World is Open for Everybody: Is It Possible to Turn Accessible Tourism into a Business in Russia? (Case Study)

Abstract

The case is dedicated to the developmental problems of social entrepreneurship in a certain institutional environment and is focused on the problems of organizational development and sustainability. The specific character of these challenges is that they should be dealt taking into account not only the sphere of the company’s operation, its history and the specifics of the business environment but also the need of constant balancing between the commercial and social goals. The company also faces a classic organizational crisis demanding transition to a new stage of the life cycle and the management challenges caused by this transition. The crisis is hardened by substantial dependence of the company’s activities on moral motivation of its founders. The case is based on a real situation: a tour company for people with limited abilities from the very beginning has been working in a specific sphere in which the commercial goals are intrinsically linked to a social goal — tackling the problem of the isolation of people with limited abilities from the social and economic life. Working in the sphere of social enterprising which is not defined by the law in Russia and does not result in any organizational or tax latitudes the company’s founders have to constantly find a balance between the social and the commercial parts of their project which endangers the stability of the company and deepens the problems faced in the process of its development. The case is made for discussions within bachelor and master courses as well as advanced training programs while studying such disciplines as “Business Ethics”, “Corporate Social Responsibility”, “Social Entrepreneurship”. The case can also be used within courses concentrating on problems of strategic management and processes of organizational development. The case aims to attain the following learning outcomes: to discuss the idea of social entrepreneurship, illustrate the business model specificity in social entrepreneurial organizations; to develop students’ skills in analyzing social and commercial goals of organizations; to develop students’ skills in taking management decisions in the balancing between economic and social goals of social entrepreneurship and obtaining long-term stability without abandoning the social part of its work, as well as range of problems of organizational development and transition to a new stage of a lifecycle While working with the case it is recommended to organize group discussions directed towards the production of practical recommendations based on studying the foundations of social entrepreneurship, strategic management theory and concepts of organization lifecycle. The case is accompanied by a list of supplementary readings that discuss the specificity of social entrepreneurial organizations, business models as well as challenges of organizational development with the aim of balancing between social and economic goals. The case was tested on such disciplines as “Corporate Social Responsibility” (Bachelor Program), “Basics of Management” (Bachelor Program), on Executive Education Program and several seminars for social entrepreneurs.