Na teia do conhecimento: a busca de informação no varejo de moda de Belo Horizonte e os entraves enfrentados pelos seus gestores

Abstract

This research aimed to evaluate the behavior of entrepreneurs and retail managers in relation to how they process Information Seeking, in order to monitor business environment and its creation of meaning, thus helping the decision making process. The object of observation was a group of micro and small companies in Belo Horizonte and region, which participated in the Local Agents of Innovation Program (ALI), proposed by SEBRAE and CNPq. Having participated in the program, these companies already have gone through the process of raising awareness about the importance of Knowledge Management and informational processes, in order to incresase their competitiveness. The main objective is to identify the difficulties faced by managers and entrepreneurs the Information Seeking process. The study was based on Choo's Three Arenas Model, which was elaborated from three models of Information Seeking, namely: Sense-Making (by Brenda Dervin), Information Seeking Process (ISP) (by Carol Kuhlthau) and the Situational Model (by Robert Taylor). The proposed methodology comprised a mixed process with two stages: first a quantitative step, with the application of questionnaires in 35 companies, to verify their Information Seeking behavior, the reasons presented by the entrepreneurs and managers and the main sources used by them; the second step was qualitative, with the application of semi-structured interviews for a sample of 6 entrepreneurs or managers who participated in the first stage. In the second stage, the respondents were asked more complex questions on their behavior in the Information Seeking process and it was possible to verify the difficulties and obstacles faced by them. The conclusions indicate that several difficulties exist, and they come as a consequence of the managerial style and routine of these fashion retailers. In addition, some obstacles were found to be the result of social and cultural characteristic that are typical of the fashion area: an excess of information, produced not only by specialists, but also by stakeholders in the field and by people who like fashion. All of these form a complex web of data and information. This situation requires an effort of micro and small entrepreneurs to act in various stages and fronts for access and selection of information, whether internal (within the company) or external, which are present in several sources pointed out by the managers.