Social business dilemmas in Brazil: Rede Asta case

Social businesses seek financial, social and even environmental results. Academic knowledge on how such organizations operate, however, has emerged more recently. This article sought to investigate qualitatively the main tensions and dilemmas occurring throughout the history of Rede Asta, a pioneer...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Iizuka, Edson Sadao, Varela, Carmen Augusta, Larroudé, Elisa Rodrigues Alves
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:Brasil
Institución:Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV)
Repositorio:Revista de Administração de Empresas
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.periodicos.fgv.br:article/52950
Acceso en línea:https://periodicos.fgv.br/rae/article/view/52950
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Social entrepreneurship
Social businesses
Tensions
dilemmas
Rede Asta
Empresariados sociales
Negocios sociales
Tensiones
Dilemas
Empreendedorismo social
Negócios sociais
Tensões
Descripción
Sumario:Social businesses seek financial, social and even environmental results. Academic knowledge on how such organizations operate, however, has emerged more recently. This article sought to investigate qualitatively the main tensions and dilemmas occurring throughout the history of Rede Asta, a pioneer social business in direct catalog sales of artisanal products in Brazil. Results indicate the Rede Asta managers have experienced tensions and dilemmas in three of the four categories identified by Smith, Gonin, and Besharov (2013): social and financial performance, organizational aspects and learning. One of the dilemmas involves organizational aspects and learning, since Asta achieves feasibility with two organizations: a nonprofit association and a for-profit corporation. On perceptions of belonging, stakeholders declared they felt they were a part of the organization’s social and environmental goals; some even as activists.