ISSN-L: 0798-1015 • eISSN: 2739-0071 (En línea) - Revista Espacios – Vol. 42, Nº YY, Año 2021
SANTOS, Paulo H. et al. «Restoration of the Rio Doce River Basin: a study on cooperation»
consolidating the significant growth of interest in the topic on the field of administration in Brazil (ZANCAN et al.,
2013, pp. 650-651, our translation).
In Germany, for instance, there are around 200,000 businesses allied in over 320 business networks, representing
an annual turnover of 350 billion euros (Veltmann, 2009). In Spain, there are 350 business networks comprising
46,000 small and medium-sized businesses, representing 7% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP)
(Anceco, 2012). In developing countries such as Brazil, data point to a formation of around 800 business networks
over the last decade (SEBRAE, 2008; RIO GRANDE DO SUL, 2010); but more updated studies reveal that many
networks go inactive, or even close down activities, after just a few years in the market (Toigo and Alba, 2010;
SEBRAE, 2012), suggesting that it is easier to start them than to take them to the mature stage.
Against this backdrop, it is necessary to create a model to describe the path of an interorganizational relation
and represent the dysfunctions that can lead it – at any stage of the relation’s development – to decline and
dissolution (Wegner et al., 2014).
The life cycle model developed by Wegner et al. (2016) when studying small-firm networks (which they call SFNs)
“contributes to overcome such theoretical gaps by taking into account SFNs characteristics and broadens the
understanding of their changes over time” (Wegner et al. 2015, p. 41).
The proposal of a Small Firms Network (SFN) life cycle model is justified by a number of reasons. Life cycle models
found in literature are mainly focused on strategic alliances (Jiang, Li, & Gao, 2008; Spekman, Forbes, Isabella, &
Macavoy, 1998), client and supplier relationships (Zineldin, 2002) and partnerships. Such interorganizational
agreements differ from SFNs in number of partners, governance and management. Moreover, existing models
do not clearly represent which dimensions or characteristics of the cooperative agreement should be analyzed
to understand its dynamics and development stages (Wegner et al., 2015, p. 41).
When creating the model, Wegner sought to understand each stage of the interorganizational relationships life
cycle, analyzing seven dimensions that characterize this type of arrangement: management, governance,
definition of processes and level of services offered, participants engagement and commitment, information
exchange, trust, and interpersonal relationships (Wegner et al. 2014).
This research uses the life cycle model of cooperation relations, proposed by Wegner et al. (2016), to study an
interorganizational cooperation in the State of Espírito Santo, based on the assumption that such cooperations
go through different development stages. Each phase has different characteristics and requires specific
governance, management, and coordination of interpersonal relations to achieve the collective objectives and
cooperation advances throughout the consolidation process. In other words, it is possible to say that specific
strategies are needed for each development stage of an interorganizational relationship (Wegner et al., 2015).
From the environmental perspective, there is a sharp and dangerous decrease in water reserves available on the
planet. It is estimated that 40% of the world population today lives in regions where the annual water supply is
less than 1,700 cubic meters per inhabitant, the minimum limit considered safe by the United Nations (UN).
If the current situation of consumption and degradation prevails, the prospects are not encouraging. By 2050,
planet Earth is expected to have close to 9 billion inhabitants, and it is predicted that more than half of this total,
4.8 billion people, will live in a situation of water stress, while about 2 billion people will face water scarcity,
according to the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute. Water scarcity is one of the
most significant environmental challenges in the world, with more immediate impacts on human survival on
Earth. Water is also the key to sustainable development globally and the main variable that drives the economy.
The serious problem of decreasing water supply will immediately affect economic activities, generating serious
conflicts with political implications in several nations (PIRH DOCE, 2010).