Safety Hazards Identification of Construction Site Layout Based on Geographic Information System (GIS)

— In the world's gross domestic product, the construction industry accounts for about 10% and plays a significant role in the eastern and western economies. Hectic places, unique characteristics, and an ever-changing work environment and its dynamic nature make construction sites challenging to predict before construction or during the life cycle project. The physical and psychological problems of construction workers caused by the construction site's poor safety, economically, significantly affect the project with a significant increase in costs. This study aims to identify occupational safety hazards by proposing occupational safety hazards in predicting worker safety hazards at construction sites. In this research, GIS is used to present the relationship between temporary facilities and safety issues at construction sites to improve the accuracy of identifying work accidents. The data collection stages were carried out through a location survey, geographic spatial, and interviews by SHE managers on a high-rise building construction project. The site layout's dynamic safety assessment is a step in GIS development in obtaining the safety zone accuracy around the temporary construction facility. It was found that there is a combination of GIS capabilities in the accuracy of site layout, which can significantly increase safety at the construction site to obtain recommendations for safety measures and minimize the occurrence of work accident fatalities through preventive actions.

I. INTRODUCTION
Construction remains to be the most dangerous industry in terms of the total number of deaths [1]. In 2005, the construction industry experienced 1243 total deaths or 21% of all work-related fatalities in the United States [2]. In 2015 there were approximately 4,836 workers who died due to injuries from work. The projected number is the highest since 2008 and has increased from 2014. The number of work accidents has increased from year to year, with a trend of 5% [3]. Planning in construction projects becomes very difficult due to uncertainty and high complexity [4]. The increased likelihood of accidents due to the disorderly placement of construction resources emphasizes site layout planning [5]. Construction methods, scale and type of project, project site conditions, and operational safety management standards are a set of several factors that influence the safety of a construction project [6]. The availability of a working environment at a safe construction site and applying a safety management system to minimize injuries have been carried out by several construction companies throughout the world [7]. However, in 2013 it increased the rate of fatality to 2.9 times compared to other industries. This rate can be seen from the decrease in construction safety improvement [8].
Economic, safety, and other aspects are significantly affected by the importance of the construction site layout. The emergence of unexpected costs is one result of the hazards of safety at the construction site. In addition to the resources of money, duration of time, allocation of material, construction workers, and the equipment, the construction site space is as important as these resources [9]. The lack of labor efficiency, repositioning temporary facilities is a result of spend due time by improper site layout planning [10]. These reasons make it necessary to synergize all existing facilities, topography, environment so that construction planning is one unit and not separate [11]. The increased safety of the construction site's site layout will precisely affect the construction of site layout, contributing significantly to construction safety, cost reduction, and material travel distance [12], [33]. Consideration of the application of the construction layout and to organize the construction of sites has not been based on previous studies. The importance of developing appropriate guidelines in the first stages of the construction life cycle project can avoid hazards from death [13].
The application of procedures and equipment arrangements in the workplace is determined before the operational phase-in safety. Trending topics that analyze the predefined of facilities in the space available on the site are relatively high. Consideration in choosing practical application models is one of the things that can improve safety on construction sites [14]. Optimization of site space in meeting the needs of storage space, fabrication, and material assembly at the location has been examined by several previous studies [15]- [18]. Application and development of models in solving site layout of construction problems based on knowledge systems as well as CAD (Computer-Aided Design), CONSITE, SightPlan, MovePlan, MoveSchedule, fuzzy, and Building Information Modelling have been made in providing solutions to site layout problems [19], [20]. The use of BIM and 4-dimensional CAD has limitations in factor analysis of environmental conditions, route access, topographic location, thermal comfort, and analysis which includes the planning of safety measures as evaluation material for new locations affected by floods, vehicle access routes carrying material shipments, drainage planning, and others [11], [21], [22], [34]. The spatial feasibility of construction planning significantly influences smoothness in the implementation of the method.
GIS assists planners in modeling spatial relationships and geometric and topological constraints that challenge the various building elements on the site [23], [24], [25]. Analysis, storage, display, geographic data input in computer systems is referred to as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) [26]. Intense spatial analysis data such as track width, lattice dimensions, storage area, and non-spatial including material properties and material storage life cycles which are a matter of material layout at construction sites can be accommodated by GIS. The advantages of integration of spatial and nonspatial properties in GIS help in site layout planning for example temporary facility automation in construction project layout [27], integration of material layout planning in the development of based cost estimation systems [28], optimizing the performance improvement of tunnel utilities in management maintenance [19], [29] .
The GIS discussion on temporal integration and sitespecific spatial information can formulate a 4D model of construction safety planning as a material for studying the layout of dynamic construction materials [30], [31], [32]. Emphasis on topographic information on the use of GIS is an excess that can reduce the occurrence of work accidents [11], [35], [36]. Optimization of material layout in planning has been done in previous studies and makes GIS's advantages in the spatiotemporal analysis. By combining data and safety knowledge, temporal information, spatial construction sites are carried out by the authors in this study. This paper aims to identify the safety hazards site layout of construction and propose a 3D model of construction safety planning approach based on spatial information integration to analyze risky work zones using Geographic Information System (GIS). Modelling construction sites and integrating safety databases in 3D space can provide evaluation actions when, where, and why safety measures need to be applied. The study results are expected to provide recommendations for preventive actions in the future and not to repeat the same conditions during the under-construction project.

II. MATERIAL AND METHOD
The method of safety hazards identification of construction site layout using the Geographic Information System it is presented in several stages, namely: (1) quantify activity risk that affects the work accident of construction project (2) obtaining risky work periods through safety schedule (3) estimate activity safety score from historical construction documents and confirmatory by site surveys, questionnaires and interviews with construction experts (HSE Manager) and (4) generated 3D simulation to prediction risky work zones. In identifying problems, effective safety techniques are combined from the views of experienced experts. Construction data obtained by interviews with professionals. Secondary data in the form of a safety documentation file that includes the active procedure and the regulatory reference code. The approach proposed in this study is to compile a list of activities and personnel involved, calculate safety scores that are affected by other activities so that the expected outputs can help all stakeholders in making effective decisions on work safety. Fig. 2 shows the safety score in the work zone by summarizing the estimated activity [22]. Fig. 1 Safety score estimation process (Choe [22] The analysis of the factors that impress the risk of activities, including construction methods, work calendar periods, and others are done to determine the level of danger. Activity activities are collected through a safety documentation database, including codes and regulatory references that have relevance to the activities carried out. Regular updates and extensions to the safety documentation file as a source of additional information. Spatial and nonspatial secondary data collected related geographic locations and site topographical conditions. The safety score is an accumulation of the same activity quantified to estimate risk, type of accident, and injury source. The riskiest activities and safety measures that need to be implemented when hazards are identified can be prioritized from the quantification results. Integrated temporal information becomes very crucial when the complexity of the activities is high enough. The relationship between busy activities and increased schedule pressure is very important in measuring the time periods for high-risk work and resource availability. The integration provides space in estimating 3D models to represent work zones virtually. Temporal and spatial visualizations of safety scores provide an approximation of the hazards caused by other work activities. Dynamic control of the schedule can be applied so that periodic and proactive training can be prepared in advance at the project site. Spatial information integrated into real-time can visualize potential additional information that can then be developed into activities for all types of projects. This will be very useful in estimating the safety impact caused by other people's activities.

A. Case Study
The application of the Geographic Information System model is carried out by doing a model in terms of a high-rise building project in the city of Surabaya, Indonesia. The proposed safety analysis approach and barriers by applying it to an under-construction project. Project A is an apartment building project. Technical data gross square area of approximately 58,582.36 m2. This project consists of 38 floors for occupancy, 4 podium floors, and 3 floors of the basement area. The construct's scope is preparation work, structure, finishing, mechanical electrical, and plumbing (MEP). The construction project under review is an apartment building that has 35 tasks planned in the area under construction at the time this research was conducted. The analyzed building area includes basement floors 1 to 3 and the residential floors 1 to 3, in the work breakdown structure of the construction work of the construction project in this case study. This research is divided into 4 major parts which are grouped at level 1. In the first group are several activities closely related to preparation works, including the construction of gates, access roads to the project, and drainage works. The second group part is an activity related to structure work such as capping beam, inclinometer, excavation, bore pile kingpost, steel beam, mass concrete, slab, basement wall, column, shear wall, beam, slab, and staircase. For finishing work related to floor work, interior and exterior walls, doors and windows, ceilings, sanitation, and facades are part of the third group's construction activities. Electrical, mechanical, and plumbing jobs are part of the fourth job, including mechanical ventilation, fire alarms, sound systems, elevators, and lifts. With the location survey-based collection technique, the work on the project under review is simulated in several work zones by planning GIS zoning in a 2D formula.
To facilitate GIS planning, the researcher describes the building in 3D view by generating it using Revit. In the realtime of the demonstration stage, construction is considered to use a GIS-based model with its ability to describe safety assessments on the layout of the construction site in the analyzed building illustrated in Fig. 2. It can be seen in the site plan in general regarding the layout of high-rise buildings that are in the construction stage and generated 3D model illustrated by Fig. 3. The site facilities in the construction area divided by the primary facility are main gate dan site parking. Temporary facilities include material procurement area, steel yard, field office, washing bay, canteen, wood inventory, warehouse, generator room, and crane.

B. Discussion
This study presents an evaluation model of the layout of a high-rise building construction project using a GIS. In the evaluation phase, identification and analysis of each activity's safety risks are carried out in Table 1. 4 top jobs are ranked as the most dangerous work risks, and top-down kingpost construction is the riskiest activity with a risk rating of 20. For the next most hazardous work, concrete shear walls identified about 25 risks as the most critical source of injury. Based on the analysis, results show, in general, the types of hazards in the activities carried out and identified as excavation, beam, and slab concrete. After activity safety risk analysis takes by project hazard identification and risk management documentation, safety scores in the ongoing activity are estimated. The output in the form of a safety site is the result of the integration of the activity schedule and the safety activity score. From the safety score, the classification is based on the work zone. The integration of 3D models visually illustrates the risk level when work zones have activities through floor-to-floor simulations.
Trending on safety score fluctuations results from a risk score profile, which has not explained the reasons for time and conditions that are more dangerous than other activities. Analysis related to the type of danger and source of injury is needed as additional information. Case study activities are planned in the same work zone. The determination is complemented by the number of activities, the level safety, management control, the level severity, and the likelihood occurring accident. The zoning plan is based on an analysis of risk by work zones and allocation of safety scores to zones with planned activities. 3D safety simulation is the result of work zone safety analysis in the form of a work zone safety with score visualization. As seen in Fig. 4, it describes the safety simulation in 2D and analysis of the work zone, specifically in basements 1 to 3. In the simulation, the work zone is categorized as a work zone with visualization in three colors, including orange, with a low hazard risk level. The medium category is depicted in blue coloration, and the most at risk are classified in red color.    The results of the analysis summarize some of the activities carried out less consistently. However, the systematic steps specifically help stakeholders in developing a safety plan. The historical database provides a safety risk analysis framework that can explain the occurrence of hazardous work zones and activities. The development of a safety plan is limited in the short term. A GIS analysis can be carried out at the beginning of construction to prepare and predict safety risks in the long-term. The availability of color indicator visualization on the site's topography provides a warning system for construction players to safely use all available areas. Guidelines for effective and safe vehicle access points, implementation of handles, guardrails, warning boards and falling protection measures to protect workers on site. The animation findings also provide steps to start some activities by repeating scheduling to ensure a safe work area during construction.
In the construction planning, geographically, the project site conditions are essential. The use of GIS on-site can maintain spatial and non-spatial data from construction sites by importing CAD-based systems. This research is a form of development of integrated thinking framework in 3D modelling from project planning to construction to support workplace safety. Construction with collaborative and interactive GIS-based topology. GIS development helps in identifying hazardous zones at project sites.
In safety, planning identified the most dangerous jobs are only a few jobs. The most hazardous rating occurs on concrete sliding walls. This work has a possible hazard, namely the falling of the concrete bouquet during the lifting process from the tower crane, falling objects from a height into the shear wall excavation on the raft foundation, and falling concrete pile on the top floor, wall collapse due to unstable soil causing Ranking of the most dangerous zone for shear wall work. In the top-down kingpost job is the most dangerous job with the existing job positions on each floor. This job is ranked the highest because it is the most at risk of experiencing a collision from falling objects from a height.
Workers' exposure to excessive light and noise from heavy equipment as well as dust exposure is a challenge in the job. Beam and column construction are ranked next as a job with a dangerous work zone due to a series of activities in it. Activities include susceptibility to falling objects from the upper floor, inadequate and damaged scaffolding, installation of rebar on edges where there are no guardrails, rebar cuts that do not comply with the provisions of the bending bar causing torn wounds, falling concrete bouquets from the tower crane and exposure to noise that triggers the occurrence, fatigue, and stress. The excavation work is the next job with a hazard with a source of danger due to the danger of falling material from above, inadequate excavators, exposure to toxic gases, landslides, and falling objects from above.
The analysis of the safety risks of activities carried out in a systematic step by step manner assists SHE managers in developing a safety plan. This step is done because the framework and guidelines are not legally owned consistently. The importance of proactive analysis is an obstacle in the field by SHE managers. Lack of anticipatory actions, limited tools in predicting the location of activities and time based on daily and weekly periods as well as a lack of experience and knowledge of risk analysis are also reasons.
The suggestions in this research analysis can provide an overview of why certain activities are a source of danger based on historical data. The SHE managers explained the reason for construction work in dangerous zone conditions because they were still limited by ineffective instructional efforts based on experience and knowledge. The development of an approach from the actual conditions of the problems in the field provides an overview of hazards and injuries in improving real-time occupational safety and health management.
Prediction in the construction period gives the SHE manager an advantage over the long term so that adequate and sustained preventive measures and safety inspections can be provided at the start of a construction project. The visualization of the safety simulation developed in this study can provide improved communication between stakeholders in the construction sector so that the project can fulfil the progress as planned.
Dynamically, the work location zone can be changed and updated so that manually increasing the activities' safety score can be a source of error. A process of scaling up the allocation of all activities and a zoning plan is needed as construction is tough to predict. Lack of knowledge in running software programs is a challenge for SHE managers to carry out training and skills in integrating construction data and safety plans so that the recommended model can be applied systematically optimally.

IV. CONCLUSION
The GIS model is used in this study as a tool with a tracking system and an animated display to facilitate ease in understanding and predicting places, activities that have the potential for fatalities. The use of methods that can only accommodate information in the form of regulations, company policies on safety, and work drawings in 2D. Of the planned activities, 35 activities were identified as the most critical hazard category in the inspected apartment building in basements 1, 2, 3, and floor 1, 2, and 3 that has been indicated 20 risk rating kingpost top-down construction and 25 risks rating included shear wall concrete activity. Data regarding workers exposed and when the hazard will occur, and the location of hazardous zones have not been analyzing in detail. This study presents the integration of temporal safety information and spatial location data in the percentage of construction safety planning in 3D.
The integration of the analysis data provides positive stimulation for awareness of work safety at the construction site. Also, periodic, and proactive updates provide planning for safety locations at the macro level as recommendations for the establishment of a framework for optimizing safety management in the workplace. From the location survey and activity data in the case study, the work zone's safety is analyzed to focus on the concentration of safety risks at the work location based on the planned site zoning. In making it easier for stakeholders to construct, it is depicted with visualization in color indicators which are classified into three categories, namely green for jobs with a relatively low level of risk, the medium risk is visualized in blue, and for jobs that have the most dangerous and critical zones described in red. Validation of approaches and large-scale testing with different types of projects is recommended for future research by using more specific safety risk data which is very helpful in improving safety and risk ranking, thus minimizing the occurrence of fatalities.


AGROEXTRACTIVISM IN THE AMAZON: THE SPECIFICITIES OF RELATIONS WITH THE
GLOBAL MARKET

The inclusion of Amazonian communities in the productive chain of industrialized products is usually defended as an option for sustainable development for these communities and for improving the production process as a whole by reducing chemical bases and the use of sources of ecological raw materials. However, experience shows that, in many cases, the activity is started and later abandoned by the prospecting companies. A case study was carried out in the Santo Antônio do Abonari Community in the municipality of Presidente Figueiredo - AM, which aimed to analyze its insertion in the cosmetics production chain as a supplier of buriti oil to industries that produce or benefit this product for companies in this sector. It was found that the insertion of a community of family farmers in the global economy, needs to be planned through an in-depth study that involves a multidisciplinary team for the initial assessment and monitoring during the first productive cycles so that local populations can assimilate the knowledge and management, production and storage practices to guarantee quality within the technical specifications of each product and conditions for maintaining the activity through good management and financial control practices. This monitoring must also be done by the public sector, mainly with the provision of technical assistance and with the supervision and search for commercial agreements to guarantee the remuneration of those involved in the production and in compliance with the current legislation.

INTRODUCTION
The exploitation of natural resources and environmental pollution took on proportions that led to the review of the production process, the creation of national and international regulations and the scientific debate on the subject. Drucker (1989) states that the 20th century witnessed the emergence of a new and important task: to protect the nature of human beings. A process of seeking improvements in procedures and products is initiated that woulSd make it possible to make better use of natural resources and reduce industrial and domestic waste. The concern of environmentalists wins public opinion by forcing companies to adhere to the process of environmental protection. The concern regarding the use of raw materials, energy and the release of solid, liquid and gaseous effluents is relatively recent and has important implications for various sectors of human activity, highlighting the reorientation of scientific research for the rational use of resources and priority guarantee conservation (Clemente and Higashi, 2000). This concern leads to a process of consumer behavioral change, with a direct influence on extractive issues. First, consumers began to desire products that respect the environment, minimizing aggressions during extractive processes. And in a second moment, they realized that the use of natural and / or organic products are better for their health and quality of life, as well as for the planet. With the increase in this audience, new industries and companies emerged in order to offer natural or organic products. With the success of these companies, many industries started to change their mode of production creating specific lines for this type of product or acquiring successful companies already existing. Among these, organic, natural cosmetics and biocosmetics stand out, followed by the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical food industries. However, cosmetic companies have gained prominence for their consumer public who have quickly joined the use of ecological products, more aware that they stand out from other consumers for their preference for this type of products, offering to pay a higher price for a product that meets these criteria. APEX-Brasil (2008) considers that the ecological consumer is willing to pay up to 15% more for a natural cosmetic.
This widespread growth puts the theme in evidence and shows advantages and disadvantages, opportunities and threats. On the one hand, there are the countries that produce and hold technology and on the other, the countries that supply organic material, which in most cases do not have the capacity to offer the final product and therefore have an unfavorable position. This scenario is confirmed by Genamaz (2012) when reporting that the expansion of the natural cosmetics industry has resulted in strong questions in countries with biodiversity under two distinct aspects: 1st) impacts of extractivism and 2nd) collection of raw material. Regulating the access of cosmetic companies to natural resources is essential. In this case, it is necessary to institutionalize the collection of materials, in particular flora, in order to avoid biopiracy and / or the extinction of the species incorporated in the production process. In Amazonas, this reality aggregates the discourse of sustainable development, since the extractive activity, when integrated with productive chains of large industries, could bring financial benefits to extractivists and the communities in which they live. However, this reality is still little studied and is based on political, industrialist and marketing discourse used by these companies. Miguel (2007) highlights that with regard to the Amazon, it is necessary to analyze how this activity contributes to development on a sustainable basis. It is necessary to assess whether these models are capable of adding value to the regional product, incorporating new technologies, taking advantage of biodiversity on a sustainable basis and sharing the benefits with the local communities included in this process.
According to Suframa (2012) in Amazonas, within the production chain of herbal medicines and cosmetics, there are four segments: 1) Supplier of raw materials; 2) Crude oil extraction plants; 3) Vegetable oil refining industry and 4) Phytotherapy and cosmetics industry. In this way, the local production chain is integrated with global chains, suppliers from Amazonian communities such as Santo Antonio do Abonari, sell their products to local or national vegetable oil refinement industries and these benefit the crude oil and sell the product with a quality superior to medium and large size industries inside and outside the country and they produce organic or biocosmetics cosmetics and sell to consumers spread across several countries worldwide. One of the recurring problems in extractive products is that the supply is generally unable to meet the growing market demand as happened with rosewood, rubber, wood, among others. According to Homma, Matos and Menezes (2005) domestication becomes inevitable when the extractive sector is unable to meet the demand of a growing market, extraction will only be able to survive as long as the market is small or the natural stock is sufficient. However, this scenario does not apply to the market for ecological products, since its consumers belong to a peculiar market niche, they are demanding as to the origin of the raw material and how to remove it from nature, prefer the management of natural resources with environmental certifications to monoculture that would de-characterize extraction and sustainability of the process as a whole.
Thus, through agroextractivism, the Amazonian man inserts himself in the global economy as a supplier of raw material for a production chain that meets a demanding demand in different parts of the planet. With this, he starts to suffer pressures that alter his perception placing him within a new reality that makes him more and more specialized and dependent on the capitalist system, modifying his worldview, his customs, his culture and their way of living and relating in society. Kageyama (2004) states that the defining elements of the rural have been modified throughout history, gaining new contours: the large property no longer reigns absolute, agriculture has modernized, the rural population has started to obtain income in the vicinity of the cities, the very industry has penetrated rural areas and cultural differences between the countryside and the city have been reduced. Thus, it is observed, as in the case studied, an approach that brings change to the rural environment and the way of living and relating to the market. This is no longer just the space where its products are offered, but gains importance as a supplier of food and goods and services for families that become increasingly consumers of industrialized products. Funk, Borges and Salamoni (2006) complement stating that extra-agricultural activities allow a better quality of life for small producers and even though they are understood as exercising more than one paid activity, pluriactivity stands out, currently, through multiplicity in different ways, in different time and space situations, including the form of production and the work relationships based on the way of life and the productive system of a small family unit. In the Santo Antônio do Abonari Community, in Presidente Figueiredo -AM, these changes are taking place much more through access to markets, than through the insertion in the cosmetics production chain. Direct contact with markets or through family members accelerates the process of modernizing these communities and increasing consumption of goods and services that incorporate new technologies and that require knowledge and mastery of these technologies become common and modify local habits. Thus, the objective of this article is to analyze the process of insertion of the Santo Antonio do Abonari Community, in Presidente Figueiredo -AM, based on commercial practices in the biocosmetics industry. The article is structured in five sessions, the first comprising this introduction, the second the theoretical pillar, the third the adopted methodology, fourth the discussion of the results and finally the final considerations.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE
The Organic Planet (2008) considers that organic cosmetic products are made with raw material from extracts of plant and natural and non-synthetic origin. This fact becomes an important differential, since according to "Planeta Orgânico", about 99% of traditional products use synthetic materials such as oil derivatives. This quality control, required by national and international organizations, shows itself as an alternative capable of winning over a public that is increasingly concerned with health and the environment. Cosmetic companies are incorporating the international trend of using vegetable and essential oils. Genamaz (2012) states that the main medium and large companies that specialize in selling natural-based cosmetics are: Yves Rocher (French), The Body Shop (English), Biotherm (French), Clarins (French), Ushua (French), Rose Brier (American), Mahogany (American). Other cosmetic companies such as L'Oreal, Esther Laudel, Clinique maintained their production of cosmetics with a synthesized active ingredient, opening specific lines of products with a natural base to meet the growing demand of the natural consumer. The demand for this type of product grew as the general public perceived its quality and this change caused a movement in the traditional industries of this segment that made them invest in research and development of their own products or in the acquisition of companies already established, as shown by APEX-Brasil (2008), when stating that in the cosmetics market based on natural products, two groups of companies are distinguished: the first is specialized in natural products, using only these natural inputs in its raw material prima and the second group of companies are traditional cosmetics companies that seek to increase their sales by diversifying production for natural cosmetics or adding flavors, dyes and natural vitamins. IBD -Instituto de Biodinâmica -(2008) confirms such data by stating that the organic cosmetics market is growing in the world. Major players, such as L'Oreal (France), L'Occitanne (France), Lush (United Kingdom) and Aveda (USA), to name a few, are taking concrete steps in this direction and launching new products. He also mentions that L'Oreal bought the English Body Shop and the French Sanaflore, in other words, small specialized companies are being acquired by the big world cosmetics companies. Revilla (2002) observes that the universe of Amazonian plants for use in cosmetics is practically unlimited, and that new species are registered every day, increasing the possibilities of their use as sources of vitamins, vegetable oils, essences, healing and others. Abrantes (2002) notes that the volume of production and sale of products based on natural products from the Amazon is still modest in relation to its potential and highlights that the sustainability of this activity is linked much more to the capacity to undertake than to the abundance of resources natural resources and regional vocation. Whereas extractivism is based on the production of goods whose useful natural resources are taken directly from the place of occurrence in nature (DRUMMOND, 1996). The industries needed to adapt and started to have their production cycles linked to the natural cycles, since the natural raw materials from the extraction have a certain time and a specific climatic zone to be harvested and, later, benefited, so the industries cannot interfere or manipulate this natural process. For this process of change, the corporate culture must be open to include new production processes and internal values. For Miller (1998), one must be committed to disturbing the natural internal balance of organizations and leading companies to consider new strategic possibilities created by the discoveries of their scientists to develop new processes, uses, products or devices. Becker (2002) considers that regional communities to develop are, now, increasingly obliged to use their strengths, through their adaptive capacities to the global insertion and the creation of jobs / occupations and regional incomes. However, the way of life of these populations, their relationship with the place where they live and the time that govern their lives are closely linked to the relationship with the forest, nature, legends, culture and local religiosity. When inserted in a production chain, this process changes and what was gradual and natural, becomes dynamic and often invasive. The companies that operate in the sector claim to adopt sustainable forms of production, however, they cannot see the importance of the social factor for the continuity of the process. Despite inserting the sustainability seal that guarantees the sale of their products, they are not concerned with improving the quality of life of the populations that supply their raw materials. They show ignorance or lack of interest in sustainable practices in relation to the environment and communities. In this sense, as Enriquez (2008) points out, in the Amazon the lack of knowledge and experience of those involved in the execution of sustainable development projects are the weaknesses that need to be addressed.
This problem is not unique to this community or the Amazon. Afonso (2012), when researching the pequi production chain in Minas Gerais, found, basically, the same problems in the relationship with the market identified in the production of buriti in the Santo Antônio do Abonari Community. a) low management capacity of community enterprises; b) lack of production scale to serve local and institutional markets; c) lack of productive infrastructure for processing, transportation and storage; d) ignorance about good production practices; e) difficulty in complying with health legislation; f) lack of credit and tax incentives for production. Thus, it is observed that despite having production and an interest in producing, the market is a great challenge to be conquered, its demands, the need for quick responses, commercial vulnerability due to the lack of defense and collection mechanisms, the demands regarding in terms of time and quality, these are realities that members, mostly farmers with low education, have difficulty in dealing with and end up becoming obstacles to the success of the activity. Batalha, Buainain and Souza Filho (2005) report that the main problem for family farmers is not to be found in productive techniques, but, above all, in understanding the functioning of markets, which requires articulation with the intra and extra association segments including new forms of negotiation and management practices of the production process and negotiations with other agents in the production chain. In a complementary thought, Enriquez (2008) completed a study on sustainability in communities in Amazonas and found that the main difficulties are the lack of monitoring along the production chain, mainly in commercialization, legislation and technological training that would be essential to aggregate value to biodiversity products. Considering this scenario, Social Responsibility should be practiced by companies, in order to balance this equation, promoting rural producers, training and qualification to become competitors Siqueira (2003), the concept is related to the repair of existing inequalities. This procedure must take place both at the human level and at the interpersonal level (training), performing a function that until then would have been the State's. When reviewing the specialized literature, it is noted that social responsibility is still a concept under construction, having so much connotation of clientelistic actions of an emancipatory nature, related to the sustainable development model (Vergara & Branco, 2001;Zouain & sauerbronn, 2002;Machado & Lage, 2002).
The systemic nature of sustainability is something that, when perceived by societies, increases the synergy between government, institutional and social actions. Understanding the interdependence and fragility of individual organisms within the variations of their ecosystem is essential for changing behavior and breaking social paradigms. In this regard Capra (2006) adds that understanding ecological interdependence means understanding relationships, changing the perceptions of the parts for the whole, from objects to relationships, from content to standard, understanding that a sustainable community is aware of the multiple relationships among its members, involving multiple interdependent feedback loops. The sustainability of a given production process, of a community or region, will depend on unique factors, interrelated and with distinct economic, social and environmental values for each culture or society related to the resource in question. The interest in maintaining or exploring an environmental resource may boost or discourage a certain economic activity, therefore, one must understand not only the market or the production process, but also the environmental social relations that involve the activity to be implemented. For Enriquez (2008) in the state of Amazonas, the category "Products of Biodiversity" was appropriated due to the great interest expressed by the increased demand for biodiversity products, which resulted in public policies to promote support activities.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Scientific research sought to investigate the oil production activity in the Santo Antônio de Abonari Community, seeking to know how it occurs, what influences it receives and how it interacts with the environment in which it operates. In general, the object of study should be explored through a look directed by a given science. However, from the diffusion of the environmental study, it was noticed the complexity of the interrelations that involve the issues studied with this focus, in this sense Capra (2006) emphasizes that the more we study the problems of our time, the more we realize which are systemic problems and cannot be understood in isolation. Thinking in a complex way unites knowledge and tools from different fields of science. The complex thinking method is the activation of anti-Cartesian and post-Cartesian principles, in the sense that it does not reject the results of reductionist science, but discovers the possibility of refusing its limitations, that is, it is not tied to the modeling of the proposed problems (Pena-Veiga and Nascimento, 1999). This research was characterized as a Case Study having as object of study the insertion of the production of buriti oil in the Santo Antônio do Abonari Community, where it was sought to analyze it in a systemic and complex way, with a holistic look within the reality in which is inserted. Yin (2010) places the case study as an empirical investigation that applies to the study of a contemporary phenomenon in depth and in its real life context, which is consistent with this case.
In addition to the bibliographic research, field research was carried out to collect data related to the case study. Therefore, in each phase, a specific methodology was developed that used a combination of tools from the social, economic and environmental sciences in the search for understanding the way of life, internal relations, social and economic organizations, forms of production and management of the natural resources that occur in the Santo Antônio do Abonari Community, at the same time that the historical process of insertion of the studied activity was recovered, the objective was to understand how the introduction of the buriti oil production activity occurred and influenced these aspects. In field research, observation techniques (participatory or nonparticipant) and the interview were essential instruments in all phases of seeking complementary information for a greater understanding of the studied reality. Direct interaction with family farmers provided a better understanding of the reality studied and analysis of the data collected. The explanatory research when trying to determine the reason, the causes of the studied phenomena, supporting scientific knowledge by analyzing the available material and pointing out the implications brought by the activities of collection, processing and commercialization of buriti oil for the Santo Antônio do Abonari community, at the same time that it continued to be descriptive in relating the forms of collection and production practiced in the Community. The nature of the research was qualitative, since the analysis of the data collected in the field research was done in order to consider the researcher's observations, the responses of the interviewees and the context in which they occurred as a way of confronting or supporting the data, seeking include subjective dimensions in the interviewees' speeches and responses. In a complementary way, quantitative analyzes were performed, using descriptive statistics.

STUDY AREA: Santo Antonio do Abonari Community
The Santo Antônio do Abonari Community was formed during the construction of BR 174 from remaining employees of the company SERRAGRO, a logging company authorized to operate in that location together with the Brazilian Army during the process of carrying out the work. With the end of logging at the site, some employees settled and took family members, constituting the first agricultural productive units in the community and had its second population boost with the construction of the Balbina Hydroelectric Plant in the 1980s. It is located in the municipality of Presidente Figueiredo -Amazonas, at coordinates 01º19'39.9 "S and 60º22'55.0" O, it is characterized as a rural location that is mainly concentrated in the Serragro Branch with exclusive access via BR 174, at kilometer 1,083 of this highway, 95 km from the municipal headquarters and 200 km from the state capital, Manaus ( Figure 1). The community structure is formed by this main branch and by 4 vicinals, named numerically according to their position along the branch. The community's altitude varies between 78 and 108 meters above sea level. (SEMMA-PF, 2013). The climate is hot and humid and according to the Kbppen classification, type Am with an average rainfall of 1,750 mm in the rainy season and less than 60 mm in the dry season. The temperature varies between 23.5º C to 33.1º C with an average temperature of the coldest month always above 18 ° C and an average relative humidity of 85%. It is surrounded to the north by the Wamiri-Atroari Indigenous Reserve and to the east by the APA Urubuí (SEMMA-PF, 2013). Because it is located in an area bordering the Wamiri-Atroari indigenous land, its area of expansion to the north has activities such as hunting and fishing reduced to the current limits of the community itself. When studying the farmer in the Brazilian Amazon, including the Santo Antônio do Abonari Community, it is necessary to understand that the entire population that lives far from urban centers is both a farmer and an extraction worker. Extractivism is in the culture, in the way of life of the Amazonian people, so one activity does not exclude the other, but complements it. The survival of this farmer, in many moments, depends on hunting, fishing and the collection of fruits, seeds, vines, wood and other raw materials found by him in the region and the cultivation of foodstuffs, with emphasis on cassava, supply of flour and starch, the basis of their diet and the farm around the residence, whose production supplies the family with food and natural medicines. Noda et al (2001) state that the sites or yard are based on natural biodiversity, involve the management of trees, shrubs and herbs of multiple uses, as well as the creation of small animals, it is a privileged space for family socialization. The Santo Antônio do Abonari Community is part of this Amazon mosaic. Family farming has been practiced by its residents since its formation as a source of food and income and finds extraction as a complement that contributes to the family diet and the acquisition of goods for the family. For this reason, it is essential to understand the process of historical formation, social organization and how public and private social facilities meet the needs of the residents of this community.
In this community, the components of the production system are similar to those of traditional farmers in Alto Solimões, described by Noda, Noda and Silva (2013) and also consist of: Cultivation; Small farm, yard or yard; Capoeira or fallow area; Extractivism and, Creation of small animals, according to the following specifications. In more distant places are the plantations called swiddens, with an emphasis on manioc, manioc, banana and açai. The latter gained momentum through a donation of seedlings made by IDAM.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Buriti Production: Buriti production in the Santo Antônio do Abonari Community has always been expressive and stood out in the municipality of Presidente Figueiredo. However, this fruit traditionally had as its main destination the ice cream factories and fairs in the capital Manaus. Since 1992 the community has been working with the sale of buriti, when it sold an average of 1,000 (thousand) bags of 50 kilos of fresh buriti per harvest. In 2002, company C, located in the Industrial Pole of Manaus, was looking for a location where buriti production was abundant to supply its demand for buriti oil and serve customers that produce cosmetics. During a visit to the Secretary of Community Action of Presidente Figueiredo, he was nominated by the Santo Antônio do Abonari community as the largest supplier of the fruit in the municipality. And so, the community was identified as a potential producer. The first contact was made by Mr. J.D., CEO of company C. with Mr. J.B.F., president of the community. On their first visit to the community, the two did an reconnaissance of the area, where the buriti trees were observed and from then on the Company C -Abonari partnership began. Company C held meetings in the community with the aim of publicizing the project and mobilizing community members for local participation. At the beginning of the operationalization of the activities, the company sought a partnership for the supply of dry pulp, a very simple artisanal process that was quickly assimilated by the community. In the years 2002 and 2003, the process consisted of harvesting the fruits, removing the pulp and drying in the sun on tarps. In the third year in 2004, the production process increased, requiring that the dried pulp be sieved before delivery to remove the peel and other residues. During this period, the activity was developing well, the community members were engaged, the entire harvest was sold to the association and all production was purchased immediately by company C. There were 10 people working at the plant and 9 families selling buritis in bags to the Association. . Buriti income became an important component of the family budget in the community, equaling or exceeding the income generated by the sale of manioc flour, one of the main sources of domestic income for these farmers. However, in 2005, company C sought new partnerships for the development of a project that would offer the community a structure that would allow the production of buriti oil by the members themselves, adding value to production and bringing more income and development to the community.

Buriti Oil Extraction Structure:
At this stage of the project, it was necessary to set up a structure that would allow the extraction of buriti oil and the training of community members to operate the machines. The CDH with resources from the FDH -Human Development Fund of the State of Amazonas financed R $ 82,000.00 (eighty-two thousand reais) on a nonrefundable basis, 55 thousand reais were used to purchase machinery in São Paulo. In addition, the Ministry of the Environment allocated R $ 40,000.00 (forty thousand reais) for the construction of the warehouse, which currently functions as the kitchen of the association. In 2005, there was also the Smart Wood Certification. To this end, a survey and production monitoring was carried out by AFLORAM technicians and by the IMAFLORA team. This report includes a visit to 15 properties and in 2006 the certification of only 8 properties, with the implementation of Management Plans. The NGO Amigos da Terra also participated in the process. It is observed that there was a great effort to support and create the necessary structure for the development of the activity, the concern with production and environmental preservation, as well as the market acceptance of the product through the Environmental Certification and the sustainability appeal. However, the third pillar of sustainability was also overlooked in this project, human resources were lacking, the social side was missing. Low schooling, isolation and lack of technical training for residents were not considered or placed as an essential factor for the success of this activity, although some courses were offered, basic information such as specification regarding product quality, acidity, productivity were revealed during the implementation of the project.

Production Management:
Since the beginning of the activity's implementation, problems related to management and production have been observed and, as the processes became more complex, the obstacles for the production to be well accepted by the companies and the community reached financial gains, social return and confidence in the activity, in order to maintain the motivation and interest of the social actors involved in the production. The problems started in 2006, when the pulp production was replaced by that of buriti oil. In this phase, although initially, there was a great commitment by Organs municipal and state bodies and the Association has been environmentally certified by SMARTWOOD, the machines have also been installed and even company C has followed the whole process, many aspects were ignored. This was the general context that led to the interruption of activity in 2007, consequently, resulting in the loss of all the effort undertaken. According to the report of the process managers and leaders of the period, the company did not sign a formal contract with the community members, nor did it offer training on good practices in the production and storage of oil. After the installation of the machines, it requested the production of 350 kilos of oils for which R $ 45.00 reais would be paid per kilo, without specifying the need to meet certain quality standards, especially to maintain the acidity of the oil produced below. 10%.
At this time, the community formed by family farmers was carrying out its first industrial production. They had never supplied or related to specialized industries. Most of its associates had not completed elementary school, did not have the knowledge of industrial dynamics and were not prepared for contact with the competitive market that requires quality standards and technical specifications regarding the product to be delivered. It was found, therefore, that all these requirements were far from their reality. After the production of 350 kilos of oil requested by company C, the CEO of this company came to the community accompanied by a professional in the chemical area, which surprised the community. After the analyzes, it found an acidity of 22% in the product. A fact that led the company to abandon the purchase, since the maximum acidity accepted by the company would be 10%. Thus, company C made the whole process unfeasible, lacking with commitment and social responsibility. The community was abandoned with all the production and its commitments to the community members who were involved in the production process. This attitude caused astonishment and indignation in the community that did not accept this position. Thus, began the process of breaking the bond in the partnership between Company C -Abonari and the demotivation of community members in participating in the project.
In this process of insertion of the Santo Antônio do Abonari community, there is an unpreparedness and ignorance of the managers of company C regarding this type of project, considering that a company transforms family farmers into its suppliers. It is necessary to recognize the fact that these farming communities need legislation for their protection and the biodiversity involved in production processes. In addition, they need participatory technical advice to avoid problems in terms of time and quality. They must also be supported by fair contracts in accordance with current legislation. To include these societies in their production chains, companies need to be aware of social responsibility and the ethics necessary to manage these relationships. After the breach of the verbal agreement, the Association had to resort to public agencies to recover part of the applied work and to ensure that the company received the payment of the promised amount. The rest to be received was donated by the City Hall, for payment of at least the expenses incurred during production. Thus, the Association was unable to continue developing the activity, as the only buyer of its production had broken with the partnership. After the breakdown of the partnership between company C and the Association, with the lack of perspectives on the future of production and the inexperience with market mechanisms, many of those who participated in the initial process of extracting buriti for oil production left this activity and the entire production process was dismantled.

Development of New Partnerships:
Only in 2011, when Mr. J.G. became president of the community and sought partnerships, did the process of reactivating the production of buriti oil begin again. At this stage, they needed to seek out new consumers and the process changed. They had the support and encouragement of a professor and researcher from the Federal University of Amazonas who had participated in the implantation of the mini-plant, and a candidate for mayor of Presidente Figueiredo, both became fundamental for the connection between the community and the buyer market, including providing a financial contribution for the initial working capital, in the amount of R $ 20,000.00. With this new impulse, the Association reorganized and resumed production, the sum of which was 663 kilograms of oil with an acidity of 4.41%. This demonstrates that the Association with working capital, training of associated farmers and monitoring are able to produce the oil with the necessary quality. As the payment was guaranteed and immediate, the farmers themselves delivered the fruits harvested at the headquarters of the association, as this way the price was higher than that collected on the properties by the association's team.
The entire production was sold, the loan of R $ 5,000.00 to the teacher was paid and the net balance was positive in approximately R $ 12,000.00 (twelve thousand reais). However, they were unable to pay the R $ 15,000.00 loan to the candidate for mayor. As an aggravating factor, two financial statements were presented in that year: in one the costs totaled R $ 20,216.30 and in the other totaled R $ 26,462.30. In other words, in none of the cases would the values obtained from the sale be sufficient to cover production costs. Mainly, taking into account the need to settle the loan for the mayoral candidate. Even though it was considered a success that the Association closed the working capital period of approximately R $ 12,000.00, the members did not accept the rendering of accounts and the managers had difficulties in explaining the differences in the results presented. Confidence in the process and management credibility are beginning to be weakened within the community. The apparent success stimulated the community and in 2012, 600 kilograms of oil were produced. To achieve this result in a non-harvest period, the Association purchased buriti fruits from a seller in the state of Roraima, whose production occurs in another period. Buriti fruits purchased exceeded the 24-hour period between collection and delivery to the Association's mini-mill and the oil produced showed acidity above the maximum established by the companies (10%). Thus, the oil produced cannot be sold at market price and was sold to a company based in the state of Pará, which was sent through the port of Manaus and the total amount earned by the Association was R $ 8,700.00 (eight thousand and seven hundred reais). The gains were much lower than in the previous year and there was no record of accountability, informing the Association's real financial situation.
In the transaction, communication problems occurred, which resulted in the return and reshipment of the first batch, a fact that led to extra costs for the Association. Besides this, the associates affirm that the company acted in bad faith, because when it received the second shipment, it refused to make the payment. After a period of negotiations, the company proposed a payment in installments of R $ 500.00, which took the entire year of 2014 to pay the total debt. With this, it is possible to verify once again the weaknesses of the Association in the face of a competitive market, with companies in distant cities and without efficient tools of control and collection, resulted in financial commitment and, consequently, in lack of available resources to proceed with The activities. Once again, the purchasing companies behaved within the logic of the market, which seeks to optimize financial results, and outside ethical standards, as they broke verbal commercial agreements and took advantage of the isolation and difficulty of access to collection instruments for supplying farmers to postpone payments and to unduly benefit from the situation.

Perception of Future Business:
In general, in the discourse and attitudes of farmers, it is clear that these denote a lack of confidence in the future of the buriti extraction activity for the generation of monetary income. Among the factors to be considered, management capacity is another worrying factor. Simple decisions and accountability are dominated by some associates, but when there is some complexity, such as negotiating deadlines and mainly resolving internal conflicts, deficiencies are perceived that can lead to problems in the production and commercialization of buriti oil. As for the social factor, it is expected that there will be a return to the community, an improvement in income, in community services, in people's quality of life. It can be said that when the process of extracting buriti for oil production was started, the associates showed interest in participating in the meetings, in the collection and production and wanted training courses to improve working conditions. However, the training was slow to arrive and was very restricted, courses for climbers and good practices only came after the break with the company C., that is, when the project lost its link with the rest of the chain productive and sought to find its own channels for distribution. Enriquez (2008) states that, when confronting the researchers' perception with the reality of the communities, it is realized that extractive activity is insufficient to guarantee family livelihood, agroextractivists need to resort to other sources, mainly due to the lack of strategies to add value and diversify production. The production of buriti oil in the Santo Antônio do Abonari community, in a superficial view, can be considered as a regional vocation, as an endogenous development factor. However, when analyzing more deeply, it is observed that, traditionally, the community has already been related to the ice cream industries in the city of Manaus, which can easily access and maintain a relationship to the present day. Contrary to what happened with the cosmetics industry, since it is very far from the community. The introduction of a rural community in the production chain of a large and competitive industry, such as cosmetics, must be thought of holistically and systemically. Holistic, because it is necessary to think about the community when relating to the whole, that is, with the global competitive industry and how this industry will relate to the community. How they will form the same system, even living such different realities. In the case of the Santo Antônio do Abonari Community, the project was imposed without offering the necessary technical bases for its development, not even basic information such as the need for acidity below 10% was passed on. The company lacked commitment, as this technical problem could have been easily overcome as demonstrated by the production, by the community, of 663 kilograms of oil with acidity below 4% and in 2014, when it achieved an acidity index of only 2%. The company committed to the purchase of the oil produced broke the link established with the Community without worrying about the future of those involved, after having brought about profound changes in the routine, in the lives of people and in the social organization of production in the community under study. The Santo Antônio do Abonari Community was inserted in the cosmetics production chain, with the objective of promoting the improvement of the quality of life of this population and the maintenance of its natural resources. In this way, the process of insertion of this community in a global market and the development of this activity must be analyzed and understood as a way to contribute to the academic debate on the sustainability of these actions.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS:
The inclusion of Amazonian communities in the productive chain of industrialized products is usually defended as an option for sustainable development for these communities and for improving the production process as a whole by reducing chemical bases and the use of sources of ecological raw materials. However, experience shows that, in many cases, the activity is started and later abandoned by the prospecting companies. The Santo Antônio do Abonari Community became the object of this study due to its insertion in the cosmetics production chain as a supplier of buriti oil to industries that produce or benefit this product for companies in this sector. The insertion of the Santo Antônio do Abonari community arose from the search for a source of raw material for a cosmetics industry. Although the project initially received support from government agencies, NGOs, environmental certification and monitoring by the company interested in buriti oil, many factors were not considered. The lack of commitment and social responsibility of the purchasing companies, added to the limitations regarding the understanding and relationship of family farmers with the global competitive market in which they were inserted, became an impediment to the sustainability of this activity in the economic and social dimensions.
The idea of using regional potentials or vocations as competitive differentials for regional development, in the case of the Santo Antonio do Abonari Community, did not envision the difficulties in meeting the technical specificities of global industries in a location far from large centers, with little infrastructure and unskilled labor for production and relationship with the markets, this context led to the disruption and stagnation of activity. It appears, therefore, that companies need to seek ways to relate to these communities, offering not only machinery and equipment, but technical, administrative and financial training, following the process in the initial stages, in order to create a link with community, a relationship of trust that allows interaction and the exchange of experiences and knowledge so that when obstacles or difficulties arise they can be resolved in partnership, reducing the differences between the logic of the family farmer and the organizational culture of the business world. The main problem, however, was the breach of agreements that demonstrates the lack of commitment and social responsibility of companies towards family farmers. In general, despite using the sustainability discourse, companies demonstrate to aim only at profit when making purchase offers at prices below those practiced in the market and by failing to comply with the agreements established, since these are made verbally and sometimes by through third parties, which makes it difficult to collect deadlines and amounts. Another fundamental point is the lack of formal contracts that comply with current legislation and protect these populations.
Based on the case study of the Santo Antônio do Abonari Community, it was found that the insertion of a community of family farmers in the global economy needs to be planned through an in-depth study involving a multidisciplinary team for the initial assessment and monitoring during the first productive cycles so that local populations can assimilate knowledge and management, production and storage practices to ensure quality within the technical specifications of each product and conditions for maintaining the activity through good management and financial control practices. This monitoring must also be done by the public sector, mainly with the offer of technical assistance and with the supervision and search for commercial agreements so that they guarantee the remuneration of those involved in the production and in compliance with the current legislation and contracts and the payment agreement. in terms and combined values, in order to bring community confidence in the activity, financial return and real improvement to the lives of these populations. In this way, changing some practices, this activity can become sustainable, generating a virtuous circle of growth. It would then be possible to promote local development for communities supplying raw materials, while meeting the demand of socioenvironmentally responsible companies, which produce goods and services for conscious consumers, concerned with people and the environment.


Effect of Products and Services Alliances on the Performance of Microfinance Institutions in Rwanda

In today’s world of cutthroat competition, considerable attention has been devoted to the formation of strategic alliances. Different organizations form alliance with other partners with different motivation. Some of the cited motivations for alliances include pooling resources, increasing capabilities; improve product development and service delivery, among others. Due to these varying alliances, there are various forms of alliances that organizations can engage in. However, research has shown that not all alliances end up with gaining the intended benefits. This research investigated the effect of product and service alliance on firm performance in microfinance institutions. Primary data was obtained using structured questionnaire distributed to a sample of 220 managers/CEO selected from a total of 419 MFIs. Data was analyzed using STATA 16.1 and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) used to test the research hypothesis. The results showed that the model was significant at 10% ( = 21.576, p<0.1). It also revealed that product and service alliance is positively and significantly related to firm performance with a coefficient of 0.072 (p<0.05). This being the first study of the kind, here in Rwanda, among the MFIs, it is recommended that MFIs should embrace alliance as way of improving their resource base and their product innovation and service delivery as well as their financial performance.

This research focuses particularly on product and service alliance in MFI sector. Use of product and service alliance as a strategy may play an important role on the development of MFIs in developing countries including African countries. However, the scarce literature on the subject creates a lack of information to make this strategy more popular among MFIs in these countries. Furthermore, in the field of strategic alliances, the service business alliances remain understudied, especially in the financial service industry (Geleta, 2016). Salimi, Zarea and Khajeheian (2012) note that most of the new products fail to launch or reach to market due to poor product design or lack of marketing capabilities. In addition, there is need for innovation of new products that are tailored to customer's needs. Such difficulties are experienced both by small, medium and even large enterprises. Product and services alliance can provide avenue for firms to deal with these shortcomings and improve their product and service performance, consequently improving their financial performance.
Product and service alliances exist among firms seeking to develop their products or service to increase their customer base. Partners seeking this kind of alliance may be motivated by the existence of particular resource, knowledge or skill in another party that they intend to benefit from. As such, a company with no enough resources for R&D and innovation may seek product and service alliance with another partner to gain a way of improving and innovating their products and services. Product and service alliance is no longer the exclusive domain of product and service companies (Bettencourt & Brown 2019).
In addition, products and services alliance are the key factors to consider for a company to develop a sustainable competitive advantage (Shelbum, 2018). Introduction of new attractive product or service alliance enables a firm to remain successful in the short run as competitors catch up. To remain successful for long period of time, companies should possess the capacity to consistently design and deliver good products and/or services together with good quality in order to meet the required standards.
This study contributes to the theory because it serves as an empirical evidence to see whether product and service alliances contribute positively or negatively to the organization performance in Rwanda's financial service industry.Despite the fact that the microfinance sector in Rwanda is still young, it has been growing at a fast pace in the last years and its outreach surpasses that of the traditional banking industry (Eularie, 2018). Therefore, this research was guided by this hypothesis:  H0: There is no significant influence of products and services alliances on the Microfinance Institutions' performance.

Theoretical Review
The author paid attention to the following: The transaction cost theory, strategic behavior theory, and Resource based theory to guide the conceptions and methodological approaches in the current study.

Transaction Cost Theory
The transaction cost theory was proposed by Ronald Coase in 1937. According to transaction cost theory, firm's decision on mode of transacting is influenced by the minimization of the sum of production and transaction costs (Huda, et al., 2019).The transaction cost theory is considered as the most dominating theory in regards to alliances. (Albers, 2019). This theory is applicable in alliances because its main focus is how firms should gain from all the transactions while minimizing the overall costs involved. In alliances, partners come together to cooperate in order to improve their overall performance and reduce inefficiencies. To better understand transaction cost theory in regards to alliance formation, it is important to understand the occurrence of transaction costs in environments that could favor alliance formation. Narrow markets, in which firms must rely on individual suppliers for specialized products, can force actors to show high commitment due to high switching costs (Penney &Combs, 2019;Koo, Yamanoi & Sakano, 2020).

Strategic Behavioral Theory
Strategic behavioral theory can be traced back to Cyert and March in their work a behavioral theory of firm written in 1963. It refers to actions taken by firms which aim to influence the market environment in which they compete. In reference to this definition, strategic behavior involves primarily long-run actions and decisions like production capacity, research and development (R&D), investment, location, advertising, product differentiation (Ketprapakorn & Kantabutra, 2019).
The theory has two categories: Non-cooperative behavior occurs when a firm tries to improve its position relative to its rivals by seeking to prevent them from entering a market, driving them out of business or notably reducing their profits as well. Cooperative behavior occurs when firms in a market seek to coordinate their actions and thus limit their competitive responses. Companies are expected to form cooperative agreements if they believe that the arrangements will better enable them to meet their strategic objectives, with the focus being on maximizing profits (Vogus, 2018).

Resource-Based Theory
Resource based theory is a theory directed to achieving competitive advantage that emerged in 1980s and 1990s, after the significant works published by Wernerfelt, B. (The Resource-Based View of the Firm), Prahalad and Hamel (The Core Competence of The Corporation), Barney, (Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage) and others. The supporters of this view argue that firms should look inside the institution to seek out the sources of competitive advantage rather than watching competitive environment for it (Arslan, 2018).The RBV establishes the existence of key firm resources that can be used to achieve superior performance (March, Waquet & Martinet, 2017). However, when constraint by resources, an organization, and specifically microfinance institutions, can seek alliance with other firms in order to cover for these short comings (Dyer, et al., 2020).

Empirical Literature Review
The inception of microfinance institutions was convenient in the growth of small and medium enterprises since large banks usually transact with large and middle companies due to reduced risks associated with them. Small and Medium Enterprises are also associated with poor creditworthiness which most commercial banks tend to shy away from. These institutions are, therefore, a major form of funding for small and medium enterprises in the entire of Africa and other both developed and developing countries (see for example, Mutua, 2017;Mohamed & Al-Shaigi, 2017;Prah, 2016;Awuah & Addaney, 2016;Mulungi & Kwagala, 2015). Islam, Hossain and Mia (2018) in their research note that small firms like microfinance institutions don't need to bear the whole burden of developing new technologies, finding new markets, training skilled workers to supply quality products and services. Many of the prices of specialization are shared by or embedded during a dense of alliances among MFIs.
With respect to product alliance, empirical studies typically find positive effects on financial performance outcomes (Hult et al. 2014), and moderate effect (Danneels and Kleinschmidt 2018). For example, product alliance relates positively to revenue growth (De Faria and Mendonça 2017) and profitability (Cozza et al. 2016). In support of this, several meta-analyses confirm the positive impact of product innovation on firm performance (Bowen et al. 2015;Calantone et al. 2015). Lambe et al. (2009) point that product alliance is important in improving organization product innovation, development, designing and distribution.
When it comes to service alliance empirical controversy remains whether they can directly impact the bottom line and thus truly differentiate an organization in the marketplace (Bettencourt & Brown 2019). Researchers and practitioners have expressed positive performance effects (Aas and Pedersen 2017; Kindstroem 2017), following the assumption that they exert indirect effects on company performance through improved customer satisfaction and loyalty (Baines et al. 2018).
Further, amongst others, Thakur and Hale (2015) confirm a positive effect on loyalty of existing customers as well as the attraction of new customers to the firm. However, other studies document that the development of new services alliance can also directly impact the financial outcomes such as revenue growth (e.g., Cainelli et al. 2016), profitability (e.g. Cheng & Krumwiede 2018) and ultimately firm value (Dotzel et al. 2015).
To date, most of the empirical studies available focus on companies operating exclusively in the service sector, such as when Colm, Ordanini and Parasuraman (2017) analyze the financial outcomes of product and service alliance in the hotel industry, or when Cainelli et al. (2018) consider various service sectors, ranging from software development to hotels to financial services. Other empirical studies pay particular attention to the financial service sector (e.g. Papastathopoulou & Hultink 2017).
Yet the overall results remain mixed, Aas and Pedersen (2017) find no effect of service alliance on company profitability and profitability growth, and Mansury and Love (2018) observe an insignificant relationship between service alliance and economic value added per alliance.
Due to the mixed empirical results, open questions remain concerning the impact of product and service alliance on the performance of Microfinance industry. Particularly, practitioners need to understand the consequences of strategic impact of product and service alliance to inform management decisions (Barczak & Kahn, 2018). To shed more light on this important area of strategic alliance research, we investigate the following research questions: what is the effect of product and service alliance on the performance of MFIs in Rwanda?

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework
Source: Researcher 2019 The conceptual framework described in this study clarifies ways in which products and services alliance is influenced and how products and services alliance is positively affected organizational performance and vice versa basing on resource-based theory. Owners of microfinance institutions can better facilitate organizational performance between workers and the organizations they work for, upon product and services alliance which is measured by design, jobs, quality, standards, purchasing and capital. Firm performance is measured by the return on assets (ROA), profitability, and annual sales.

Study Population and Sampling
The study conducted a survey on microfinance institutions in Rwanda. The research consideredall of the five provinces of Rwanda. As it is indicated in the report of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of August 2013 1 , 416 SACCOs (microfinance at 3 level) and 75 MFIs were registered, and this makes a total of 491 which wasthe research population of this study.Slovene's sampling formula (Rosenstein, 2019) was used to determine the sample size = 1 + = 419 1 + 419 * 0.05 ≈ 220 Where: n = Sample size N = total population = 491 e = Level of confidence or error margin = 0.05 The researcher used random sampling method to give equal opportunity to all MFIs in the population.

Variables Measurement Procedures
Primary data was obtained using a structured questionnaire made of seven-point Likert scale where 1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3 more/less disagree, 4= undecided, 5=more/less agree, 6=agree and 7=strongly disagree.This was used to measure the independent variable product and services alliances. Firm performance is measured as the average of the Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Sales (ROS) and profitability. The respondents who included the managers/CEOs of the selected MFIs helped in providing these ratios.

Data Processing and Analysis
The study used quantitative method and Structural Equation Modeling for data analysis. I have preferred to use SEM because of it is a popular method across discipline and increasingly is a 'must' for researchers in the social sciences (Ling & Ling, 2019) and many other studies in strategic alliances have also used SEM, Plazibat and Davor (2013), Jabar, Othman, and Idris (2011). It is a combination of factor analysis and regression or path analysis (Boateng, 2018). The popularity of SEM is based on its role in testing complete theories and concepts.
However, before building the model, preliminary model analyses were conducted to allow the data and the model to meet the assumptions for SEM. The basic assumptions for a standard SEM model include, sample size, interval scale for data, multivariate normality distribution, model identification, and uncorrelated error terms. The procedure involved four basic steps that were followed.
Step one involved building the path diagram in the SEM builder interface. In this, the measurement model and the structural model were drawn as a path diagram connecting latent variables and the observed variables.
Step two involved testing the reliability and validity of the measurement model. The reliability of the model was tested using Cronbach's alpha test for reliability.
The third step involved model estimation. The Maximum Likelihood (ML) method was used because there were no missing variables in the data. The last step involved examining the results and drawing up conclusion. Different statistical measures were used to help draw the conclusions on model fit and on the hypothesis. According to Figure 2 shows that 47.27% of the respondents were female and 53.73% were male. Although, there is a little difference of 6% percentage, generally these results indicate that the sample was reasonably represented in terms of gender.

Figure 3: Working Experience of Respondents
Source: Researcher, 2020 Figure 3 shows that 24.09% of respondents had less than 5years of work experience, 37.27% had between 6 and 10 years of experience, 35% had experience that ranged between 11 and 15 years and 3.64 % had above of 15 years of work experience.

Education level
Frequency ( Table 1 shows that 41.54% of respondents were of secondary/high school level, followed by bachelor level 45.64% and master's level 12.82%. These results suggest the majority of respondents, who were CEOs and managers of microfinance and SACCOs, had attained the university level.  Table 2 shows that 15% of visited MFI were under five old. 46% were between six and ten years old, 30% were 7 between sixteen and twenty years and 1 % were above 20 years old. As outlined above the initiative of establishing microfinance started in 2000s. This is the reason behind having the majority of institutional between six and ten years old.

Number of Employees
Frequency ( The institution size is based by the number of employees. Table 3 shows the majority of visited MFI (35 %) had between 101 and 150 number of employees. The table also shows that only 4% of visited institutions had under 50 percentage of employees.

Descriptive Statistics
Before presenting and analyzing the results related to the objectives of the study, the researcher firs presented the descriptive statistics necessary for this research. This included the mean, standard deviation (sd), variance, skewness and kurtosis. The descriptive statistics for all the constructs are shown in Table 4. According to Paolella (2018), the acceptable range for skewness is between -3 and +3 while for skewness is between -10 and +10 whenever using the SEM technique. This showed that the values obtained in this research were within the acceptable threshold in terms of skewness and kurtosis.

Model Analysis
This research used the structural equation modeling technique to achieve the research objectives. However, before building the model, preliminary model analyses were conducted to allow the data and the model to meet the assumptions for SEM. The basic assumptions for a standard SEM model include, sample size, interval scale for data, multivariate normality distribution, model identification, and uncorrelated error terms. The assumption on sample size holds that the sample should be large enough, at least more than 200, for structural equation modeling.
This research was able to meet this requirement with a sample size of 220 observations. Similarly, the data is required to have interval scale. According to Jackson (2015), if Likert scale is symmetric and equidistance, it can sufficiently approximate an interval scale. The use of Likert scale with seven items enabled the researcher to meet this requirement. Similarly, the errors terms are assumed to be uncorrelated since the data is not time series nor related to time. The test for multivariate normality was conducted using Doornik-Hansen test which revealed significance ( = 150.431, < 0.05).
According to Biswas, Giri & Srivastava, (2006), for a model to achieve identification, the number of distinct sample moments should be greater than or equal to the number of distinct parameters to be estimated (which gives the degrees of freedom, d.f.). If they are equal, the model is considered to be just identified. If the number of distinct sample moments is less than the number of distinct parameters to be estimated, then the model is unidentified. However, if greater than, then it is over identified. In this case, looking at the output of the estimation, the model was over identified since d.f. were computed in each estimation.
According to Schermelleh-Engel, Moosbrugger and Müller (2003) estimations in SEM can only be done if the model is just identified or over identified. Further, note that there exists no specific statistics to ensure that a structural equation model fit. They specifically recommend that the researcher should keep checking results against the results which provide the level of significance and an idea of whether the model fits the empirical data. In addition, other goodness of fit statistics exists that can be used. With this knowledge, the researcher was able to proceed with the analysis.

Measurement Model: Validity and Reliability
As recommended by Hooper, Coughlan and Mullen (2008), before any structural equation modeling is conducted, the measurement model should be tested for reliability of the observable constructs. This was done using the Cronbach alpha reliability test presented in Table 4.7. The cut point for reliability is an alpha equal to or greater than 0.7 (Esposito, et al., 2010). According to Table 4.1, the lowest alpha is 0.675 which is close to the cutoff point and therefore retained. In fact,the overall test scale was 0.697 which approximate to the cut point provided enough reliability to retain the measurement scale and all the items.

Findings on the Research Objective
The research objective sought to examine the effect of products and services alliances on the Microfinance Institutions' performance. The null hypothesis for this objective was formulated as follows:  HO: There is significant influence of products and services alliances on the Microfinance Institutions' performance. As shown in Figure 4, the path diagram presents the model used in this research to test the hypothesis. The model is composed of two composite models, namely the measurement model and the structural model. In STATA, a SEM path diagram is drawn with observable variables/constructs presented as rectangles and latent variables presented as oval as shown in Figure 3. As presented in the figure, the latent variable product and services alliance as measured through the observed variables ProServ1, ProServ2, ProServ3, ProServ4, ProServ5 and ProServ6 was used to determine whether it has an effect on the performance of MFIs. Performance was treated as an observable variable and was computed as average of ROA, ROS and profitability. Table 6 provides more detailed information for testing the hypothesis. Further, Table 7 shows the results obtained for the goodness-of-fit tests.  As shown in the table and Figure, the path coefficient from product and service alliance to performance is 0.072 and positive and significant at 5% (p<0.05). This shows that one percent unit change in product and service alliance results in to 7.2% change in firm performance. Similarly, the results in Table 7 shows the model is significant at 10% (p<0.1).

Conclusion
Bettencourt and Brown (2019) in their research found that product-driven alliances are not meant exclusively for companies dealing with products. Companies that also offer services like microfinance companies can also engage in product and services alliance. The benefits of these alliances include product and service innovation and ability for an organization to customize services to the customers' needs. In addition, Neely (2016) found out that product and service alliance increases the competitive edge of a company. Nguli (2017) further added that product and services alliances can be adopted along various strategies like cost reduction, differentiation and/or focus strategy. Companies entering into these alliances can decide to focus on a given market niche that requires a different product or service.
The shift of focus happens due to the available opportunities for growth for the MFIs through mechanisms brought about by alliances. In this sense, MFIs can be able to embrace new resources even if they are themselves constraints whenever they engage in alliances with other suitable partners. The access to these, alliances provide mechanisms for the microfinance institutions to be more competitive on the market.
In general, MFIs are considered a source of innovation, flexibility and economic growth. However, the insufficiency of technologies, lack of marketing skills, quality products and services and the strong competition in the markets in which they operate generate volatility of their operations. The research findings, in consistence to the findings by Kalra and Mathur (2018), have shown that MFIs can improve their performance through alliance. In particular, product and service alliance positively influence MFI performance. For these and other reasons, it is recommended that MFIs should rigorously follow the right procedures and channels to ensure that the alliance is a successful one. The study recommends that business competitors embrace strategies that can enhance market efficiency, rather than bringing market frictions and imperfections. One of such strategies is through healthy strategic alliances.
The results showed that in general the product and service alliance contribute positively to the microfinance's performance compared to the organizations without alliance. This being the first study of the kind, here in Rwanda, among the MFIs, it is recommended that MFIs should embrace alliance as way of improving their resource base and their product innovation and service delivery as well as their financial performance.