Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T13:53:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RisiaKSS_DISSERT.pdf: 2781689 bytes, checksum: 5e1e0f7fa3fbe230ec25c2ae1544361e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-07-18 / This paper‟s starting point was the objective of understanding the relation between the reasons pointed out by small businesses owners for the continuity or shutdown of their businesses, and the reasons presented by the Environmental Theories. The paper discusses the Environmental Theories understand that it is supported by a systemic metaphor speech, discussing the theme in terms of organizational survival and mortality . The text reviews the literature showing the changes in the administrative thinking regarding the organization versus environment relation, and presenting general ideas about the micro and small businesses. In methodological terms, the qualitative approach was used in the research. Regarding the data collection technique, an in-depth thematic interview was used. It was carried out considering the elements of the techniques of life history and oral history, always giving priority to real world related narratives told by the interviewed subjects. The empirical corpus of the research was made up of seven owners of small retail businesses in two Potiguar cities: Natal and Mossor?. The interpretative and analytical process focused, at first, on the reflexive dialogue with each one of the owners‟ professional life history and business management experience, constituting the first level of analysis: reflections on individual narratives; and, afterwards, the interpretative process was developed through the analysis of all the subjects‟ statements, identifying the recurring themes and constituting the second level of analysis: reflection on the totalizing narrative. The themes identified in the totalizing narrative, that refer to the continuity of the businesses are: evolution, control, fidelity, liking what one does for a living. The themes that came up as reasons for shutdown are: lack of empathy with the business, lack of evolution, competition problems, suppliers and the government. The text synthesizes its comprehensions affirming that the reasons associated with continuity and shutdown of small markets, for this group of owners specifically, come up as a permanent tension between the volunteerism (quite human) and the determinism (systemic). The tension is shown in testimonies that at the same time evoke the organicist systemic logic through the themes evolution/no evolution, and also counterpoints with themes related to the interested human action, based on desires, feelings and personal convictions such as: liking what one does/ lack of empathy. As for the reflexive dialogue between the postulates of the Environmental Theories and the narratives, the results make it possible to affirm that, differently from the tension expressed by the subjects while talking about their reasons, the reasons associated with survival and mortality of businesses according to the Environmental Theories are theoretically polarized, seeming to preach options that are stagnated and shaping towards the subjects involved in the organization-environment relation / Esta disserta??o teve como ponto de partida o objetivo de compreender a rela??o entre os motivos apontados pelos propriet?rios de pequenos neg?cios, para a continuidade e fechamento de suas empresas, e os motivos apresentados pelas Teorias Ambientais. A disserta??o discute as Teorias Ambientais entendendo que as mesmas se sustentam em um discurso metaf?rico sist?mico, tratando o tema em termos de sobreviv?ncia e mortalidade organizacional. O texto revisa a literatura mostrando as altera??es do pensamento administrativo sobre a rela??o organiza??o versus ambiente, e apresentando id?ias gerais sobre os micro e pequenos neg?cios. Em termos metodol?gicos, a abordagem utilizada na pesquisa foi do tipo qualitativa. Quanto ? t?cnica de coleta de dados, utilizou-se a entrevista tem?tica em profundidade. Esta foi realizada considerando elementos das t?cnicas da hist?ria de vida e da hist?ria oral, privilegiando sempre a emerg?ncia de narrativas ancoradas no mundo vivido dos sujeitos entrevistados. O corpus emp?rico da pesquisa foi integrado por sete propriet?rios de pequenos com?rcios varejistas, situados em duas cidades potiguares: Natal e Mossor?. O processo anal?tico e interpretativo centrou-se, num primeiro momento, no di?logo reflexivo com a hist?ria de vida profissional e de gest?o do neg?cio de cada propriet?rio, constituindo um primeiro n?vel de an?lise: reflex?es sobre as narrativas individuais; e, num segundo momento, o processo interpretativo se desenvolveu atrav?s da an?lise dos conte?dos das falas de todos os sujeitos, atrav?s da identifica??o dos temas recorrentes, constituindo assim o segundo n?vel de an?lise: reflex?o sobre a narrativa totalizante. Os temas identificados na narrativa totalizante, que se referem aos motivos de continuidade do neg?cio, s?o: evolu??o, controle, fideliza??o, gostar do que faz. J? os temas que emergem como motivos para fechamento dos neg?cios s?o: falta de identifica??o, n?o evolu??o, problemas com concorr?ncia, fornecedores e governo. O texto sintetiza suas compreens?es afirmando que os motivos associados ? continuidade e fechamento dos pequenos mercados, para este grupo espec?fico de propriet?rios, emergem como uma tens?o permanente entre o voluntarismo (propriamente humano) e o determinismo (sist?mico). Essa tens?o se manifesta em falas que, ao mesmo tempo em que evocam a l?gica sist?mica organicista atrav?s dos temas evolu??o/n?o evolu??o, tamb?m a contrap?em com a emerg?ncia de temas ligados ? a??o humana interessada, calcada em desejos, sentimentos e convic??es pessoais como: gostar do que faz/falta de identifica??o. Do di?logo reflexivo das narrativas com os postulados das Teorias Ambientais, os resultados autorizam afirmar que, diferentemente da tens?o expressa por esses sujeitos ao falarem sobre as suas raz?es, os motivos associados ? sobreviv?ncia e mortalidade de neg?cios pelas Teorias Ambientais apresentam-se enquadrados teoricamente de maneira polarizada, parecendo prescrever op??es estanques, modelizantes, para os atores que medeiam a rela??o organiza??o-ambiente