Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Gujarat, India
“Scaling up in Social Entrepreneurship: A Moral Imperative?”
Download Paper
A Fellow Participant (Doctoral Candidate) at the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), I am presently at the proposal framing stage of my research. For my thesis, I am intending to take a strategic perspective to the issue of scaling up for social enterprises. Mainstream theories in strategy and economics (largely borne out of studies located in commercial settings) have an inherent bias for scale – they find it difficult to explain that when non-profits could achieve economies of scale by harnessing greater resources and thereby improve efficiency (which they argue serves the ultimate cause even better), why do then most of them prefer to stay small and localised. While there are many theories in favour of bigness (Porter’s Low Cost Strategy, Barney’s Resource Based View, the 80/20 principle suggesting a few blockbusters against large niches), hardly any theory champions the cause of ‘Small is Beautiful.’. My limited research & interactions with many social entrepreneurs suggest a reluctance to scale which they feel may lead to mission drift and organisational dissonance. Attempting to take a grounded theory approach, my thesis aspires to experiment strategy-research using narrative case study approach to generate thick descriptions of social enterprises and their strategies of scaling.
I have an educational background in Economics and an MBA with professional experience in managing operations in the export sector. Outside of academics I am a nature lover and take deep interest in travelling to new places and exploring their food and culture, like listening to music and keenly follow sports, especially cricket & football.
I am excited to meet my colleagues from across the world at the Academy and looking forward to an intellectually stimulating and enriching week in Switzerland,
Partha
oikos PhD Summer Academy news
no news in this list.