A life-saving collaborative network: repairing ventilators in BrazilLuis Vasconcellos, Fernando Coelho Ferreira, Carlos Sakuramoto

Authors

  • Luis Vasconcellos Fundação Getúlio Vargas Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo. Departamento de Administração da Produção e Operações Industriais (POI) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4472-7258
  • Fernando Coelho Ferreira Romain College of Business, University of Southern Indiana https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7247-7893
  • Carlos Sakuramoto Fundação Getúlio Vargas Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1108/rege-09-2021-0180

Keywords:

Collaboration Networks, Respirators, Covid-19 pandemic, COVID-19, Volunteering

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the formation of an inter-organizational collaboration network that made it possible to repair 2,516 mechanical respirators that were inoperative in Brazil during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative approach was used in a single case study with semi-structured interviews. The interviewee selection process was non-probabilistic through snowball sampling.

Findings

The results suggest that society, through different social groups with their different roles, can organize itself quickly through the formation of collaborative networks, and this organizational configuration can be an alternative for facing crises where actions isolated would be insufficient or slow to urgently address complex situations.

Practical implications

This paper aims to (1) demonstrate that society, through different social groups with their different roles, can organize itself quickly through the formation of collaborative networks; (2) favor the understanding and dynamics of the formation of a network; and (3) contribute to a possible replication of this initiative in future contexts.

Originality/value

The case portrays an unprecedented formation of a collaboration network involving more than 144 organizations that mobilized quickly in a complex context of a pandemic and that generated remarkable results through the reintroduction of equipment that were responsible for the preservation of thousands of lives during the year from 2020.

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Further reading

Dwyer, G., Hardy, C., & Maguire, S. (2020). Post-inquiry sensemaking: The case of the ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires. Organization Studies. doi: 10.1177/0170840619896271.

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Williamson, O. E. (1985). The economic institutions of capitalism: Firms, markets, relational contracting. New York: Free Press.

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Published

2024-12-19

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How to Cite

A life-saving collaborative network: repairing ventilators in BrazilLuis Vasconcellos, Fernando Coelho Ferreira, Carlos Sakuramoto. (2024). REGE Revista De Gestão, 31(4). https://doi.org/10.1108/rege-09-2021-0180