Gestão de cooperativas agrícolas: mulheres gestoras e ações estratégias empreendedoras na cadeia produtiva da soja em Dourados/MS

Abstract

Agricultural cooperatives were created and grew in a period dominated by traditional agriculture and economic stability. Due to the competitiveness of the market, these cooperatives have undergone strategic adjustments, seeking to professionalize administratively and adjust relations with its associates, adapting to market rules. Based on information and guidance, the cooperative is currently seen as a development tool as it provides conditions for its associates to progress. In the new global context, cooperatives invest in female potential as a source of advancement in their business. Based on responsible values, cooperatives offer equal economic and professional conditions for men and women. The fact that women are primarily responsible for administering social, cultural and economic of the family core influences, clearly, the decisions of the economic activities of household livelihoods. Under these circumstances, women's participation in the Cooperative System, especially in the administrative sectors of cooperatives is an important reality of everyday life. However, women are still a minority in this economic sector. Therefore, this paper seeks to demonstrate, through data analysis, the characteristics of managers women in cooperatives of soy chain production of Dourados/MS, and for that, it was applied a questionnaire to 23 women who work in the administrative sectors of the four major cooperatives in the region, as well, it was also given a questionnaire to the managers of these women. It is intended, therefore, to contribute to the production of knowledge about management and gender actions strategies in the contribution of entrepreneurship to better understanding of the role of women in cooperatives in the administrative sectors of the soy production chain of Dourados/MS. The choice of the soy chain production is due to Brazil’s good representativeness as one of the largest producers and exporters of soy and its derivatives. The search is based on the analysis of secondary socioeconomic data of the region. It is based also on literature review, according to Magnabosco (2003), it is about a critical and extensive competitive publications in certain areas of knowledge, providing information necessary for understanding the context studied. The aim of this work is the analysis of women characteristics as managers in cooperatives of chain soy of Dourados/MS and compare the female profile management, having as reference the profiles and entrepreneurial characteristics definitions proposed by Miner (1998). The data demonstrated that, in the management of cooperatives soy chain, there is a clear separation between the functions considered masculine, such as field assistance offered, and the ones linked to human relationships that seem to be more suitable for women.