Teaching how to fish: strategic practices in an entrepreneurial non-profit organization
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7213/rebrae.07.002.AO02Keywords:
Social Entrepreneurship, Nonprofit organization, Strategy as practices, Project Managers.Abstract
The aim of this study is to analyze the strategic practices developed by a Brazilian nonprofit organization, which focuses on the promotion of social entrepreneurship at the bottom of the pyramid. The major goal of the study is to focus on the strategies of its project managers. The study is based on the concepts of Salamon (2003) and Moore (2000) and the role played by the nonprofit organization in the same manner that entrenches the theories of complex adaptive systems and the loosely coupled systems. It has also highlighted the use of strategy-as-practice as a theoretical basis to better understand the social actions. It is a case study of a qualitative nature. Data were collected from analysis of documents, non-participant observation and interviews. Data analysis revealed that project managers played a critical role as strategists. In their social practices they combine experience, sensemaking, interactions, decision making and knowledge together with neutrality and autonomy for action. The results revealed that the number of micro-entrepreneurs who benefited from the projects has grown significantly during the period of the study. Likewise, the income of these micro-entrepreneurs and that of their families has displayed a steady increase. The conclusion indicates that strategic practices carried out by project managers have brought social value to micro-entrepreneurs and contributed significantly to the achievement of the organization`s goals.Downloads
References
ANSOFF, H. Corporate strategy. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1965.
Associação Aliança Empreendedora. Relatório Anual 2005. Curitiba: Aliança Empreendedora: Curitiba, 2005.
Associação Aliança Empreendedora. Annual Report 2006. Curitiba: Aliança Empreendedora:
Curitiba, 2006.
Associação Aliança Empreendedora. Annual Report 2007. Curitiba: Aliança Empreendedora:
Curitiba. 2007.
Associação Aliança Empreendedora. Annual Report 2008. Curitiba: Aliança Empreendedora:
Curitiba. 2008.
Associação Aliança Empreendedora. Annual Report 2009. Curitiba: Aliança Empreendedora:
Curitiba. 2009.
BRYSON, J. M. Strategic planning for public and non-profit organizations. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 1995.
DEES, J. G. The meaning of social entrepreneurship, http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/ centers/case/documents/dees_SE.pdf (access in May, 30, 2010), 2001.
CHANDLER, A. The visible hand. Cambridge. MA.: Harvard University Press, 1977.
DRUCKER, P. F. Managing the non-profit organization. New York: Harper Collins Publishers,
FREIRE, P. Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum, 2007.
JARZABKOWSKI, P. Strategic practices: an activity theory perspective on continuity and
change. Journal of Management Studies. 40 (1), 23-55, 2003.
JARZABKOWSKI, P.; BALOGUN, J.; SEIDL, D. Strategizing: the challenges of a practice perspective. Human Relations. 60, 5-27, 2007.
JARZABKOWSKI, P.; FELTON, E. Strategizing and organizing in pluralistic contexts. Long
Range Planning, 39, 631-648, 2006.
JARZABKOWSKI, P.; SPEE, A. P. Strategy-as-practice: a review and future directions for the
field. International Journal of Management Reviews. 11, 1, 69-95, 2009.
JOHNSON, G. et al. Micro strategy and strategizing: towards an activity-based view? Journal of
Management Studies. 40 (1), p. 3-22, 2007.
KNOWLES, M. S. The modern practice of adult education: andragogy versus pedagogy. New
York: Association Press, 1970.
MEYER, V. JR.; PASCUCCI, L. M. Implementation strategies in complex systems: lessons of
Brazilian hospital organizations. In: 25th European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS).
Barcelona, Spain, 2009.
MOORE, M. H. Managing for value: organizational strategy in for-profit, nonprofit and governmental organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 29, 183-204, 2000.
MINTZBERG, H. The rise and fall of strategic planning. New York: The Free Press, 1994.
OSTER, S. Strategic management for nonprofit organizations. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1995.
MORT, G. S.; WEERAWARDENA, J.; CARNEGIE, K. Social entrepreneurship: towards conceptualisation. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Marketing, v. 81, p. 76-88,
PRAHALAD, C. K. The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid: eradicating poverty through
profits. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2005.
PRAHALAD C. K.; HAMMOND A. ‘Serving the World's Poor, Profitably’, Harvard Business
Review, 80(9): 48–57, 2002.
RECKWITZ, A. Towards a theory of social practice: a development in cultural theorizing. European Journal of Social Theory, 5, 243-262, 2002.
SHUMAN, M. H. Going local: creating self-reliant communities in a global age. New York: The
Free Press, 2000.
STACEY, R. D.; GRIFFIN, D.; SHAW, P. Complexity and management: fad or radical challenge
to systems thinking? New York: Routledge, 2000.
WEICK, K. E. Educational organizations as loosely coupled systems. Administrative Science
Quarterly, 21, 1-19, 1976.
WEICK, K. E; ORTON, J. D. Loosely coupled systems: a reconceptualization. Academy of Management Review, 15, 2, 203–223, April, 1990.
WEICK, K. E.; ROBERTS, K. H. Collective mind in organizations: heedful interrelating on flight
decks. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38, 357-381, 1993.
WEERAWARDENA, J.; MCDONALD, R. E.; MORT, G. S. Sustainability of nonprofit organizations:
an empirical investigation. Journal of World Business, 2009.
WHITTINGTON, R. Strategy as practice. Long Range Planning, v. 29, 5, 731-735, 1996.
WHITTINGTON, R. Completing the practice turn in strategy research. Organization Studies, v.
, n. 5, 2006.
YIN, R. Case study research: design and methods. Beverly Hills: Sage, 1987.
