Managing dilemmas of resource mobilization through jugaad : a multi‐method study of social enterprises in Indian healthcare

Abstract

This study focuses on the dilemmas that social entrepreneurs encounter and the practices used to manage dilemmas over time. Using a multi‐method approach involving event structure analysis and an inductive multiple case study, we find that four key organizational practices - asset multiplication, leveraging human capital, building social embeddedness, and affordable quality - embody the jugaad elements of frugality and inclusivity. Adding to the social entrepreneurship literature, this study demonstrates that the jugaad approach is conceptually distinct from bricolage and relevant to the study of social enterprises' resource mobilization processes. How do social enterprises encounter and manage dilemmas over time in emerging markets? The present study responds to this question, finding that social entrepreneurs mobilize resources and overcome dilemmas using the practices of jugaad, the “Indian method” of problem‐solving. These jugaad practices can be used to build and allocate resources and create trade‐offs among the jugaad elements of frugality and inclusivity. Based on our results, we recommend that social entrepreneurs pay close attention to how to proceduralize human assets, which would allow these entrepreneurs to build training systems that are highly task‐focused and replicated across functions. We also encourage social entrepreneurs to work in rural markets and seek wider resource pools within these markets by building social embeddedness in rural communities.