Gestão de risco em empresas do setor sucroenergético: evidências de Mecanismos de Isomorfismo Institucional

Abstract

Sugar cane mills represent an important part of Brazilian history and the Institutional Theory allows to explain the evolution of this sector. From the mills to the modern agribusiness isomorphic institutional forces act in the administrative and productive processes. With the focus on risk management, the objective of this paper is to know the evidence of the existence of institutional isomorphism from the perspective of its three mechanisms of action in risk management practices in sugarcane companies operating in Brazil. Therefore, the field of observation was limited to companies located in the state of São Paulo, which concentrates a substantial part of the country's production. These business groups were previously investigated between 2013 and 2018, via available electronic media and formal reports. In the end, 12 representative groups remained in the Brazilian productive scenario that account for 40% of the total volume of crushed sugarcane in Brazil. Based on the theoretical review of the New Institutional Sociology (NIS), a component discussed in this paper, the theoretical elements obtained from the bibliographic sources were associated with the context of the corporate risk management practices currently undertaken in the sugar-energy sector. The research revealed that depending on the mode of institutionalization the level of adherence to risk management models differs, in most evidences risk management practices are incorporated into operational routines with a particular focus on Health, Safety and Environment. (SSMA). Few groups describe such practices with the existence of a specific risk department, segregated controls, formalizations in accordance with the literature, with greater identity of these characteristics in publicly owned plants compared to the others. The study contributes to the understanding of the action of coercive, normative and mimetic isomorphism in risk management in the sugarcane industry, promoting reflection and subsidies for future research related to the theme.