{"id":2014,"date":"2022-10-11T06:45:58","date_gmt":"2022-10-11T09:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interelos.org.br\/?p=2014"},"modified":"2022-10-19T06:02:15","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T09:02:15","slug":"como-criar-negocios-competitivos-com-responsabilidade-socioambiental","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interelos.org.br\/en\/publicacoes\/artigos\/noticias\/2014-como-criar-negocios-competitivos-com-responsabilidade-socioambiental.html","title":{"rendered":"How to create competitive businesses with socio-environmental responsibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Planning and simultaneous intervention in the chain are part of the secret for the success of the projects<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All over the world, we've seen it emerge business models<\/a> that seek to break with the traditional way of operating in the market and show that it is possible to generate income and work, prioritizing people and the environment. Agricultural production in agroforestry, fishermen's cooperatives that make a living from sustainable fishing and clothing manufacturers that value fair and ecological work and trade relations are just some of the forms that these businesses can take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That type of enterprise<\/a> arises in response to a demand for solutions in a world marked by inequality, human rights violations and an environmental crisis of which climate change and loss of biodiversity are just some of its symptoms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The market challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To carry out these projects, it is necessary to unite sustainability and social justice with a practical vision capable of meeting the needs of the market. And that's not easy. The challenge is even greater when we talk about businesses developed by communities with little access to economic resources and social services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first step to overcome this problem is to understand what obstacles must be overcome. The biggest one is perhaps the lack of infrastructure and basic services such as health, education and sanitation that many places face, because without a base, development becomes more difficult and takes longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In precarious conditions, income opportunities are scarce, and even when a way to develop a product is found, getting it to consumers is another story. For the Interelos Institute consultant, Wagner D'Onofrio, this is an issue faced by many enterprises. \u201cThere is a huge logistical challenge in the Amazon, especially with regard to structuring businesses and transporting products to the consumer center,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the lack of buyers, the absence of roads, airports and other necessary infrastructure make it difficult to access other markets. In the words of D'Onofrio, \u201cThe greater the precariousness of access, the greater the logistical challenge\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educational deficiencies, on the other hand, impede the long-term development of territories. Education is fundamental to train qualified labor and encourage critical thinking among community residents. Another challenge is to create business models capable of bringing adequate income and adding value to the region. Acquiring the necessary scale to be able to compete in the market is a big challenge. As well as guaranteeing quality of life with the sale of primary products, as it is not at all simple to produce goods with added value. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, every business requires investments for its viability and operation. \u201cIt takes investment in land, equipment and, at the beginning of the operation, in working capital. Without investment, there is no progress\u201d, explains D'Onofrio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The development of undertakings and territories needs a constant flow of capital and planning capable of making deeper and lasting changes possible. Acquiring scale is another challenge that is not easy to overcome. \u201cYou need to have a great processing capacity, industrial capacity. It is necessary to produce on a large scale and we are talking about managing an industry, it is not a simple task\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlocking value chains<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it is not easy, it is possible to overcome these obstacles with strategy and planning aimed at the short, medium and long term. For this, it is necessary to think about the mentioned issues and act in all the links of the productive chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to think about how the socio-environmental benefits of this type of business can be used in favor of its structuring. For D'Onofrio, \u201cplacing social and environmental benefits in the product is a solution to add even more value\u201d. For him, many consumers will value this aspect and, if applicable, pay more for this production, which represents an opportunity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before that, it is necessary to know if there is a market interested in what the company intends to sell. \u201cFirst, you have to do a lot of market research to find out if consumers are willing to pay for a product with these qualities, and then if there really is a consumer market that is big enough,\u201d explains D'Onofrio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For him, placing socio-environmental assets in an industry's business chain is also a way of attracting investments from other companies and organizations, which allows for its structuring and viability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when we talk about social benefits, it is important to think about how they can be implemented not only in products but in the structure of the developed businesses. According to D'Onofrio, cooperativism is one of the ways to achieve this, especially in community-based projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCooperativism is a tool that avoids the concentration of income, because the profit, when it arrives, is distributed to everyone\u201d, he explains. In addition, he emphasizes that \u201cin a cooperative, the community is the protagonist of the enterprise, because they are the ones who make the decisions\u201d. This protagonism is a key element in the development of territories by ensuring that the needs and priorities of their populations are reflected in their undertakings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the business structured and having working capital, it is necessary to gain scale and generate value-added products as a way to increase income and job opportunities. This involves dealing with logistical issues that permeate the entire production chain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acquiring industrial capacity is another important step for transforming raw materials into higher value products and also for gaining scale. But putting an industry on its feet and managing it is not the simplest of tasks. D'Onofrio underscores the importance of the ability to manage and plan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is necessary to have a large production of raw materials and coordination of the different processes. This involves organizing the entire producer base to produce in large quantities and deliver on the correct date and in the correct way\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this is not built overnight. It is a long-term process that requires investment in logistics, management and innovation, but also in people. This is the only investment that will enable the development of territories in the long term. Investing in people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education is the best fruit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Aldemir Corr\u00eaa, vice-president of the Management Committee of the Beira Amazonas Community Protocol and member of the deliberative council of the Agroextrativist Cooperative of Bailique and Beira Amazonas Producers (amazonbai<\/a>), in the state of Amap\u00e1, education is the key to success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A resident of the region, he trained as a technician in agroextractivism at the Escola Fam\u00edlia Agroextrativismo do Carv\u00e3o, later specializing in management of cooperatives at the Escola Superior de Cooperativismo, in Porto Alegre. This training was valuable for his performance in the amazonbai<\/a>, which produces a\u00e7a\u00ed using sustainable management techniques and today has an agroindustry that sells part of its production to S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For him, \u201cthe success of any undertaking depends on science and technology, and for that it is necessary training and knowledge\u201d. It is this knowledge, says Corr\u00eaa, \u201cwhich makes it possible to improve shared and democratic management processes, with transparency and responsibility\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is only possible to structure a successful enterprise if that business has people capable of carrying out simultaneous interventions in the production chain and coordinated actions. He also points out that interventions need to occur "both with regard to sustainable management and the management of the company and its technical and operational part".<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is necessary to have qualified labor to manage this type of operation, from the production of raw materials to the disposal of goods already processed by the industry for the consumer market, as well as to identify possible bottlenecks, improve logistics and seek new markets, among other functions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If all this depends on cultural capital, says Corr\u00eaa, \u201cthen education is the soul of this business\u201d. In addition, it is necessary to think about what type of education should be promoted according to regional needs. \u201cIt (education) needs to dialogue with the territory, the production chain, environmental awareness and local knowledge\u201d, he explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

if the amazonbai<\/a> he got where he is, this is due, in large part, to the work carried out by the Rural Family Schools in the region, such as the one that formed Corr\u00eaa. These schools are based on alternation pedagogy, in which students alternate between periods in their communities and periods in schools, where they also learn knowledge that can be applied where they live as agroextractive techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis training gave the communities a chance to look at the potential of the forest in a different way, in a way that is not just about exploiting capital\u201d, he says. \u201cNow we have the responsibility to use these resources in a sustainable way so that they remain a source of income for the next generations\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the residents of the region reap the fruits of their education and their work in amazonbai<\/a>, and show that, with adequate planning and long-term investment in education, it is possible to structure successful enterprises in which sustainability and development of territories go hand in hand.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simultaneous planning and intervention in the chain are part of the secret to the success of projects All over the world, we have<\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":2015,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[21,53],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/interelos.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2014"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/interelos.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/interelos.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interelos.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interelos.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2014"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/interelos.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2045,"href":"https:\/\/interelos.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2014\/revisions\/2045"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interelos.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/interelos.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interelos.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interelos.org.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}