Resource Mobilization Through Bricolage in Social Enterprises

The primary focus of social enterprises is on improving welfare in society. Its rise in recent times has induced significant research interest, especially in factors that affect their performance. One of these crucial factors includes the mobilization of both tangible and intangible resources that are continuously orchestrated to create social returns. Since these social enterprises often lack access to traditional sources of capital, they tend to resort to resource mobilization through ‘bricolage’, which is using locally available resources within a resource-constrained environment in order to address social problems. Through this study, I explore how social enterprises mobilize their resources using (1) recruiting for gender parity, (2) non-traditional Ricardian rents and (3) caste-based dissimilarity, through bricolage. To conduct my analyses, I use data from an Indian social enterprise that focuses on reducing social backwardness through digital literacy. Taking advantage of a natural experiment, I find that women bricoleurs are more likely to align with the social enterprise's mission by focusing more on generating social returns. My second dataset belongs to social enterprises from a public-private partnership (PPP) organization related to an Indian government program on nationwide skill building. In my second study, I find that bricolage of intangible resources aids in value creating activities while bricolage of tangible resources can have a negative impact on the same. Internal bricolage of both tangible and intangible resources enhances value creation. In my third study (based on the first dataset), I investigate a particular form of ethnicity-based homophily (caste-based homophily), and how it influences welfare disbursement. Caste based similarity among bricoleurs, and their beneficiaries increase both propensity and amount of economic transactions. When similarity does not exist, the difference in social status between the two parties can create a similar effect as homophily in some inter-ethnic groups, leading to a positive outcome in welfare disbursement. I further study how caste based homophily can change the nature of 2 transactions over time through broadening and deepening of relationships. My dissertation contributes to strategy literature on bricolage in social enterprises. In terms of the managerial and policy-level implications, I believe that my research could help social enterprises judiciously manipulate some of these indigenous levers found through my study in order to enhance their social performance, and thereby mitigate global challenges, like poverty reduction, women empowerment, and gender equality.