KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION EFFECTS: SOUTH-SOUTH NGO COLLABORATION: A CASE STUDY ON THE BRAZILIAN INTERDISCIPLINARY AIDS ASSOCIATION <br><strong>DOI:10.7444/fsrj.v4i1.107</strong>

Resumo

In June 2008, the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA) and the Indian NGO SAHARA submitted a joint pre-grant opposition to the patent application of Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate in India. This joint action provides a pertinent case model of the potential effects of South-South cooperation between civil society groups. In this study, the aim sought to determine the practicality of the methodology and propositions developed in Resources, Knowledge and Influence: the Organizational Effects of Interorganizational Collaboration (Hardy et al., 2003) in predicting the types of collaboration effects that would result from the degree of “involvement” and “embeddedness” of a collaboration. Data collection came from archival research, participant observation research and interviews. Research tasks included an investigation on South-South Cooperation in the area of IP rights and AIDS, compiling an SLR on knowledge management and collaboration theories, creating a chronology of the collaboration and application of aforementioned methodology. Application included (1) implementation of codification methodology based on “involvement” and “embeddedness” and (2) identification of types of effects in collaboration - strategic, knowledge creation or political. During data analysis, these effects were compared with the aims of collaboration. Results were then tested against propositions (Hardy et al., 2003) of the relationship between involvement and embeddedness and the collaborative effects. Findings support three propositions: (1) Collaborations with high levels of involvement will be positively associated with the acquisition of distinctive resources, (2) Collaborations with high levels of involvement and high levels of embeddedness will be positively associated with the creation of knowledge, (3) Collaborations that are highly embedded will be positively associated with an increase of influence.