Abstract
This case discusses the challenges faced by the CEO and senior leaders of the nonprofit organization, Digital Green, as they experimented with ideas which had vast commercial potential. Digital Green produced videos of best farming practices and shared these videos with small and marginal farmers to help them increase their yield. As the organization grew, it started a pilot project named LOOP, which used technology to provide end-to-end shared logistic services to the farmers which aggregated farmer produce from a village, delivered that produce to market, received payment from sales, and transferred it back to the farmers. This entire chain of transaction could be tracked by a smartphone application at the farmer’s end. As the LOOP project became successful and the various stakeholders came to terms with its tremendous financial potential, the co-founders and senior members at Digital Green needed to decide on an organizational model to tap into the potential of LOOP and, at the same time, to not disrupt the work at Digital Green. This case focuses on the organizational design options available to Digital Green, as a nonprofit, to pursue and scale the LOOP project. Nonprofit organizations in India have various limits as far as their engagement in commercial, revenue generating activities is concerned. The main questions the case tries to focus on are: What are the various options available to the CEO and senior members of Digital Green to pursue a project like LOOP which has commercial potential? And what are the limitations and challenges of each of these option which the leaders need to be aware of while making their decision?
Additional Information
| Product Type | Case |
|---|---|
| Reference No. | ADCLOD0001 |
| Title | Loop @ Digital Green : Journey of a non profit |
| Pages | 13 |
| Published on | Jan 19, 2022 |
| Year of Event | 2014-2018 |
| Authors | Garg, Lokesh; Gopakumar, K V; |
| Area | Ashank Desai Centre on Leadership and Organisational (ADCLOD) |
| Discipline | Organizational Behaviour |
| Sector | Agriculture and Animal Husbandry |
| Learning Objective | This case could serve as an introduction to nonprofit organisations, social enterprises and social entrepreneurship in MBA courses such as organisational behaviour, organisational change, strategy and social entrepreneurship. The case illustrates the options that are available to a leader of a nonprofit organisation when introducing commercial activities into its functioning and deciding whether to make a transition to a for-profit entity or a social enterprise. The main objectives are: 1. Discuss and understand the activities of the nonprofit organisation, Digital Green (DG). 2. Understand why and how Rikin Gandhi, the CEO of Digital Green, a nonprofit, would intend to pursue a project like LOOP which has commercial potential. 3. Discuss what type of options, from an organisational design perspective, are available to Rikin Gandhi if he intended to tap into the commercial potential of LOOP while also continuing the nonprofit activities at Digital Green. 4. Understand the challenges and advantages associated with these individual options. |
| Keywords | Social Enterprise; Nonprofit; Financial Inclusion; Technology |
| Country | India |
| State | Delhi |
| City | Delhi |
| Organization | Digital Green |
| Access | For All |
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