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Competitiveness results from factors beyond the structural conditions and organizational boundaries, such as interorganizational cooperation. Evidence gathered in Brazilian credit unions suggests there is a social process in the firm for generating organizational capabilities and economic goods to satisfy needs defined by social structures in charge of solving market failures and structural deficiencies in the productive system. An exploratory and descriptive multiple case study with longitudinal qualitative data implemented using a systematic, computer-supported Process Tracing technique can refine a mathematical model of social phenomenon relying on a sequence of decision-making events of deterministic nature. Two case studies revealed that firms maintain relationships of cooperation and contribution with partners and structures in their organizational and environmental surroundings whenever their economic performance is constrained by competitive problems of systemic nature, for which there is no solution based on the mechanisms of market price and state intervention.