Ecopreneurs’ Responses to Paradoxical Challenges In India

Social entrepreneurship, as a business model has seen a sharp increase in the last two decades. An organisation that can bring together financial sustainability along with achievement of societal goals gives the necessary sense of purpose to individuals who have the desire as well as a vision to pioneer social change. Scholarly work into understanding the microfoundations of these rganisations has been gaining strength with studies ranging from understanding the ‘individual’ behind these rganisations to the underlying processes that set these apart from traditional entrepreneurial setups. Further, extensive work has been conducted on the paradoxes that these ‘hybrid’ organisations face continually. Social entrepreneurial organisations focusing on environmental goals are gaining substantial traction due to the realisation of the impact that climate change has on the world. These SEs have been termed as ‘ecopreneurial organisations’ in literature.
This paper is based on an in-depth case study of one such organisation in India, namely RUR Greenlife, operating out of Mumbai. RUR is unique in that, while it offers products and services in the waste management sector, its culture and embedded values tie into its environmental mission of changing the behavior of citizens with respect to their relationship with waste. The paper underscores the different paradoxes faced by RUR and ‘how’ RUR attempts to manage these. The study also tries to understand if the cultural context impacts the management of paradoxes in SEs. An analysis of data collected through a rigorous process on in-depth interviews with various stakeholders, document analysis and on-site visits, highlights the role of its founder-CEO in managing the paradoxes and the recognition that an ecoprenuerial organisation can manage competing demands when paradoxical thinking transcends to team members. This is enabled by a nurturant and yet task-oriented leadership style demonstrated by the founder-leader, that fits well with the cultural norms of the context in which the organisation operates.