Soluções digitais para a gestão de uma associação de produtores rurais familiares: uma abordagem à luz das teorias de agência e de custo de transação

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the capacity of digital solutions to contribute to the mitigation of transaction costs and information asymmetry in the management of family farmer associations, in light of Agency Theory and Transaction Cost Theory. It starts from the identification of a gap in the literature, characterized by the scarcity of studies that simultaneously integrate these theoretical approaches with the use of information systems in the organizational context of family farming, especially within associative structures. Methodologically, a qualitative approach was adopted, employing an action-research design developed in collaboration with the Association of Family Farmers of the Municipality of Sertanópolis (PR), structured in three phases: organizational diagnosis, technological intervention, and empirical evaluation. Two software prototypes were developed and implemented: a desktop system aimed at supporting associative management and a mobile prototype designed for rural producers. Data collection involved semi-structured interviews with the manager and association members, participant observation, and automated system usage records (logs). Qualitative analysis was conducted through Content Analysis, complemented by statistical lexical analysis procedures using the Iramuteq software, enabling the identification of semantic classes, thematic recurrences, and discursive patterns related to governance, monitoring, and information circulation within the association. The results indicate that the desktop system enhanced organizational transparency, strengthened formal mechanisms of control and accountability, reduced information asymmetry between managers and members, and mitigated costs associated with searching, organizing, verifying, and consolidating information, thereby functioning as an institutional governance mechanism. In contrast, the mobile prototype did not achieve effective operational adoption during the observation period, revealing institutional, cognitive, and organizational constraints on the direct incorporation of digital technologies into farm management, where the smartphone remains predominantly a communication tool. It is concluded that digital solutions have significant potential to improve associative governance and reduce transaction costs when integrated into the organizational structure and local institutional conditions. At the same time, their diffusion at the producer level depends on gradual processes of learning, capacity building, and social legitimation.