O ALTRUÍSMO NAS ORGANIZAÇÕES: INTERAÇÃO E SELEÇÃO NATURAL

Abstract

The objective of this article is to investigate whether, despite of the goal of utility maximization defended by the neo-classic economic theory, the altruism can prevail inside organizations. Initially, one brief discussion of the altruism will be presented, analyzing this concept from some perspectives, from its sociological roots, its deployments in the organizational theory, passing through approaches from biology and economy. It is discussed that the evolution dynamics of the biology and the mechanism of the game theory make possible the construction of a mathematical structure that, under determined premises, serves as a useful model to describe the process of the prevalence of the altruism in the organizations. Through simulations using the mathematical model, we can identify that, given the conditions of the prisoner's dilemma and the assumptions of unconditional imitation, the altruism can survive in an organizational environment. In addition, the model shows that the organizations can be infected by the altruistic behavior: egoistic individuals can either be excluded from the group due to lack of adaptation to the environment or try to imitate the behavior of the altruists to make possible his survival.