ENERGIZED BY CHANGE: a Case Study in corporate Culture change at Brazil´s Itaipu STP

Parque Tecnológico Itaipu (PTI) has been established a decade ago at the quarters of the workforce that built Itaipu, the world largest hydrolectric power plant in terms of generation, located at the Paraná river bordering Paraguay. Created to stimulate and promote regional development and in particular the trinational border region of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, its initial focus has been on water, energy and tourism, related to the importance of neighbouring Iguazú Waterfalls. Today, PTI leads and participates in major scientific, economic and social projects to promote revenue and employment in the region. By designing and implementing a culture of creativity and innovation that will allow the Park to become a high performance organization as well as a catalyst for creativity with important local, regional and other spill-over effects, a change process is on its way. This paper shows the history and motivations that led PTI to this important step.