Environmental Crisis as an Enabler of Entrepreneurial Activities in a Non-Profit Organization: A Case Study on Kendriya Vidyalaya

Abstract

Although extant research shows that the environmental crisis enables entrepreneurial activities in for-profit firms, the relationship between the environmental crisis and entrepreneurial activities in the non-profit public sector organizations could not draw sufficient attention from the researchers. These organizations enjoy limited flexibility within a bounded framework under government rules and protocols. Hence, the scope of implementing creative and innovative measures is restricted by those guidelines. It leads to a pertinent question about the possibility of entrepreneurial activities in public sector organizations. To explore the sources of such activities, we conduct participatory case research at a government school—Kendriya Vidyalaya Ordnance Factory Dum Dum, located in Kolkata, India. The usual teaching-learning process in the school has stopped at the onset of the COVID pandemic. The school has undertaken various novel and innovative steps within a guided framework mandated by the government to ensure continuity of education. Our reflexive process study uncovers that the strict rules, usually followed in regular times, are relaxed in the event of an environmental crisis, and the organizations are provided flexibility to adopt various unique measures considering the broader objective. The crisis enacts sensemaking that causes the organizations to implement entrepreneurial activities beyond the pre-defined path. In this process, the organizations can unearth hidden potentials and strengthen their usual operation in various dimensions, making the delivery mechanism more focused and effective. The theorization contributes to the extant literature by proposing a process model in which environmental crisis acts as an enabler to transform the existing mode of operation through entrepreneurial activities. It also shows the possibility of such activities in a restricted setup during a crisis.