ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIONS TOWARDS SOCIAL INCLUSION, SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND INNOVATION: A CASE STUDY

The damage caused to the environment by organizations due to the excessive use ofnatural resources has been the subject of debates in the organizational context over theyears. In order to reduce this impact, it is important that companies develop a thinkingway regarding their activities and promoting influence in its capacity to support theecosystem (Elkington, 2004). Thus, this matter is a start point for companies to developand/ or modify industrial processes and methods, playing an important role in thedevelopment of a sustainable production.Social practices are also aspects that companies should approach once they regard boththe employees and the society (Barbieri & Cazazeira, 2012), hence contributing toinitiatives that improve society’s development and welfare such as jobs opportunities’creation and appreciation of the environment where the company is inserted.Entrepreneurial actions can be associated to ways of improving and motivating bothenvironmental and social practices, providing not only income generation to theentrepreneurs but also to the economy. Also, these actions can assist services andgoods’ production as well as promote the population’s social conditions’ improvement.(Cohen & Winn, 2007; Dean & McMullen, 2007).In this scenario, this paper aims to discuss, through a case study, how entrepreneurialactions and initiatives can contribute to social inclusion, stimulate and boost sustainableproduction and consumption and, still, foster innovation through these actions. Themotivation to this research dwells in the need of understanding entrepreneurial actionsthat promote and are stimulated by innovation, contemplating the social, economic andenvironmental aspects of sustainability (Schaltegger & Wagner, 2011). This canpromote a resilient infrastructure, inclusive and sustainable industrialization and fosterinnovation, as evidenced in objective 9 of the SDGs.