The company’s operations
have a strong connection with rural activities, being mandatory for the JBS take care of the
environment and the local communities.
In fact the company has been investing great efforts and money in sustainability
programmes, however the challenges are more and more difficult and complex, calling for
innovative actions. Besides, in the web era, social media adds an entirely new challenge by
instantly shining a global spotlight on even the smallest, most isolated problems, giving
companies no place to hide.
This report analyzes a responsible sourcing strategy to help JBS improve competitive
advantage and business performance through implementation of sustainable initiatives into
its rural activities. JBS’s strategic approach in the direction of sustainable development will
require deeply organizational change, where innovation and culture play important roles.
This paper focuses on contextual analyses to articulate vision and targets for the
development and implementation of a strategy for JBS. The strategy will enable JBS to
refocus its efforts and activities, engaging the right stakeholders in the process to mitigate
the impact that its business creates throughout the value chain.
4
Introduction
JBS SA is the largest Brazilian multinational food processing company. Founded in 1953,
the company produces fresh, chilled, and processed beef, chicken and pork, also selling byproducts
from the processing of these meats. With more than 120.000 employees and
revenue in excess of US$ 37 billion, the company leads the world in slaughter capacity, at
51.4 thousand head per day, and continues focusing on production operations, processing,
and export plants, worldwide (About Us 2013).
With its products present in more than hundred countries around the world, JBS has
dedicated significant attention to operational efficiency, focused on environmental
sustainability and compliance along its value chain (Sustainability, present in al our
operations, 2012). Notwithstanding, a more effective strategy seems needed to highlight the
company’s commitment to a long-term value creation for the society and stakeholders,
extending its responsibility beyond its own operations and covering the entire chain of value
of its business.
Following the principle that when embarking on a strategy formulation is fundamental
analyzing the four dimensions that are connected to real-life strategic problem situations, i.e.
strategy process, strategy content, strategy context and organizational purpose (De Witt &
Meyer 2010), this report will use this 4D map of strategy, to permit a clear view of the
dimensions’ interactivity and interconnectivity, yielding a deeper comprehension of the
situation.
This report will first provide a comprehensive analysis of the facts around the sustainability
challenges faced by JBS. Then it will construct, based on the coursework literature, a
reflection on the development and implementation of a value creation strategy to help JBS
mitigate risks and improve its environmental performance.
5
Contextual analysis
Considering that strategy context is the set of the existing conditions under which strategy
process and strategy are defined (De Witt & Meyer 2010), this section analyzes JBS
business environment and sustainability challenges. Strategy context can be divided into two
different dimensions: ‘industry versus organizations, and national versus international’,
suggesting three levels of contextual environments, that is, international, industry and
organizational (De Witt & Meyer 2010 p.11).
International context
In order to adapt and thrive in more and more complex and competitive environments,
organizations are focusing on finding new ways to be more profitable, and as a result
companies are turning to apply innovative initiatives to explore new markets as a means to
create more opportunities.
Moreover, organizations are concentrating in reducing costs and maximizing operations by
redefining operational strategies and sharing organizational wide understanding of risks to
mitigate the negative effects that risks can cause to their business activities (Zsidisin et al
2004). JBS as a global business must be attentive to the changes and trends in this context.
Industry context
In the food industry, where large organizations are more innovative, creating different ways
to reach far-flung corners of the world for sourcing raw materials, pressures on sustainable
practices are more and more challenging. The big players of this sector are working hard to
sell more products to more of the world, as their duty to the shareholders to boost profit, but
on the other hand, many of the products that are highly profitable are also unhealthy, what
can be a serious threat for their reputation.
By embracing sustainability as strategy, JBS recognizes the need to dedicate its internal
resources to understand the world in which it operates, so that it can respond accordingly.
Muller-Christ & Hulsman (cited in Lopez 2007, p.172) suggest that, as sustainable
development focuses on the sustainable use of resources, sustainability can be considered
as an extension of the resource-based view of strategic management.
6
Moreover, sustainability is about not only complying with the law in a due diligent way, but it
also about taking account of society’s needs and finding more effective ways to satisfy
existing and anticipated demands to build a sustainable business (Kotler & Lee 2005),
providing enhanced goods and services for customers; building trust and credibility in the
society (Frederick 2006).
Organizational Context
JBS has plants installed in the world's 4 leading beef producing nations, Brazil, Argentina,
USA and Australia, exporting for 110 countries. Its business is highly integrated, raising
cattle as well as buying from on the open market, selling fresh meat internationally and using
some as raw material in its prepared meats business. Edible animal byproducts such as
skin, internal organs and blood also play a role as raw materials. Byproducts are wholly
recycled by its rendering operations into tallow, feed additives and other products.
JBS plants receive meat from a variety of sources, including JBS’s own farms and livestock
from the open market. The animals are slaughtered at local farms and than transported to
JBS’s plants, where the quality control takes place. Quality management is one area that is
constantly being improved as new procedures and new technologies become available
regularly. However, rural activities seem to be inefficiently inspected, monitored and
supported.
According to De Witt & Meyer (2010), organizational context refer to situations of disorder
that are often a prerequisite for strategic renewal.
7
JBS’s Purpose
According to De Witt & Meyer (2010) the organizations’ purpose have significant impact on
the role of society; therefore it is an important topic that should be considered before moving
on to strategy process. Organizational purpose can perform as a fundamental principle
against which strategic options can be assessed, as it stimulates strategy activities. Tzu
(2005) suggests that in today’s business world the assessment of the situation needs to be
conduct before the plan to avoid people working on the wrong direction.
JBS is built on the principles of ‘excellence, planning, determination, discipline, availability,
honesty and modesty’ and for over fifty years these principles have conducted the company
to the right thing (Sustainability, present in al our operations, 2012). JBS is embracing
sustainable initiatives as a strategy not only to gain competitive advantage, but also to be
recognized by the society for promoting long-term value creation in its business activities.
According to Kurucz et. al (cited in Crane et. al 2008) there are four categories of benefits
that firms may achieve from sustainable initiatives: cost and risk reduction, gaining
competitive advantage, developing reputation and legitimacy and seeking win-win outcomes
through synergetic value creation.
Indeed, economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities are the expectations of
stakeholders and society, leading organizations to identifying specific types of benefits to
focus on. The paradox of profitability and responsibility seems to be well managed by JBS.
Sustainability challenges and risks exposure
JBS has been facing many sustainability challenges when creating value within the
environment in which it carries out its operations (Sustainability, present in al our operations,
2012).
JBS operates within complex supply chains. The company sources raw materials from
various farms, many of them small farmers with inappropriate facilities and poor working
conditions, which have a serious impact on the quality of raw materials that JBS rely on.
Moreover, problems with deforestation practiced by some of its supply chain partners have
been seriously affecting JBS activities.
According to Boone et al (2012) in sustainable supply chains it is difficult to accurately
identify the cost or benefits of an initiative, therefore quantitative and qualitative analysis
may lead to a decision-making based on both evidences and probabilities.
8
McElhaney (2009) suggests that sustainability can help organizations to create value and
positive social change by influencing business culture and operations.
Hence, by adopting sustainable initiatives, JBS may be able to manager its economic,
social, ethical and environmental impacts, and its stakeholders relationship, in all their key
spheres of influence, providing benefits in the financial performance, including different
areas such as people management, reputation and operations (McElhaney, 2009).
Positive actions that reduce the negative impact of an organization on environmental,
ethical, social, and economic issues can be seen as a way of managing risks (Brindley
2004). Thus, its is important to effectively identify the risks associated to JBS’s operational
activities in order to reduce the probabilities of expected environmental crisis that could
negatively affect the organization.
Often the biggest part of a company’s environmental footprint falls outside of its direct
control (Handfield and McCormack 2008). The inappropriate facilities and poor working
conditions in many of the small farms JBS sources from, may represent a risk for food
quality and safety. Besides, the social responsibility transgressions of JBS’s supply chain
partners may expose the company to a serious reputational damage.
Handfield and McCormack (2008) argue that eliminating risk isn’t an achievable goal.
Instead, resilience is what really matters, as with greater resiliency, the organization is better
able to respond quickly to risks as they present themselves, absorbing unexpected hits and
minimizing impacts to the business.
JBS’s Responsible Sourcing Strategy
The project is to expand JBS’s sustainable sourcing program as a means to improve
environmental performance in the supply chain, and guarantee quality and safe raw
materials, without affecting the core values of the company. Additionally, the project
represents an important tool to mitigate risks of reputational damage.
The goal of this project is to build strong relationships with JBS’s supply base, resembling a
joint venture rather than a buyer-supplier transaction, to ensure the company can trace its
product’s origins and assure their quality.
In order to achieve this goal, the project proposes introduction of quality control programmes
at the farms level, and the development of JBS’s supplier code for meat and edible animal
byproducts procurement establishing a series of conditions that should cover all of JBS’s
agreements and relation with its suppliers.
9
The permeability of sustainable practices in the entire supply chain remains a big challenge
for JBS, evidencing that stakeholders’ cooperation is an important key to improve
sustainable performance.
(Flynn 2010) argues that not keeping good relationships with stakeholders can result in a
damaging effect, not just on reputation but also on actual business outcomes.
Notwithstanding, there can be misunderstandings and pitfalls in stakeholder engagement,
requiring a deliberate analysis on what works and what does not. Stakeholder engagement
should be considered as part of day-to-day operations in organizations’ core business, and
stakeholders involved appropriately, with focus and the adequate processes (Basu 2011).
Quality control programmes at farms level
Poor quality raw materials can cause serious problems to an organization that is dependent
upon supply chain partner performance. Thus, quality management policies and practices of
suppliers must be aligned with the standards of the company (Larsen et al 2007).
Moreover, acceptable quality standards require that buyers and suppliers work together to
develop practices, policies, and management systems (Larsen et al 2007). In this way,
constant improvements in quality management help to reduce risks of costly and
embarrassing failures in supply chains that can result in consumer dissatisfaction, regulatory
noncompliance and, in some cases, public criticism of the corporate management practices
(Flynn 2010).
JBS’s supplier code for meat and edible animal byproducts procurement
Blowfield (2007) and Prieto-Carron et al. (2006) argue against the benefits of relying on
codes of conduct in bringing about environmental improvements. Brammer, Hoejmose &
Millington (2011) claim that codes tend to be relatively static and unresponsive to new issues
or changes in stakeholder expectation. More specifically, Andersen and Skjoett-Larsen
(2009) criticize the codes of conduct as being irrelevant to the needs of the employees
generating resistance to their content. Codes can also embody culturally alien demands that
do not fit local needs, reinforcing further resistance to them (Brammer, Hoejmose &
Millington 2011). Besides, Lund-Thomsen (2008, p. 1016) suggests that for the codes to
work, the ‘concerns of the beneficiaries of the codes must be incorporated into the design,
implementation, monitoring and impact assessment of the codes in order to achieve
environmental improvements.’
10
While cognizant of problems with the use of codes, the UN Global Compact (2010, p. 21)
states that the ‘codes of conduct are critical to establishing and managing expectations for
both customers and suppliers, creating a shared foundation for sustainability’ in order to
make informed decisions.
JBS’s supplier code is proposed based on the concept of moving towards ‘collaboration’
rather than ‘command and control’ style of management of relationships. Using this method
the focus is on generating shared value. The goal is to build strong relationships with the
farmers resembling a joint venture relationship.
Course of Actions
JBS will establish a partnership with The Forest Trust (TFT). TFT will engage suppliers to
analyze their policies and systems as a means to identify specific farms that supply to JBS
and undertake Responsible Sourcing Guidelines (RSG) assessment of these farms (TFT
2011).
A risk analysis will be conducted to ensure JBS does not outsource meat or byproducts from
an RSG compliant farm if the parent company’s other operations, does not have quality
control standards approved by JBS and/or have a deforestation footprint. Notwithstanding,
TFT will collaborate with suppliers on a continuous basis to provide them with the expertise
and resources to improve their environmental performance, as the exclusion of noncompliant
suppliers is not an effective way to secure compliance (Lund-Thomsen 2008). TFT
will develop a risk management plan for each company in order to minimize breaches of
RSG.
JBS will provide quality control training and technical assistance to non-RSG compliant
suppliers to facilitate improved agricultural techniques and environmental practices (Perez-
Aleman 2008).
A dedicated JBS’s quality training team will be established to plan, execute and maintain a
robust ‘Quality Control Programme at farms level’ that is aligned and integrated into the
corporate training programme.
JBS’s Responsible Sourcing Strategy will be promulgated to the business leadership team
via the filter of systems thinking to encourage collaboration and breaking down of silos.
“What needs to be measured is social impact” (Porter & Kramer 2006).
JBS will conduct, in partnership with suppliers, a complete mapping of JBS’s supply base, to
identify specific farms as sources of meat and Edible animal byproducts (TFT 2011).
11
Responsible Sourcing Guidelines (RSG) and other company documents will be translated
into local and regional languages and dialects to enhance understanding and
communication (Brammer, Hoejmose & Millington 2011). Additionally, JBS will contact and
consult local NGOs, government bodies and industry representatives to assist in improving
the RSG (TFT 2011).
JBS will implement education and awareness programmes to close the gap between
findings and field implementation.
Adaptive approach Vs Rational approach
Development and implementation of a strategy is not a simple task as it has to be effective
in determining and communicate a picture of an organization through a system of major
objectives and polices, concerning with a unified direction and efficient allocation of
resources (Duhaime et al 2012).
Hence, discussions emerge around strategy development and how it should be approached:
through a logical, sequential description of processes, in terms of process elements and the
rationale behind them; or based on the cumulative effect of day-to-day prioritization
decisions emerged from a dynamic complexity.
Farjoun & Lai (1997) argue that normative models of strategy formation seem to be
unrealistic, as they do not consider the practical and realistic side of strategy development.
Moreover, rational models incorporate assessments considering that environments and
industries do not change rapidly. Moreover, in this model, leaders and managers own the
challenging task of rational assessment, while employees’ inputs may not be used in the
process. Perhaps, rational models of strategy are too incomplete or already outdated in such
complex and adaptive system (Bar-Yam 1997).
Differently to the rational models, adaptive schools are closely related to the understanding
that organizations exist in complex and adaptive systems that are gradually becoming larger,
and constantly changing its purpose and directions (Bar-Yam 1997). Furthermore, adaptive
models monitor explicit outcomes intentions, allowing organizations to learn about the
environment changes and relationships to adjust actions (Simon 2000). In the adaptive
schools, significant strategic courses can rise from the functional levels (Burgelman & Grove
1996), and being accepted by higher levels, as alternative business opportunities.
In this way, JBS may use both rational and adaptive strategy approaches. The company
may use rational approach because of the enormous flow of information that inevitably
12
demands more staff. Fredrickson (1986) states that the fundamental characteristics of a
rational approach lay on comprehensiveness, accuracy, and carefulness.
On the other, JBS is a company that constantly innovates and embarks on new ventures,
always focused on exploring new markets, which evidence that the company strongly adopts
the adaptive strategy approach.
JBS adaptive approach is evidenced when the company stimulates continuous changes and
monitors the environment. Also when JBS’s leaders focus attention on propose, values and
beliefs considering that goals are symbolized by the lining up of the company and its
context. In traditional approaches decisions are strongly concentrated on goals.
Additionally, the company seeks to incorporate, not only major changes, as in rational
models, but also fine changes such as in quality, marketing and styles.
A great strength of this approach is that the environment is considered to be a complex
organizational life support system, encompassing trends, events, competitors and
stakeholders, demanding great attention to the organizational action, since the
organizational context is too dynamic. Hence, the actions are more responsive in
accordance with the nature and importance of the environmental pressures.
Finally, by adopting adaptive approach JBS assumes that the contextual environment is
highly interconnected, and the environment is extremely dynamic and unpredictable,
requiring that the company do not only deal with the environment but also change with them.
13
Conclusion
Sustainability is a strategic priority for many organizations in the today’s world. Through the
developing of an effective sustainability strategy, organizations may be able to match their
internal resources and capabilities with the opportunities presented by the external
environment, enabling them to fulfil their social, financial, ethical and environmental
responsibilities to stakeholders and society.
However, implementing and developing a sustainability strategy presents a number of
challenges that involves uncertainties, diversities and disagreements. To be strategic about
sustainability, organizations need to know where they are ahead. They need to know what
success is, in terms of sustainability.
Many organizations are integrating sustainability as a core element of business strategy, by
undertaking a strategic sustainability review of the business and developing sustainability
strategy to guide the implementation of sustainable initiatives.
Notwithstanding, a strategic approach in the direction of sustainable development requires
deeply organizational change, where innovation and culture play important roles.
The Responsible Sourcing Strategy proposed for JBS may provide many benefits to the
company, including cost and risk reduction, strategic position and competitive advantage,
green image and a green profile reputation as well as strong synergies between
stakeholders in the process of value creation.
14
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