Entrepreneurship and social innovation in training and human capital development: the case of the Bank Palmas

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze an entrepreneurial experience, social innovation andhuman capital; the object of the study is the Bank Palmas, located in Fortaleza, in Ceará, Brazil. This bank was created to address the need to promote the income generation and job, making use of a corporate economic system, which allows to overcome the poverty axis located in a suburb called Conjunto Palmeiras, with a population of 30 thousand inhabitants. For this, we used the descriptive and exploratory research with fieldwork conducted in the locality of Bank Palmas. These actions serve as a benchmark for innovative practices and have meaningful participation and involvement of local inhabitants. A population sample consisted of 207 individuals, associates and employees of the Bank Palmas and was used to analyze the descriptive and inferential statistics. The data suggest that the entrepreneurship development concepts and social innovation and human capital are implemented by the Bank Palmas with relevant results in the local community. Members and employees of the Bank Palmas through these various actions felt themselves as active players in transforming their reality. Investment in human development is considered as a major source of innovation, the organizations of various sectors of the economy need to incorporate the strategic management of human capital,as recommended in the literature on this topic, which considers the human capital as the set of all the skills, knowledge and experience of employees or managers, involving also the creativity and innovation. © F. Diniz, H. Vale Leitão, 2016.