Conversion of an Information and Communication Technology Cluster to a Pole of Creative Economy: An Analysis From the Perspective of Sérgio Alves' Multidimensional-Reflexive Model of Organization

Abstract

This study examines how structure and agent are manifested during the process of conversion of the Porto Digital, an urban Local Productive Arrangement (LPA) for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) domiciled in the Metropolitan Region of Recife in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, into a Creative Economy pole entitled Portomídia. An embedded case study was carried out using the multidimensional-reflexive model of organization (OMR) proposed by Sérgio Alves. The compilation of the corpus for analysis included the transcriptions of semi-structured interviews and field observation notes, as well as documents associated with the conversion effort. Results indicate that the organizational-administrative characteristics of Portomídia approximate the liberating-transformational ideal type described by Alves' multidimensional-reflexive model, a format characterized by the presence of agents with charismatic leadership traits and the primacy of agent over structure.