Strategizing on behalf of social enterprises: the case of the Metropolitan Economic Development Association and Catalyst

ABSTRACT

This article adds to the literature on social enterprise by drawing on the strategy-as-practice tradition of strategy research. There, strategy is seen as something an organization does, not as something that it has. Little in the public and non-profit literature at present focuses on exactly what strategizing is, let alone how it relates to social enterprise. A framework for understanding strategizing is illustrated with case examples. Conclusions from this attempt at theory-building include: strategizing involves an interconnected ensemble of strategic thinking, acting, and learning activities; strategizing ultimately involves group effort; and changing an organizational ecosystem is very hard indeed.

KEYWORDS:

• Social entrepreneurship
• Strategy-as-practice
• Strategy
• Entrepreneurship
• Social enterprise

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2020.1798128.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Metropolitan Economic Development Association [University of Minnesota Service Agreement 1026-10762-20109-2101077].

Notes on contributors

John M. Bryson

John M. Bryson is McKnight Presidential Professor of Planning and Public Affairs at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. He works in the areas of leadership, strategic management, and the design of organizational and community change processes. He wrote the best-selling and award-winning Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations, 5th Edition (2018), and co-wrote with Barbara C. Crosby the award-winning Leadership for the Common Good, 2nd Edition (2005). He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Barbara C. Crosby is associate professor emerita at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs and former academic co-director of the Center for Integrative Leadership at the University of Minnesota. In 2017 she received the Leslie A. Whittington Excellence in Teaching Award from the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). She is a fellow of the Leadership Trust in the United Kingdom.

Danbi Seo, MPA, ABD, is a doctoral candidate at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. She received her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the Seoul National University, South Korea, both with the highest honours. Her research interests includes collaborative governance, public and non-profit management, leadership in public and non-profit sectors, and organizational behaviour.