A comunicação como ferramenta de governança em cooperativas agropecuárias: utilização das tecnologias de informação e comunicação digitais

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the role of communication in the governance of agricultural cooperatives. Communication is understood as a governance mechanism that generates transparency between the management and the members of the cooperative, while also allowing the expression of the members' "voice" in governance. With the growing use of digital communication tools and the ease and speed with which information is disseminated through these channels, this thesis is based on the premise that Digital Information and Communication Technologies (DICTs) are tools that contribute to promoting good governance in agricultural cooperatives. When used as communication channels, members will have access to more and easier-to-access information, which mainly helps to minimize informational asymmetry between governance agents and consequently promote interest alignment between the parties. Thus, the general objective of this research is "To analyze the contribution of DICTs as a communication tool for the governance of agricultural cooperatives". The specific objectives are: i) Discuss the role of communication in the governance of agricultural cooperatives; ii) Investigate the use and contribution of DICTs as a communication tool in the governance of agricultural cooperatives; and iii) Analyze the relationship between the use of DICTs and the governance structure of agricultural cooperatives. To achieve the first specific objective, two systematic literature reviews were conducted, and a model for analyzing communication in the governance of agricultural cooperatives was constructed. As it is an exploratory sequential mixed-methods research, the remaining objectives were first achieved through a qualitative stage and finally through a quantitative stage. First, multiple case studies were conducted in agricultural cooperatives in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul with semi-structured interviews with an executive board member (member or hired manager), a communication employee, and members of each cooperative. Content analysis of the data was performed using Atlas.ti software. Finally, to triangulate the results obtained in the qualitative stage, an online questionnaire was administered to Brazilian agricultural cooperatives. The response rate to the questionnaire was very low, so, innovatively, the multiple imputation technique was used to handle the missing information and generate two synthetic datasets from the real database to: 1) increase the number of observations to ensure more robust statistical models; and 2) ensure the confidentiality of information. Data analysis was conducted through Tobit and Poisson regressions using Stata software. The central hypothesis of this research was: the use of DICTs as a communication tool in governance minimizes informational asymmetry and promotes interest alignment between members and the cooperative. It was possible to understand the effective contributions of DICTs to the governance of agricultural cooperatives. The cooperatives were classified into two governance structures: centralized and decentralized. The case studies indicated that DICTs help reduce monitoring issues in decentralized cooperatives but do not influence the minimization of decision-making problems. Furthermore, cooperatives with (de)centralized governance structures adopt (more)fewer digital communication tools to enhance transparency as a governance practice. On the other hand, no relationship was found between the governance structure and the format of general assemblies (in-person/online). The results also suggest that, in cooperatives with centralized governance, the existence of strong social ties may explain why DICTs do not contribute to reducing agency problems. The quantitative analysis showed no relationship between the use of DICTs and interest alignment in agricultural cooperatives, nor between the use of DICTs and the format of top management meetings, regardless of the governance structure adopted.